Why you shouldn’t complete that project.

You know the one I’m talking about. The one that seems like a such great idea, that your mentor told you to do, that definitely works for everybody else but… you just keep putting it off.

Here’s what to do about that.

Get old school and do an old fashioned full business case with a SWOT analysis, a competitor analysis, and every other kind of analysis you can think of.

We, as small business entrepreneurs, don’t do those kinds of business cases very much. They’re clunky and take a lot of time and are mostly unnecessary when you’re not trying to communicate a business idea to anyone other than perhaps a partner.

So why do one now?

Well, a full business case report will help you identify where you’re stuck with getting the project off the ground. Maybe you don’t want to accept the risks, or the potential client isn’t what you want for your business or… any number of other reasons.

Once you’ve written it all down, the project itself should be clear; then you can decide finally, do you want to do it?

Don’t do a project just because you have the idea, or your mentor told you to or because everyone else is doing it. Do it because the business case fits your business.

And if it doesn’t, now you know why. Put the project down, archive whatever you’ve already done and focus your efforts on what does fit your business and you.

Keep the business case though. Review it in 12 months time or 5 years time, it might work in the future even if it doesn’t work for right now.

If you want more information on how to write a business case, there’s a pretty good article about that by Adobe Workfront.

Sometimes you might need specific advice to really understand the risks and costs of an IT project, so if that’s what you’re struggling with, perhaps I could help you out.