Start with one measurable outcome
Good projects usually improve a specific metric: admin hours, lead response time, quote turnaround, stock accuracy, report preparation, rework, repeat purchases, or customer retention.
Simple ROI structure
- Estimate current cost or lost revenue.
- Estimate realistic improvement after adoption.
- Add full project cost, not just vendor quote.
- Include training, migration, maintenance, subscriptions, and internal time.
- Decide whether the project still makes sense without assuming best-case grant support.
Common hidden costs
- Data cleaning before migration.
- Staff training and slower first-month operations.
- Subscriptions after implementation.
- Change requests after users see the system.
- Reporting or integration work that was not scoped.
Useful test: If nobody can name the weekly behaviour that changes after launch, the ROI is probably imaginary.