Business needs

Business needs refer to the requirements or goals that a company or organization must meet in order to be successful. These needs can include financial stability, growth and expansion, meeting customer demands, and staying competitive in the market. Examples of business needs include increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction, and reducing costs. Meeting these needs can require various strategies and resources, such as marketing, sales, product development, and financial management.

Business needs are gaps between the current state of the company and its goals. Needs are the basic factors of changes in the organization, which are defined as requirements and implemented by employing people, implementing projects, transforming operations and purchasing goods.

Examples (types) of business needs

• Increasing revenue: A business needs to generate sufficient income to cover its expenses and make a profit. This can be accomplished through a variety of means, such as increasing sales, raising prices, or finding new revenue streams.
• Improving customer satisfaction: A business needs to provide products or services that meet or exceed customer expectations in order to retain existing customers and attract new ones. This can be achieved through customer service, product or service quality, or by providing additional value.
• Reducing costs: A business needs to keep its expenses under control in order to maintain profitability. This can be done by finding ways to cut costs, such as through automation, outsourcing, or negotiation with suppliers.
• Meeting regulatory requirements: A business needs to comply with laws and regulations set by government and other authorities to avoid fines, penalties, and legal issues.
• Innovation: A business needs to keep up with the latest industry trends and technologies to stay competitive in the market. This can be achieved through research and development, experimentation, and strategic partnerships.
• Attracting and retaining employees: A business needs a skilled and dedicated workforce to achieve its goals. This can be done by providing competitive compensation and benefits, creating a positive work environment, and fostering employee development and growth.

Identification of business needs

There are several ways to identify business needs, some of which include:

1. Conducting market research: This can involve surveying customers, analyzing industry trends, and studying competitors to gain insight into what is important to customers and what is lacking in the market.
2. Talking to stakeholders: This includes communicating with employees, customers, partners, and shareholders to understand their needs and concerns.
3. Examining internal operations: Reviewing internal processes and systems can reveal inefficiencies and areas for improvement.
4. Setting goals and objectives: Establishing clear and measurable goals and objectives can help identify the specific needs that must be met in order to achieve success.
5. SWOT analysis: SWOT analysis involves identifying the business's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It allows identifying internal and external factors that may be affecting the business.
6. Keeping track of key performance indicators (KPIs): Monitoring key performance indicators such as revenue, profit margin, customer satisfaction, and employee turnover can reveal areas where the business is performing well and areas where it needs to improve.

It is important to note that identifying business needs is an ongoing process and should be revisited regularly to ensure that the business is meeting the evolving needs of its stakeholders.

Stages of determining business needs during project definition

There are three basic steps to determining the business needs of a potential project:

1. Verify that your business needs are in line with the goals and business objectives of your organization. This strategic information is usually found in the organization's strategic plan, ranging from the mission, vision and value of the organization. One business goal can be divided into one or more areas of interest, such as customer satisfaction, operational excellence or business development. These business goals must be spread over a set of more quantitative business goals. Business goals set predefined results to which an effort is addressed, such as achieving a strategic position or goal to achieve.
2. Make sure you clearly identify the business problem. Investigate him whether it is really worth solving this particular problem or taking advantage of the opportunity. Look at the benefits and risks of doing something and make sure you identify the cause of the problem accurately.
3. Create a well-written description of the desired result that results from satisfying your business needs. Your business need describes the problem or opportunity the organization is facing. This problem or chance exists within the organization's goals and business goals. Business needs are the first building element that you must define to meet business requirements for your project.

Business need is usually not a product or a document. Instead, the business need is a very high business requirement, which should be included in the business requirements document or business case for the proposed project.

Business needs as a purpose of the project

A very important aspect of working at the workplace is understanding the purpose of the project. It allows you to get and analyze the requirements. Knowledge about:

• business needs
• the reason for building a given system

It will allow you to ask yourself the right questions and to ask for the right things and set proper priorities, as a result of which it will be possible to reject requirements that do not meet your needs.

Understanding and meeting key business needs and challenges for companies is crucial for developers and decision makers interested in sustainable economic development at local and regional levels. In such cases, eco-industrial signs can provide valuable information on the implementation of support and cooperation that lead to both business and social benefits. As the results show, sustainable development is the main reason why companies should not abandon the objectives of economic development

Documenting business needs

Documenting business needs is an important step in ensuring that all stakeholders understand and agree on the goals and objectives of a project or initiative. Here are some steps for documenting business needs:

1. Define the problem or opportunity: Clearly state the business need that is being addressed. This could be a problem that needs to be solved or an opportunity that needs to be seized.
2. Identify the stakeholders: Determine who will be affected by the project and gather input from them. This could include customers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders.
3. Gather requirements: Collect detailed information on what needs to be done in order to meet the business need. This could include functional requirements, performance requirements, and design requirements.
4. Prioritize the requirements: Determine which requirements are most important and which can be deferred or eliminated. This will help to keep the project focused and on track.
5. Create a requirements document: Use the information gathered in the previous steps to create a comprehensive requirements document that outlines the problem, the stakeholders, and the specific requirements that must be met in order to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity.
6. Review and approve: Share the document with all stakeholders for review and get their approval before proceeding with the project.
7. Keep it updated: As the project progresses, ensure to keep the document updated with any changes or new requirements that come up.

It is important to note that different projects may require different level of detail for the documentation of the business needs, but keeping it clear, concise and updated it is key for the success of the project.

Business needs management example

Business needs are the company's needs that describe in turn:

• Goals (business goals)
• requirements (to be met)
• problems (which the company is trying to solve)

For example, a private or public organization should, among others:

• correctly register its important activities and transactions
• preserve and audit records
• properly delegate access to authorized parties

To define and fully understand the business needs of the project, you need to look at business factors and problems to determine whether a change or design is even needed. The first important task is to identify business needs. Business need usually defines the problem. Organizations often consider adding new or changing existing opportunities based on new market opportunities, customer feedback, newly available technologies or to meet changing legal and regulatory requirements. After defining and agreeing business needs for the project, no significant changes are expected in the project life cycle.

To define and fully understand the business needs of the project, you need to look at business factors and problems to determine whether a change or design is even needed. The project manager or business analyst, or both, are now the principal investigator, questioning business needs and assumptions to ensure that the problem or opportunity is properly addressed.

Finally, identifying business needs for a possible project activates key stakeholders on the way to a full understanding of a business problem or opportunity. Organizations must be focused on business needs as compared to reacting too quickly to problems, problems or perceived inefficiencies.

Business needs set the scenario for what will happen at the beginning of the project, such as the scope of the solution options to consider, a set of stakeholders to engage and appropriate approaches to evaluation.

Business needs vs. business requirements

Business needs and business requirements are closely related concepts, but they have slightly different meanings.

Business needs refer to the overall goals and objectives that a business must meet in order to be successful. These needs may include increasing revenue, improving customer satisfaction, reducing costs, and staying competitive in the market.

Business requirements, on the other hand, are the specific details that must be met in order to fulfill a business need. For example, a business need to increase revenue might be met through a requirement to increase the number of customers or to sell more products. Business requirements are more specific and actionable than business needs.

Another way to think of it is that business needs are the "what" and business requirements are the "how". Business needs are the problem statements or objectives that the company want to achieve, while business requirements are the detailed specifications or steps needed to achieve those objectives.

In summary, business needs are the high-level goals that a business must achieve to be successful, while business requirements are the specific details that must be met in order to fulfill those needs.

Footnotes

Business needs — recommended articles

Context of the organization — Quality strategy — Relevant information — Organizational strategy — Business risk management — Quality policy — Business drivers — Project feasibility study — Competitive risk

References

• Bologa A., Bologa R. (2008), Technology vs business needs in business intelligence projects, "Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest";
• Cho Y., Brown C. (2013), Project-based learning in education: Integrating business needs and student learning, "Instructional Systems Technology";
• Subba Rao S. (2000), Enterprise resource planning: business needs and technologies, "Central Leather Research Institute";
• Veleva V.,Todorova S., Lowitt P., Neil Angus N., Neely D. (2014),Understanding and addressing business needs and sustainabilitychallenges: lessons from Devens eco-industrial park, "Journal of Cleaner Production";

Author: Filip Piszczek