Each week in this newsletter I tackle a question from a reader. This week’s question comes from an Internal Communications Manager in Toronto who asks:
My company does budget planning in August for the following year and I figure I should shoot my shot and ask for some budget for internal comms. My team is stretched thin and I know we could achieve a lot more with proper investment. But I haven't written a business case for budget before and don't really know how to start, it feels overwhelming but I really want to try. Any advice?
Ah! Yes I love that you are thinking ahead. Lots of companies will plan out their entire budgets for 2026 in the next couple of months so if you're thinking about getting more headcount, budget or tools for your team then the time to create a business case is probably right now.
Let's talk about that in today's newsletter. What the hell is a business case, what should it include, how can I increase my chances of getting my request approved?
When I worked in-house, I spent YEARS searching for a personal, friendly and ambitious community in internal communications to help me accelerate my career.
I didn’t want a collection of dusty resources or a silent message board. And I didn’t want a membership with endless add-on costs to attend workshops or courses.
I wanted DEPTH. I wanted connection. I wanted access to experts, up-to-date ideas and fresh thinking to challenge me and help me grow. And I wanted everything included for a single membership fee. No bloody add-ons!
This kind of community didn’t seem to exist. So I built it myself.
This is the Curious Tribe.
We now have more than 40 members in the tribe with 90% of members renewing for a second year or more. We’ve got an NPS score of +75 which makes this a world-class community.
If you work in internal communications, The Curious Tribe was built for you.
Here's what Catherine Kernot, Senior Internal Comms Manager with Frontiers told me after recently joining the tribe:
I've also been meaning to drop you a line to say how absolutely brilliant I'm finding the tribe - it's far exceeding my expectations (which were already pretty high) and I'm getting so much out of it. So thanks for all you do to make it such a wonderful community
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What's a business case?
A business case is simply a structured argument for why your organisation should invest money in something. It's a formal request for things like more money, more headcount, new tools or tech etc. Think of it as a strategic document that outlines a business problem, proposes a solution and demonstrates the return on investment for the business.
It's NOT an exhaustive wish list for everything you want and it's definitely not a complaint mechanism about being under-resourced or over-worked.
A good business case should answer key questions like:
- What business problem are we trying to solve?
- How much will it cost to solve it?
- What happens if we don't solve it?
- How will we measure success?
The goal isn't just to get what you want, whether that's hiring 2 new people or getting a new intranet, but rather the goal is to demonstrate how giving you what you're asking for will help the business win.
This mindset shift is absolutely crucial and it's where many of us go wrong.
And is it just me or does writing a business case feel really HARD? It can seem overwhelming, as the question above mentions, and it can also feel like a really big piece of work that you simply don't have time for. But if you want to win long-term then it's worth taking the time to write a great business case to get the resources you need to truly deliver strategic work.
Here's some of the reasons I've heard from internal communicators about why they avoid writing business cases:
- We’re too busy firefighting to write one
- We struggle to link our work to broader business goals
- We don’t have the data we need to make a case
- We’ve tried before and been rejected
- We simply don’t know how to write a compelling business case
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Then you’re not alone.
But here's the thing - even though it feels hard, it's absolutely doable. And there are specific things you can do to massively increase your chances of getting that 'yes'. Let me show you how.
How can I increase my chance of success?
If we think about a business case in it's simplest terms, it's a request for investment. And on the other side is someone who is going to either approve or deny that request. So the first thing you need to do to increase your chance of success is identify that person. Who is the approver? Is it your direct line manager? Is it the Head of Finance? Is it the Chief Finance Officer?
You need to know this before you start writing because you need to treat this like a comms campaign. And what do you do in any comms campaign? You identify your target audience so that you can write directly to them in language they will understand and you will address their specific concerns and the things they care about. If you don't know who your audience is, you'll find writing a successful business case very hard.
If your approver is your Chief Finance Officer (CFO) or any sort of senior executive, then here's some tips to kickstart your thinking:
Think bigger than your team. Your CFO isn’t interested in how busy you are or how stressed you feel (sorry but it's true). They want to know: is this investment business critical? How does it link to our strategic priorities? Is this going to pay off in the long run? You must show them how your request connects to their big-picture goals, whether that’s productivity, growth, innovation, risk mitigation or whatever your company is focused on achieving.
Risk mitigation is crucial. CFOs are naturally cautious and focused on protecting the business. Frame your request around the risks of NOT investing in what you need. What would happen if communication fails during a major transformation, for example? What’s the cost of getting this wrong?
Numbers matter, but they don’t have to be perfect. You absolutely need metrics and data, but your CFO doesn’t expect mathematical precision. You may feel like excluding data because it's not totally rock-solid, but you can absolutely include your best estimate instead with an explanation of why it's an estimate and that is often totally fine.
Tell a compelling story. This is where we communicators have an advantage when it comes to writing a business case - we are already great at communication, so let's apply our comms skills to this task. Your business case shouldn't simply ask for headcount or technology, but it should paint a picture of the future state of the company and how this investment will help you get there.
Try these sections when structuring your business case
If I was still working in-house and was going to write a business case today, here's how I would structure it.
1. Executive summary: Lead with the punchline. What do you want, how much does it cost and what business problem does it solve? Keep this section short, to the point, absolutely no waffle or filler allowed. Some people may only read this section and nothing else, so make it count.
2. The business problem: Here's where you outline the 'why' of your business case. Why are you asking for money or headcount? What's the business problem you're trying to solve? Now remember - this isn't about your workload or how tired you feel or how unfair your tasks are. It's about the business. Focus on business-critical issues, for example the risk of miscommunication during an upcoming merger or high turnover costs linked to poor employee experience or safety risks from inadequate compliance to internal policies.
3. Your proposed solution Now you build on the last section. You've said what the problem is - how are you going to solve that problem? Here you lay out what you want to do and what you to do it. Be specific about what you are asking for: what resources are needed and why? Present options if possible to show you’ve done your homework by comparing alternatives.
4. The cost of inaction Now you've painted the picture of the business problem and your solution, you need to switch gears and show what could happen if this investment is rejected. What are the business risks of NOT investing in this solution? Quantify the risks in business terms as much as you can, perhaps it's hours of lost productivity from employees who can't find the information they need on the intranet, maybe it's the high cost of increased staff turnover, maybe it's the cost of project delays or compliance failures.
5. Investment and timeline Now get super specific and into the weeds about the price and your ideal timeline. Present costs as “cost per employee per month” to make large numbers more digestible. Include implementation timeline and when you expect to see returns, for example is this going to show immediate results or will results take 12 - 18 months to be visible?
6. Success metrics And finally, make sure you have a plan for measurement. How will you measure success? In other words, you've identified a business problem and you've proposed a solution - if you get the 'yes' to implement this solution, how will you know if it's worked or not? What will indicate success? Would it be changes in employee behaviour or actions? Would it be bigger picture items like employee retention rates or change adoption rates?
Three final tips to help you win
Now you know what to think a business case and how to structure it, I want to leave you with three final tips to really help you improve the chance of getting a big fat 'yes' to your request for more resources.
Firstly, always start with identifying the problem rather than jumping straight to tactics or tools. Don't begin with into "we need a new intranet." Start with the problem, for example: "employees waste 2 hours per week searching for information, costing us €X annually." Then propose the solution.
Secondly, can you find ways to mitigate the cost and make it seem more appealing to your CFO? For example, if you're asking for budget for a new intranet, then are there existing software subscriptions you could cancel, like a newsletter tool or a survey tool? Or maybe your business case proposal could reduce the money your comms team currently spends with an agency? That kind of thing. Show what you can take away as well as what you're asking for.
And last but not least, relationships matter for getting investment. You should be building alliances and relationships around the business all throughout the year, not just when budget season hits. Try to make a real effort to get to know your CFO (or whoever your budget approver is) so that you understand what they care about, you know what language will resonate with them and you have a solid relationship where you can discuss requests with them verbally before committing to writing a full proposal.
And of course, you can also request funding to join The Curious Tribe which is my membership community for internal communication professionals. Use this letter template to get your employer to pay for your spot.
Thanks for reading and stay curious,
Joanna
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Find me on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and check out my book​
Want to work together?
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- Ready to review your channels and content but don't know where to start? Download my practical Internal Comms Audit Playbook to guide you through a DIY audit - no expensive consultant needed.​ This has ready-to-use templates and checklists to give you a systematic way to do your own audit which you can repeat every single year. Get it here.
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