What really needs to go into your Business Case for partnership?

You’ve been asked to submit a Business Case for partnership. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could see a sample first? I know this to be true because people on my mailing list have asked me numerous times for a sample Business Case for partnership. This article includes a link to our ‘Guide on How to Create A Cast-Iron Business Case for Partnership’ and also a link to our sample Business Case template.

In the article, I give you some ideas on how to adapt the sample to suit your own particular circumstances.

WARNING: Sample Business Case for Partnership

Every business case is different, so do not be tempted to use the sample Business Case for partnership without adapting it for your particular scenario. (See the 7 types of Business Case to understand how you may need to change the sample Business Case to suit your own requirements.)

Here are the freebies I promised you at the start of the article:

• Download your free Sample Business Case Template here
• Download our free guide on How to Create a Cast-Iron Business Case for Partnership here

What typically is expected in a Business case for partnership?

This extract of what typically is expected in a Business Case for partnership is taken from chapter 11 of Poised for Partnership

Need more help to create your Business Case and get through the Partnership Admissions Process? Why not get a copy of our book Poised for Partnership? Making the transition from senior employee to partner in a professional services firm is the hardest career move you will ever make. The fully updated 3rd edition of Poised for Partnership is a clear roadmap (for the post COVID-19 world) that strengthens your case and makes reaching partnership inevitable if you’ve got ‘the right stuff’. And if you haven’t, it will show you how to get it. Chapter 11 and 12 of Poised for Partnership looks in detail at creating your Business Case and the Partnership Admissions Process.

Outline of your current practice

Your partners want to understand the value of your current practice. This means you will need to help them understand:

The services you offer to your clients and the value you help them achieve.

• If you deliver a distressed service or transactional service, such as insolvency or litigation, then the value of your current referral networks. This means identifying your top 10 referrers and breaking down the value of the work they send to you.
• The revenue you have billed for your top 5–10 clients for each of the last 3 years.
• How your practice measures up against the metrics that your firm cares about. E.g. recoverability, billings.
• The current size of the team within your practice.

How you plan to grow your practice over the next 3 years

This is where you draw a picture of the opportunity that the partnership will have with your practice. You will need to show:

• The markets and geographies you plan to target and why you have chosen these.   So, what is the opportunity available to the firm for targeting these markets and geographies?
• The services you will offer to your clients.
• How you will compete against and differentiate yourself from your key competitors.
• How you will fuel the growth of your practice. For example, will this be by growing more of your current client portfolio? Winning new clients? Cross-selling your services to the firm’s clients?
• What are the goals that the partners could measure you on and which will demonstrate how you plan to grow your practice?
• Revenue and profit for your practice for the next three years, broken down by year.
• Potential known risks which may stop you achieving your business case.
• The team and people resources you will need to deliver the promise of your Business Case.

If you are reading this and feeling despondent. Don’t worry, most lawyers, accountants and consultants like you are taught to be great technicians; not great at business planning and putting together commercial and persuasive documents. After all, your Business Case for partnership needs to feel very commercially sound AND persuasive. To help you do this, we put together our course “How to Build a Cast-Iron Business Case for Partner”.  It’s included within our subscriber-only site Progress to Partner. This course is one of the most downloaded of any of the 150+ resources within Progress to Partner. 

12-month marketing plan

This is your marketing plan to help you achieve the growth figures you predict for your practice. It will contain:

• Key account plans for the clients that you plan to grow materially over the next 12 months. These account plans will identify the opportunity with the client and your activity plan to realise this opportunity.
• Your prospective client list and your plan to convert these into clients.
• Your Networking Strategy to strengthen your referral networks.
• How you plan to build general awareness of you and what you do in the marketplace.

Critical success factors

This is where you identify:

• The support and budget you need to achieve your business case.
• Any issues preventing or hindering the delivery of your business case; e.g. staffing, marketing budget, skill gaps.

What’s in Progress To Partner which will help you with your final step up to partner?

Progress to Partner is our membership site that will give your the knowledge AND confidence to fly through this final step up to partner.

It’s like a Netflix for your career in the professions. Find what you need to watch or read at the time you need it. Within the site, you’ll find over 150+ courses, videos, checklists, templates and plans to help you progress your career to partner. Amongst the many curated resources (no more unnecessary scrolling or searching), you’ll find:

1. On-demand courses on how to create and articulate your business case, including our most downloaded course “How to Build a Cast-Iron Business Case for Partner”
2. A section on the Partnership Admissions process with guides and recordings to help you find your way through the process with your sanity intact.
3. Recordings and checklists on how to ace your partner panel interview
4. On-demand courses on how to win the right sort of clients
5. Proven advice on how to still do the day job and find the time to get through the Partner Track process

Check it out!