Business Case 101. Why Projects Get Approved (and Why Good Ones Get Killed) | PM Fundamentals 3

Most projects don't fail. They get cancelled, usually because nobody could explain why they still mattered. In this lesson you'll learn what goes into a simple, one-page business case, how projects compete for the same budget, how to handle benefits you can't easily put a dollar figure on, and why the best-argued case wins more often than the best idea. What you'll learn • The two questions every project should answer. Why this? Why now? • What belongs in a business case (including "do nothing" as an option) • ROI, net present value, and payback period, in plain English • Tangible vs. intangible value, and how to measure the "unmeasurable" • Why benefits need an owner after the project ends • Why a business case is a living document, not a file-and-forget • Same idea, two pitches. One gets cut and one gets funded Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:04 Why projects get cancelled 1:16 Why this? Why now? 2:11 What goes into a business case 3:23 Every project competes for the budget 5:24 Value isn't only dollars 6:56 Q&A, measuring intangibles in government and nonprofits 9:04 Benefits come after the project 10:53 Keep making the case 11:50 Worked example, version one 13:37 Version two, the same idea, funded 15:05 Key takeaways This is part of PM Fundamentals, a free 20-lesson series on how projects actually get run, built on the current PMBOK Guide (8th Edition). Each lesson teaches one idea you can use at work this week. It's a refresher, not PMP exam prep, and it doesn't count toward PMI PDUs. Join the free classroom and the live Tuesday 10am class (CT) at Purpose & Progress https://www.skool.com/purpose-and-pro... Taught by Wesley Abernatha, PMP. U.S. Army veteran with 20 years running projects and continuous improvement work across corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations. #ProjectManagement #BusinessCase #PMP