Use this Microsoft Word template to help you design a Business Case for any corporate product investment. Get this template @ http://www.demandmetric.com/content/product-business-case-template

1. Product Business Case Template
Purpose
The purpose of this tool is to help you design a Business Case for any corporate product
investment. Business cases are developed for many reasons, such as acquiring a company,
developing a new market or to capitalize on a high-growth opportunity. This business
case template is designed to help prepare a request for significant funding outside your
normal annual operating budget to invest in product development.
How to Use this Template
Complete the following sections with your project team and/or stakeholders. Cut & paste
information into a document that reflects your corporate image, and deliver your Business
Case to senior executives interested in sponsoring the project.
Title Page
[Insert Company Name or Logo]
Business Case – (insert project title)
[Insert Completion Date]
Completed By: [Insert Project Manager Name]
Completed For: [Insert Project Sponsor Name]

2. Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary 4
1.1 What Problem does this Business Case Solve?
2. Market Need & Solution 4
2.1 Market Opportunity
3. Product 5
3.1 Description
3.2 Place
3.3 Promotion
3.4 Price
3.5 People
3.6 Process
3.7 Physical Evidence
4. Business Objective 7
4.1 Strategic Objectives
4.2 Business Model
5. Market 8
5.1 Competitive Landscape
5.2 Competing Products
5.3 Positioning
6. Customer 9

3. 7. Program 9
7.1 Scope
7.2 Schedule
7.3 Cost
8. Financial Analysis 12
8.1 Profit & Loss Projection
8.2 Risk Assessment (3-5 year)
9. Recommendations & Conclusion 13

4. 1. Executive Summary
1.1 What Problem does this Business Case Solve?
Provide a brief description of the problems that this business case was designed to solve.
Consider cost-savings, revenue growth, increased customer satisfaction, better product
management, higher retention, employee growth & development, or pain-points for your
organization.
Write your Executive Summary last, after you’ve completed every other section of the
document.
2. Market Need & Solution
If you have a Market Requirements Document to support this business case, refer to it as a
source of input for this section.
2.1 Market Opportunity
Describe the market opportunity that exists for a new or enhanced and cite supporting
evidence.
2.2 Key Success Factors
Identify the Key Success Factors that are critical to a product’s success in the market
opportunity you’ve identified.
Examples include: adequate budget & resources, skill sets, time to do the project amongst
other priorities, project sponsorship.

5. Key Success Factors Justification
1. Insert KSF #1 Why is this critical?
2. Insert KSF #2 Why is this critical?
3. Insert KSF #3 Why is this critical?
4. Insert KSF #4 Why is this critical?
5. Insert KSF #5 Why is this critical?
3. Product
If you have a Market Requirements Document to support this business case, refer to it as a
source of input for this section.
3.1 Description
At a high level, provide a description of what the product is, who it is for and why it is
better than competing alternatives. Use the Positioning Statement Worksheet to develop
the product position.
3.2 Place
Describe how you will get the product to customers. Which channel(s) will you use? What
kind of marketing coverage are you planning?
3.3 Promotion
Summarize your marketing communications strategy for the product. Which marketing
channels will you use? How will these produce qualified leads? Does personal selling or
the sales force have a role to play? Which promotional messages will resonate with the
market?
To help prepare this section of your business case, use the following tools:

6. 1. Marketing Channel Ranking Tool
2. Message Mapping Tool
3.4 Price
Discuss your pricing strategy and the objectives you have for it. Use the Pricing Strategy
Template to help determine a pricing strategy.
3.5 People
Describe the human actors who are involved in achieving success in the market with this
product:
1. Employees: what kind of recruiting, training, motivation, rewards and teamwork are
required?
2. Customers: what sort of education and training will customers need to adopt and
use this product?
3.6 Process
Provide detail on the actual procedures, flow of activities and supporting systems by which
the product is delivered to customers in the market. For example, you may wish to use the
Purchase Process Diagram Tool to describe the sequence of activities leading to the
purchase of this product.
3.7 Physical Evidence
List all tangible representations of the product beginning with the product itself and
including: business cards, brochures, packaging, documentation, signage, equipment and
physical facilities. Emphasize how each tangible component will communicate the
product’s purpose, quality, intended use, target market and benefits.

7. 4. Business Objective
This section outlines the objectives the product will achieve when launched.
4.1 Strategic Objectives
List the specific objectives identified for this product. For each objective, describe how it is:
1. Consistent with corporate strategy and vision.
2. Appropriate for where the product is in its lifecycle.
3. Complementary to the positioning strategy for this product.
4.2 Business Model
Use the Business Model Canvas found at www.businessmodelgeneration.com to prepare
and document your business model:

8. Your business model will provide detail about:
 Key Partners  Value Propositions  Customer Relationships
 Key Activities  Cost Structure  Customer Segments
 Key Resources  Revenue Streams  Channels
5. Market
In this section you will discuss the market factors that will impact or facilitate the product’s
success: competition and market position.
5.1 Competitive Landscape
Assess the competition at the corporate level. Use the Competitor Analysis Tool to help
complete your assessment. Your assessment should include:
 Each direct competitor or substitute product
 Their strategy
 Strengths and weaknesses
 Financials
 Estimated capabilities, resources and ability to execute
 Predicted response to your actions
5.2 Competing Products
Assess competing products, using the Competitive Products Sales Reference Tool.
Compare competing solutions at the feature level to determine where you have a
competitive advantage and which product is the market leader.

9. 5.3 Positioning
Positioning is the process of defining a market position for your product. Once defined, that
market position is expressed as a Positioning Statement that describes your product, defines its
differentiation and expresses how you will create value. A Positioning Statement is a succinct
expression of your market position that is externally focused, describes the target customer,
primary benefit, references the competition and answers the question: why should I buy from
you?
Use the Positioning Statement Worksheet to articulate a market position for this product.
6. Customer
To have sales success, you will need to tailor your sales pitch to your target customer, so in
this section, you will define your target customer segments and provide profiles of
representative customers. Use the Customer Profile Template to create a persona for each
type of customer represented in the buying process. Keep in mind that for B2B segments,
you may have several personas involved in the process of making a single sale, such as
executives, managers and the actual users.
7. Program
This section will outline the key risks that need to be mitigated and provide contingency
plans for each identified risk. Risks include: lack of end-user adoption, project over-
time/over-budget, technical risk, and senior management commitment.
7.1 Scope
Describe the scope of this project, broken into phases, including:
 How to accomplish the project successfully

10.  Total development time
 The approach
 Key resources
 Support requirements and resources
 Product Marketing plan
 Roles
Use the Product Charter Template to ensure you’ve captured and documented the scope elements
of your Business Case
7.2 Schedule
Following is a sample project schedule that you can customize further:
Product Development/Launch Milestones Deadline
1. Idea Generation June 1, 2012
2. Business Case Development July 15, 2012
3. Features Specification July 31, 2012
4. Product Development September 1, 2012
5. Beta Testing October 15, 2012
6. Launch November 20, 2012

11. 7.3 Cost
Use the following worksheet to identify the costs and the benefits of developing this product:
Cost/Benefit Analysis Worksheet
Project Costs
Incremental Costs Description High Low
Total Costs
Project Benefits
Incremental Benefits Description High Low
Total Benefits
% Benefits/Costs

12. 8. Financial Analysis
The purpose of the financial analysis is to indicate the product’s potential and provide a
timetable for financial viability.
8.1 Profit & Loss Projection
Provide a detailed analysis of how many units you must sell in order to break even. Use the
Break Even Analysis Tool to help complete this projection.
8.2 Risk Assessment
Provide an assessment of risk over a three to five year horizon for developing this product.
Consider the following dimensions of risk:
 Investment Risk: what are the risk factors that would lead to not getting a return
for investing in the development of this product? Example risk factors could
include: lack of end-user adoption, project over-time/over-budget, technical risk
and senior management commitment.
 Opportunity Risk: what are the lost opportunity risks of not developing this
product or not delivering it to the market at the right time? This part of your
analysis should predict what might happen if you don’t proceed with product
development. Examples include loss of market share, loss of perception as a
market leader and loss of revenue to competitors who do have products in this
niche.
Use the Risk Assessment Tool to help identify the risks and predict their impact and
probability.

13. 9. Recommendations & Conclusion
Conclude your Business Case with specific recommendations: what should the company
do?