Every strong business case presents a recommended path, but behind every path is a landscape of options. Some are cheaper, some are faster, and some are safer. Too often business cases launch straight into “the solution”, meaning they skip a vital part of the story. Decision-makers will want to know:
Why this approach and not another?
What else did you consider?
What are you giving up?
The trick is showing that you’ve thought through the real-world trade-offs, not just picked a favorite. By including alternatives and trade-offs, you shift your business case from a pitch to a decision support tool and demonstrate that your proposal is the result of analysis, not assumption.
In the eighth tutorial in the Business Case Academy, we explore why great business cases don’t just propose, they compare, and how showing the options explored and the trade-offs made helps you build confidence, transparency, and strategic alignment.
Why it matters to show alternatives and trade-offs
When you skip over alternative options, it can either look like you're trying to steer decision-makers rather than support them, or worse, make it look as though you haven’t even considered other approaches. Including trade-offs shows that you've taken a broader view and are confident in your recommendation, not defensive about it. Showing alternatives:
🔍 Builds confidence through transparency
Decision-makers want to trust that you didn’t rush to a recommendation, so demonstrating that you explored multiple routes (then ruled them out) shows discipline, critical thinking, and a willingness to find the best path, not just the fastest.
🤔 Helps clarify what's at stake
Trade-offs help surface what your organization values most, e.g. speed vs. cost, short-term gain vs. long-term impact, internal vs. external resources. Explicitly laying those out brings alignment faster and helps avoid second-guessing down the line.
💬 Preempts difficult questions
If you can address “Why X rather than Y?” before someone asks it then you can control the narrative. This proactive approach shows that you're prepared, strategic, and aware of potential counterpoints or alternative opinions in the room.
🎯 Sharpens your recommendation
Comparing your proposed path to viable alternatives helps clarify why it’s the best fit. But this isn’t just about ticking a box for stakeholders, it also helps in your decision-making process as it forces you to stress-test your own logic, articulate your rationale clearly, and refine your case based on trade-offs that matter most.
📊 Reinforces strategic alignment
Alternatives give context so by showing how different options align (or perhaps even more importantly don’t) with strategic goals, you reinforce why your recommendation is the best fit for your organization’s priorities.
💡 Tip: A strong set of alternatives doesn’t weaken your case, it strengthens it. It shows you’re not just advocating, but guiding.
How to evaluate trade-offs effectively
Not every option is created equal, but that’s the point. The role of the business case isn’t just to pick the best idea, but to show why it’s the best idea for now, for this context, and with these resources.
⚖️ Define the evaluation criteria upfront
Be clear on what matters most, be it cost, speed, risk, strategic fit, or scalability. Use these to assess all alternatives consistently and avoid the trap of moving the goalposts.
🧮 Quantify where possible
Even directional estimates (e.g. ROI ranges, delivery timeframes, or risk likelihood) help to show how each alternative stacks up. As we have seen before, numbers bring clarity and make it easier to compare scenarios side by side.
🆚 Acknowledge trade-offs explicitly
Call out what you’re giving up, not just what you’re gaining. A recommendation is more compelling and breeds more credibility when it openly admits the downside while still justifying the upside.
🧠 Consider future flexibility
Some alternatives might not be the best now but could unlock options later. Thinking about how today’s decision sets up tomorrow’s moves shows strategic foresight.
💡 Tip: A simple table comparing key criteria across 2–3 alternatives can make your logic easy to follow and hard to argue with.
What alternatives to include
Not all alternatives need to be formal proposals, but each one should be a plausible response to the same challenge or opportunity your case addresses, so use a consistent lens to evaluate each option. Some alternatives you should consider including are:
🚫 Do nothing
Always include the “do nothing” option. It may seem negative, but it’s a real choice, and is in fact often the default approach if a business case isn’t compelling enough. Outline what staying on the same course looks like, including opportunity costs, growing pains, or risks of inaction.
🤏 Lower-cost or phased options
Consider more incremental or limited-scope versions of your proposal. These can appeal to risk-averse stakeholders or be useful fallback positions if full funding isn’t approved immediately (i.e. they could act almost as a test phase/MVP/PoC to demonstrate success before a full rollout).
🚀 Faster or premium solutions
Show what happens if you really commit and go all in, whether that’s through additional investment, external partners, or a compressed timeline. These can surface stretch goals or highlight constraints.
🧰 Alternative approaches or vendors
If applicable, briefly outline different tools, platforms, or methodologies that you evaluated, as showing that you looked beyond one path builds credibility and strengthens your justification.
💡 Tip: Don’t overdo it; aim for 2–3 viable alternatives that were seriously considered, not every idea ever mentioned, as the key is to focus on credible options.
How to frame trade-offs clearly
The reality is that no solution is perfect so every option (including the one you are recommending) comes with trade-offs. Rather than hiding them away, acknowledge them clearly because when you show you're aware of limitations and still believe that the proposal is worth pursuing, you appear more realistic and persuasive. Remember to:
🍎/🍏 Compare apples to apples
Use a consistent format to compare options; e.g. cost, time to value, risk level, internal capacity, and strategic fit, as this allows stakeholders to evaluate each option fairly and systematically.
👎 Acknowledge real downsides
Be honest and open about the pros and cons of each alternative, thereby avoiding biased framing; make it clear you’re offering a balanced view, not steering toward a foregone conclusion.
🧩 Tie back to strategic goals
Anchor the trade-offs to what matters most to the organization. A high-cost option may still be best if speed-to-impact aligns with a critical goal, while a lower-cost route might fall short if it doesn’t unlock future capabilities.
🆚 Use scenario modeling
It is imperative to model how each path plays out over time, using variables such as costs, benefits, timeline, or adoption rate. This makes the trade-offs visible and quantifiable, not just theoretical.
💡 Tip: If your recommendation involves making a trade-off (e.g. slower speed in exchange for lower risk), then make sure that you explicitly say so as stakeholders respect clarity over spin.
How KangaROI makes this easier
Anyone that has tried it will know that comparing options and surfacing trade-offs manually (especially in spreadsheets) can get messy, fast. KangaROI is designed to help you do it with clarity and speed.
🆚 Scenario modeling made simple
Build and compare multiple paths side by side (phased rollouts, premium options, “do nothing,” and more) using cloned assumptions and easily adjustable variables.
📊 Instant ROI comparison
Toggle inputs like project length, discount rate, or inflation and instantly see how each option affects NPV, ROI and Discounted Payback Period.
⚖️ Side-by-side visualizations
Enable stakeholders to see trade-offs at a glance using clean, dynamic visuals that update in real-time.
✅ Aligned decision-making
Equip decision-makers with a full picture (not just a single proposal) so they can make faster, more confident decisions.
With KangaROI, evaluating alternatives isn't just a box to tick, it's a way to bring stakeholders along with your thinking and build shared confidence in the path forward.
Summary
A compelling business case isn’t just about what you’re recommending, it’s about why that recommendation wins out over other valid paths. Alternatives and trade-offs aren’t a threat to your business case, they’re what make it stronger as they bring transparency, sharpen decision-making, and show that you’ve done the work.
Remember, your business case isn’t just trying to prove that your recommendation is good, it’s proving that it’s the best available option and when you walk stakeholders through the logic, they’re far more likely to be inclined to follow you to the destination.
