Write a business case for an investment or initiative
Costs, benefits, NPV/payback, risks, and a recommendation for any initiative or purchase.
The prompt
Role: Act as a head of product writing a business case for an executive decision.
Context: The opportunity and why now: [OPPORTUNITY_WHY_NOW]. Target customer and problem, with evidence: [CUSTOMER_PROBLEM_EVIDENCE]. Proposed solution and how it differs: [SOLUTION_DIFF]. Market size / reachable demand and basis: [MARKET]. Business model and pricing hypothesis: [MODEL_PRICING]. Cost to build and run (rough, phased): [COSTS]. Key risks and alternatives incl. do-nothing: [RISKS_ALTS]. Decision criteria and timeframe: [CRITERIA_TIMEFRAME].
Goal: Give the executive team a clear, honest basis to fund, stage-gate or decline, with the uncertainty made explicit rather than hidden.
Task: Produce: an executive summary; the problem and evidence; the market opportunity and its basis; the solution and its differentiation; the business model with a simple unit-economics view and the assumptions; a phased cost and a rough return / payback range; risks with mitigations; the comparison to do-nothing and the main alternative; and a staged recommendation (e.g. fund a discovery phase with a kill criterion) tied to the decision criteria.
Constraints: Use only the evidence and figures provided or clearly-labelled assumptions. Present a range, not a single forecast. Recommend the smallest next commitment that reduces the biggest uncertainty (stage-gate), not a full build. Be explicit about what could kill the case.
Examples: Stage-gate shape: 'Phase 1 (discovery, [cost], [X] weeks): validate [riskiest assumption]. Proceed only if [measurable condition]; otherwise stop.'
Format: Sections: Executive summary | Problem & evidence | Market | Solution & differentiation | Model & unit economics | Costs & return range | Risks | Do-nothing & alternative | Staged recommendation. ~900 words.
Verification: Collect every assumption in one list and mark which the case is most sensitive to.
Validation: Review as a sceptical CFO and a rival PM: which assumption is the case really betting on, and is the first stage-gate cheap enough and sharp enough? Tighten it.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Business Strategy & Startups prompts
What to fill in
- OPPORTUNITY_WHY_NOW
- CUSTOMER_PROBLEM_EVIDENCE
- SOLUTION_DIFF
- MARKET
- MODEL_PRICING
- COSTS
- RISKS_ALTS
- CRITERIA_TIMEFRAME
- cost
- riskiest assumption
- measurable condition
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RCTFVV structure (Role, Context, Task, Format, Verification, Validation). RCTFVV extends RCTF with two checking steps. Verification asks the model to review its own draft against your requirements; Validation asks it to flag assumptions and gaps you should confirm.
Related prompts
- Write a business planA complete, realistic business plan: market, model, operations, financials, and risks.
- Price and sell my handmade art or craftsA fair pricing formula, sales channel options, and a simple plan for selling your art or crafts as a hobby business.
- Write a farm business plan for a loan or grant applicationA lender-ready farm business plan with production, market, and financial sections, flagging every figure you still need to supply.
- Write a campaign brief and channel planA campaign brief with objective, audience, message, channels, timeline, and measurement.