Hi, I'm conscious that building a business is important at both consulting and corporate strategy roles. Are there any resources that could help me learn the nuances of building a business case? I have never done it before, so it would be great to see real examples of the “best practices”. What is the suggested path to practice this skill set?
Hi,
There are a couple of resources out there. HBR has a couple of materials on business case building.
From my personal experience, having had to build many in consulting and also from trying to start a startup, the bigger challenge is less in the templates and approach, but rather in not the thinking and logic and more importantly the ability to convince your stakeholders of those numbers.
You can try and simulate this but really it is very difficult to do so unless you are placed in a real situation.
My suggestion if you are heading to consulting/corp strategy, don't focus or stress out on this. Focus instead on building the core skills that are needed for the jobs. Analytical problem solving, a nose for value, strong client engagement skills → these are way more important to getting to a better outcome than templates for a business case.
All the best!
Hi there,
I wouldn't say building a business is important at both consulting and corporate strategy roles…this is not a prerequisite to join.
In terms of building a business case, there are a ton of resources out there that you can google! That said, that's .05% of the journey. The business case/plan is just the start of the overall journey.
The other thing I'd ask you is what's your goal with this? Are you trying to build a business? Build consulting skills?
Hi there,
This is by no means a requirement.
So if your goal is to get into consulting, I wouldn't spend much time on this.
If you want to learn about building businesses, the best thing that you can do is just build one, fail, then try again until it works. This is the most effective learning process you'll go through.
In terms of ‘business case’ examples, you can try to ask ChatGPT to generate some from your target industries. That should be fun.
Best,
Cristian
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Practising for interviews? Check out my latest case based on a first-round MBB interview >>> SoyTechnologies
Hello,
First, I should caveat this by saying this is by no means a requirement for getting a job in consulting, if that is your goal.
The best way to learn to build a business is actually trying to build a business, learning as you go, and learning from failures that occur. There aren’t really courses or practice materials that truly prepare you for what it’s like, in my opinion. Though I’m sure there are tons of resources out there (probably geared more towards startups rather than management consulting) that walk you through the initial steps of building a business.
