FDE Foundations · Module 12: Business Impact & Handover
ROI Assumptions on the Table
An honest ROI model is a table of assumptions with owners: measured baseline times agreed improvement, minus all-in costs, with a review date. The model's job is to be correct, not optimistic.
10 min reading
Objectives
- Build the ROI case from measured baselines
- State every assumption with its owner
- Include costs: licenses, operations, and the team's time
From baseline to value
Value starts at the measured baseline from m02: hours, error rates, penalty costs. Improvement claims come from your own pilot data or published scorecards, never from brochure numbers. State the formula openly: "6 hours per day saved at 40 dollars per hour, 21 working days" and let the customer adjust their own rates.
Assumptions with owners
Every assumption gets a number, a source, and an owner who confirms it: volumes (their ops lead), hourly cost (their finance), adoption rate (the honest risk). The review date turns the model into a commitment: at 90 days, measure actuals against the model and publish the delta.
Costs are all-in
Include licenses and usage (model calls, infrastructure), operations (the runbook hours), and their team's time for training and the first weeks. ROI models that omit operations cost sell a number the P&L will contradict in a quarter, and the contradiction lands on you.
Honest framing beats wins
If the honest model shows marginal returns, say so and propose the smaller scope that clears the bar. Credibility compounds across engagements; one inflated model spends all of it.
Quick check
An optional 2-3 question self-check. Answers never leave your device, are not stored, and never count toward any assessment.
Exercise
Build a one-page ROI for a fictional invoice feature: baseline with source, value formula, four assumptions with owners, all-in monthly costs, and the 90-day review plan.
Pass criteria
Baseline is measured not assumed, formula explicit, assumptions each have owners, costs include operations and team time, and review date with what gets compared.