Every business proposal must address this one underlying question:

"𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆?"

Businesses exist to make money by creating value for customers. The closer you are to generating revenue for your organization, the more leverage you have.

Here are other variations of the question, "how will this save money or make money?":

1. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀? “Driving the business” is another way to say “making money for the business."

2. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀? Money is also wasted time, lost brand equity, lower team morale, decrease in customer satisfaction, etc.

3. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺? Share how often the problem happens and the severity of the impact each time it happens.

4. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄? Businesses are basically a neverending list of one problem after another, so you need to focus on solving the most important problems first.

5. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗲𝘇𝗲? This is about upside and ROI, and why it's worth (or not worth) spending effort and resources.

6. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿? Happier customers will stay around and continue buying from you, which means growing the business.

7. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹? Frame your idea as a means to an end for achieving growth goals.

8. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼? I call this framework “Bad Things/Good Things.” It’s one of my favorites. Some people are more compelled by fear of loss and want to mitigate downside risk, while others care more about new gains and upside. This covers both.

Don’t only say “this costs us money" or "this is an opportunity to drive growth." Share evidence about why and how, including quantifying the amount and painting a picture to help your audience feel the impact.