Every larger investment eventually needs a solid numerical basis, but rarely the time to prepare it properly. This skill takes care of exactly that: it quantifies costs and benefits conservatively, calculates ROI and the break-even point, and works through a best, base and worst case before arriving at a recommendation.
\nIt is built for anyone who has to prepare or defend an investment decision: executives, controlling, project owners presenting to an investment committee. The result is a decision document with transparently stated assumptions, not just a row of numbers.
\nDeliberate boundary: the skill works with the figures you give it, or flags missing figures as an assumption. It does not research market data and does not replace a solid cost calculation from procurement or finance. The quality of the business case depends directly on the quality of the input.
\n" }, { "id": "skill-text", "title": "Skill Text", "html": "Copy the prompt below in full into your AI tool. As a file: business-case-geruest.en.json
\n" } ], "schritte": [ { "nr": 1, "titel": "Describe the project", "beschreibung": "The planned project, the estimated costs and the expected benefit are provided.", "rolle": "mensch" }, { "nr": 2, "titel": "Capture costs completely", "beschreibung": "Direct, indirect and opportunity costs are identified and quantified.", "rolle": "automatisch" }, { "nr": 3, "titel": "Quantify benefit", "beschreibung": "The monetary benefit is calculated conservatively, the qualitative benefit is documented separately.", "rolle": "automatisch" }, { "nr": 4, "titel": "Calculate ROI and scenarios", "beschreibung": "ROI, payback and three scenarios, best case, base case and worst case, are worked through.", "rolle": "automatisch" }, { "nr": 5, "titel": "Formulate recommendation", "beschreibung": "A reasoned go or no-go recommendation together with a risk analysis is produced.", "rolle": "automatisch" }, { "nr": 6, "titel": "Business case", "beschreibung": "A complete decision document with cost breakdown, ROI, scenarios and recommendation is ready.", "rolle": "ergebnis" } ], "herausgeber": "Voyage Digital", "version": "2.0", "stand": "2026-07-26", "umsetzung": [ { "titel": "Choose the most relevant project", "text": "An investment decision that is genuinely pending and needs approval works best as a starting point." }, { "titel": "Set up the skill", "text": "The skill text is copied and filled in with the project description, estimated costs and expected benefit." }, { "titel": "Provide figures as precisely as possible", "text": "The more precise the cost estimate and the benefit expectation, the more convincing the business case." }, { "titel": "Align the result with stakeholders", "text": "Scenarios and assumptions are reviewed with those involved and adjusted where needed before the recommendation feeds into the decision." } ], "zutaten": [ "Project", "Costs", "Benefit" ], "beispielSzenario": "A team wants to introduce an AI tool for 50,000 euros per year and needs approval from the CFO for it. The skill creates a business case: investment costs from license, onboarding and training, quantified benefit from 120 hours of time saved per month multiplied by the hourly rate, an ROI of 180 percent in the first year, and a break-even point after four months. A worst case scenario and a risk analysis are added. The CFO receives all the figures needed for the decision.", "eingaben": [ { "feld": "Project description", "pflicht": true }, { "feld": "Investment costs", "pflicht": true }, { "feld": "Expected benefit", "pflicht": true }, { "feld": "Timeframe and assumptions", "pflicht": true }, { "feld": "Alternatives", "pflicht": false }, { "feld": "Known risk factors", "pflicht": false } ], "ausgabe": "An executive summary, problem statement, complete cost breakdown, benefit quantification, ROI calculation, payback calculation, scenario analysis, risk analysis, and a reasoned go or no-go recommendation.", "prompt": "# DESCRIPTION\nYou create a well-founded business case for an investment decision. Costs and benefits are quantified conservatively, ROI and payback are calculated, three scenarios are worked through, and the result is a clear go/no-go recommendation with a rationale. Address the user in a professional manner throughout. Where facts are missing, explicitly mark your own assumptions as an assumption and keep them separate from substantiated figures.\n\n# INPUT\n- Project description: what is to be invested in or implemented\n- Investment costs, one-time and recurring\n- Expected benefit, quantitative and qualitative\n- Timeframe and assumptions\n- Optional: alternatives, risk factors\n\n# OUTPUT\nComplete business case with the following sections:\n1. Executive summary: core message and recommendation in a few sentences\n2. Problem and solution: starting position and project description\n3. Cost breakdown: one-time and recurring costs\n4. Benefit quantification: monetary and non-monetary benefit, clearly separated\n5. ROI calculation: return on investment over the chosen time horizon\n6. Payback calculation: break-even point\n7. Scenario analysis: best case, base case, worst case\n8. Risk analysis: risks and possible countermeasures\n9. Recommendation: go or no-go, with rationale\n\n# CONTEXT\n- Business cases are calculated conservatively and honestly, no flattering assumptions\n- Qualitative benefit is named but kept clearly separate from quantitative benefit\n- Alternatives are considered, including the option of doing nothing\n- Transparent assumptions increase the credibility of the document\n- If concrete figures are missing, this is stated openly and a plausible assumption is flagged, instead of setting it silently\n\n# WORKING INSTRUCTIONS\n## Step 1: Understand the project and its strategic context\nAnalyze the project description and place its strategic relevance.\n\n## Step 2: Capture costs completely\nIdentify and quantify all direct, indirect and opportunity costs.\n\n## Step 3: Quantify benefit conservatively\nCalculate the monetary benefit and document the qualitative benefit separately.\n\n## Step 4: Calculate ROI and payback\nApply the ROI formula: (benefit minus costs) divided by costs, times 100. Determine the break-even point.\n\n## Step 5: Analyze scenarios and risks\nWork through three scenarios with different assumptions, identify risks, and formulate a clear go or no-go recommendation.\n\n# QUALITY CONTROL\n[ ] All costs captured completely\n[ ] Benefit quantified conservatively and traceably\n[ ] ROI and payback calculated\n[ ] Three scenarios worked through\n[ ] Risks identified and assessed\n[ ] All assumptions for which no substantiated figures were available clearly marked as an assumption\n[ ] Clear recommendation with rationale\n\n# CONVERSATION START\nWhich project do you need a business case for? Describe the plan, the estimated costs and the expected benefit, and I will work out the ROI, payback and scenarios for you.", "einrichtung": { "intro": "Step-by-step guides for ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot Studio and Langdock.", "plattformen": [ { "plattform": "ChatGPT", "anbieter": "OpenAI", "schritte": [ "Copy the skill text above using the copy button.", "Click your profile picture and select \"Skills\".", "Click \"Create skill\" and paste the copied text as the instruction.", "Adjust inputs, outputs and format where your case requires it.", "Save the skill. It is available in all chats from that point on." ], "doku": { "label": { "de": "OpenAI Dokumentation: Skills in ChatGPT", "en": "OpenAI documentation: Skills in ChatGPT" }, "url": "https://help.openai.com/de-de/articles/20001066-skills-in-chatgpt" } }, { "plattform": "Claude", "anbieter": "Anthropic", "schritte": [ "Copy the skill text above using the copy button.", "Open claude.ai and go to \"Skills\" in your profile.", "Create a new skill and paste the copied text as the instruction.", "The skill works in claude.ai, in Claude Code and through the API.", "Available on the Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans." ], "doku": { "label": { "de": "Anthropic Dokumentation: Benutzerdefinierte Skills erstellen", "en": "Anthropic documentation: Creating custom skills" }, "url": "https://support.claude.com/de/articles/12512198-benutzerdefinierte-skills-erstellen" } }, { "plattform": "Copilot Studio", "anbieter": "Microsoft", "schritte": [ "Copy the skill text above using the copy button.", "Open Copilot Studio and create a new agent.", "Paste the copied text as the instruction.", "Connect knowledge sources and tools where needed.", "Publish the agent for yourself or for your organisation." ], "doku": { "label": { "de": "Microsoft Dokumentation: Einen Agent erstellen und bereitstellen", "en": "Microsoft documentation: Create and deploy an agent" }, "url": "https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/microsoft-copilot-studio/fundamentals-get-started" } }, { "plattform": "Langdock", "anbieter": null, "schritte": [ "Copy the skill text above using the copy button.", "Open the sidebar and click \"Add skill\".", "Paste the copied text directly as the instruction.", "Connect the skill to integrations such as Gmail or Slack where needed.", "Save the skill and release it for yourself or your team." ], "doku": { "label": { "de": "Langdock Dokumentation: Skills", "en": "Langdock documentation: Skills" }, "url": "https://docs.langdock.com/de/product/chat/skills" } } ] }, "itemIcon": "trending-up", 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perspectives, exposed blind spots and worst case scenarios, before closing with a strengthened argument and a clear recommendation.", "domaene": "Strategie & Entscheidung", "itemIcon": "shield-half" }, { "slug": "stresstest-protokoll", "category": "skill", "name": "The Stress Test Protocol", "teaser": "Puts a concept, process or strategy under attack from the perspective of a specific critic, such as a skeptical CFO or an impatient customer, and exposes its weak points before they surface in the real meeting.", "domaene": "Strategie & Entscheidung", "itemIcon": "activity" }, { "slug": "umkehr-manoever", "category": "skill", "name": "The Reversal Maneuver", "teaser": "The Reversal Maneuver takes your biggest business constraint and inverts it completely into a concrete competitive advantage, target audience, and business model, instead of merely softening the disadvantage.", "domaene": "Strategie & Entscheidung", "itemIcon": "undo-2" }, { "slug": "widerspruchs-schema", "category": 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"Strategie & Entscheidung", "itemIcon": "shield-half" }, { "slug": "strategie-sparringspartner", "category": "assistent", "name": "The Strategy Sparring Partner", "teaser": "Checks strategy drafts with the same rigor you would apply to code before a release, systematically attacking assumptions instead of confirming them.", "domaene": "Strategie & Entscheidung", "itemIcon": "milestone" }, { "slug": "wettbewerbskraefte-pruefer", "category": "assistent", "name": "The Five Forces Analyzer", "teaser": "Analyzes an industry systematically using Michael Porter's five competitive forces and derives a well founded assessment of market attractiveness.", "domaene": "Strategie & Entscheidung", "itemIcon": "swords" }, { "slug": "grill-me", "category": "tool", "name": "grill-me", "teaser": "grill-me is an external skill repository by Matt Pocock that clarifies plans and designs through persistent questioning, branch by branch, before any code is written.", "domaene": "Strategie & Entscheidung" }, { "slug": "vertragsrisiko-kette", "category": "workflow", "name": "The Contract Risk Chain", "teaser": "An automation workflow that reads new contracts on arrival, extracts key terms, and files a structured high, medium and low risk assessment for the responsible team to review.", "domaene": "Recht & Compliance", "itemIcon": "file-warning" } ] }