📝 How to Use This Template

Purpose: Translate technical proposals into business outcomes for non-technical stakeholders.

Instructions:

Keep it to ONE PAGE maximum - executives won't read more
Replace all [PLACEHOLDER] text with your specific content
Focus on business outcomes (revenue, cost, risk, competitive advantage) not technical details
Use specific numbers and timeframes wherever possible
Delete these instructions before sending

Tip: Send this 24-48 hours before any meeting to give stakeholders time to read and prepare questions.

Problem

[Describe the business problem in 2-3 sentences. Focus on IMPACT, not technical details.]

Example: "Our checkout process takes 8.3 seconds to complete, causing 42% of customers to abandon their carts. This costs us an estimated $3.2M annually in lost revenue. Competitors complete checkout in under 3 seconds."

Solution

[Describe WHAT you're proposing in business terms - avoid technical jargon. 2-3 sentences max.]

Example: "We'll modernize our payment processing system to reduce checkout time from 8.3 seconds to 2.5 seconds. This involves upgrading our infrastructure and implementing industry-standard performance optimizations proven to work at companies like [Competitor X]."

Business Impact

Revenue Impact

[$ amount or %]

Example: "+$1.8M annual" or "15% conversion lift"

Cost Impact

[$ amount or %]

Example: "-$400K annual savings" or "25% cost reduction"

Risk Mitigation

[Impact statement]

Example: "Eliminates compliance gap" or "60% fewer outages"

Competitive Advantage

[Positioning]

Example: "Match competitor capability" or "First in market"

Investment Required

Upfront Cost: [$ amount]
Ongoing Cost: [$ annual amount]
Timeline: [X months/quarters]
Team Resources: [X engineers for Y months, or % of team capacity]

ROI & Payback

[When will this pay for itself? What's the return over 3 years?]

Example: "Payback in 8 months. 3-year ROI: 280% ($5.4M benefit vs. $1.4M total investment)."

Risks & Mitigation

Risk #1: [What could go wrong?]
Mitigation: [How we'll prevent/address it]
Risk #2: [What could go wrong?]
Mitigation: [How we'll prevent/address it]
Risk #3: [What could go wrong?]
Mitigation: [How we'll prevent/address it]

Key Milestones

[Date/Quarter]: [Milestone with business impact]
[Date/Quarter]: [Milestone with business impact]
[Date/Quarter]: [Milestone with business impact]
[Date/Quarter]: [Go-live / Full implementation]

Decision Required

[What specific approval or action do you need from stakeholders? By when?]

Example: "Requesting approval to proceed with Phase 1 implementation. Need decision by March 1 to hit Q2 launch target."