Overview
Feasibility studies are used before significant commitments: opening a new training center, launching an academic program, building a facility, starting a social enterprise or expanding into a new country. Funders, boards and lenders often require them. Their value depends on objectivity. A study written to justify a decision already made gives false comfort; one that tests assumptions honestly can save money and reputation.
A typical study examines several dimensions, sometimes summarized as TELOS: technical, economic, legal, operational and scheduling feasibility, alongside market demand and, for public or nonprofit projects, social and environmental considerations. Each dimension ends with a judgment and the evidence behind it, and the financial analysis ties the dimensions together through projected costs, revenues and cash flows.
We work with you to define the options being compared, including a 'do nothing' or alternative option, gather the evidence, build the financial model and present findings in a structure your decision-makers or funders expect. You retain the decision; our job is to make its basis clear.
Who it’s for and the problems it solves
This is for you if you are…
- Universities and colleges assessing a new program, campus facility or partnership
- Nonprofits and NGOs appraising a new service or social enterprise
- Founders and small businesses testing an idea before seeking finance
- Public-sector and development project teams preparing appraisal documents
- Graduate students completing a feasibility study as a capstone, supported through coaching and feedback
Common problems we help with
- Your board or funder has asked for a feasibility study and you have never written one
- You have a business plan full of optimistic assumptions that nobody has tested
- You are unsure how to estimate demand for something that does not yet exist
- The financial projections look positive but you do not know how sensitive they are
- Regulatory, licensing or accreditation requirements might block the project
What’s included — and what isn’t
Included
- Definition of the project, objectives, options to compare and decision criteria
- Market and demand assessment using secondary data and, where needed, surveys or stakeholder interviews
- Technical feasibility: requirements, technologies, suppliers, capacity and constraints
- Operational feasibility: staffing, processes, partners, governance and organizational readiness
- Legal and regulatory review at a research level: licenses, accreditation, permits and compliance issues to verify with qualified advisers
- Schedule feasibility: realistic timeline, dependencies and critical milestones
- Financial analysis: capital and operating costs, revenue projections, break-even, cash flow, and NPV, IRR or payback where appropriate
- Sensitivity and scenario analysis on the assumptions that matter most
- Risk register with likelihood, impact and mitigations
- Findings and recommendation framed as proceed, adapt or stop, with conditions
Not included
- Formal legal, tax, engineering or investment advice, which requires licensed professionals in your jurisdiction
- Certified valuations or audited financial statements
- Adjusting assumptions to reach a predetermined conclusion
- Writing graded feasibility assignments for students to submit as their own
What you receive
- Feasibility report
- Executive summary, project description, analysis of each feasibility dimension, financial results, risks and recommendation, with sources cited.
- Financial model
- A transparent spreadsheet with separate input, calculation and output sheets, so assumptions can be changed and results updated.
- Sensitivity and scenario tables
- Results under base, conservative and optimistic scenarios, plus a sensitivity chart showing which inputs drive viability.
- Risk register
- Key risks with ratings, owners and mitigations, suitable for a board paper or funder appendix.
- Presentation summary
- Optional slides summarizing the findings for a board, committee or funder meeting.
How it works
Frame the decision
We agree the project scope, options, decision criteria, audience and any required template from your funder or institution.
Gather evidence
We collect market, technical, operational and regulatory information, and run stakeholder interviews or a demand survey where needed.
Model
We build the financial model with you, documenting every assumption and its source.
Test
We run scenarios and sensitivity analysis, and identify conditions under which the project becomes unviable.
Report and discuss
You receive a draft report and model, followed by a review meeting and a revision round.
Analytical components
- TELOS framework
- Technical, economic, legal, operational and scheduling feasibility, used as a checklist so no dimension is overlooked.
- Demand estimation
- Catchment or target-population analysis, comparable services, surveys and stated-preference questions, triangulated rather than relying on one source.
- Discounted cash flow
- Net present value, internal rate of return and payback period for investment-type projects, with the discount rate and horizon made explicit.
- Break-even analysis
- The volume or enrollment needed to cover fixed and variable costs, often the most intuitive result for boards.
- Sensitivity and scenario analysis
- One-at-a-time sensitivity (tornado charts) and combined scenarios to show how robust the conclusion is.
- Options appraisal
- Comparison against alternatives, including doing nothing or a smaller pilot, using weighted criteria where non-financial factors matter.
Feasibility study or business plan?
A feasibility study asks whether a project should go ahead and under what conditions. A business plan assumes it will and explains how. Mixing the two produces a document that argues rather than tests. We recommend completing the feasibility study first; if the answer is to proceed, much of its evidence feeds directly into a business plan or grant proposal.
Testing assumptions, not just reporting them
Most feasibility conclusions depend on a handful of assumptions: demand in year one, price, staff costs, capital cost overruns or time to reach capacity. We identify these early and give them the most evidence-gathering effort.
Sensitivity analysis then shows how much each assumption would need to change before the project stops being viable. A project that fails if enrollment falls 5% below forecast is very different from one that survives a 30% shortfall, even if both show the same base-case result.
Feasibility in education and nonprofit settings
For universities and nonprofits, financial return is only one criterion. A new program may be justified by mission, accreditation strategy or community need even with a modest surplus. We include non-financial criteria explicitly, with weights agreed with you, and describe mission-related benefits honestly rather than converting everything into money.
- Program feasibility: student demand, competitor programs, accreditation requirements, faculty capacity and space
- Service feasibility: community need, referral pathways, partner capacity and funding sustainability
- Facility feasibility: utilization forecasts, capital and lifecycle costs, and phasing options
What the work can look like
Illustrative example — fictional data
A part-time professional master's program at a regional university
A fictional university is considering a part-time online master's in data analytics for working professionals. The academic board wants a feasibility study before approving development costs.
Demand and competition
Labor market data and a survey of 180 alumni and employer contacts suggested interest, but seven comparable online programs already recruit in the region. The base case assumed an intake of 35 students in year one rising to 60 by year three.
Financial results
Break-even required 42 students per intake. The base case reached break-even in year three; the conservative scenario (intake 25 percent lower) did not break even within five years.
Recommendation
Proceed with conditions: launch a shorter postgraduate certificate first as a pilot, confirm two employer partnerships, and review enrollment against a stated threshold before committing to the full program.
Illustrative, invented scenario and figures. Actual studies depend on your context, data and decision criteria.
What you’ll need to provide
- A description of the proposed project and the decision it supports
- Any existing business plan, concept note, cost quotes or internal data
- Access to relevant staff, partners or stakeholders for interviews
- Any required template, funder guidance or board format
- Your financial parameters, such as discount rate or target return, if defined
You don’t need everything ready to ask for a quote — tell us what you have and we’ll say what’s missing.
What affects price and turnaround
Price depends on
- Size and complexity of the project and number of options compared
- Whether primary demand research or stakeholder interviews are needed
- Depth of the financial model and scenario analysis
- Required format, such as a funder or government appraisal template
- Number of review rounds and presentation requirements
Turnaround depends on
- Availability of data and access to stakeholders
- Time for primary research fieldwork
- Board or funder deadlines and internal review cycles
Every project is quoted individually. How we price our work.
Questions people ask before starting
Will the study recommend going ahead?
Only if the evidence supports it. A useful feasibility study can conclude that a project should be adapted, piloted or stopped. We agree decision criteria at the start so the conclusion follows from evidence rather than expectation.
Can you follow our funder's appraisal template?
Yes. Many funders and public bodies have required structures, such as cost-benefit or options appraisal formats. We work within them and add supporting analysis in appendices where helpful.
Do you give legal or regulatory advice?
We research and summarize regulatory requirements so you know what to check, but formal legal, tax and engineering opinions must come from qualified professionals in your jurisdiction.
What if we have little data?
We use proxies, comparable projects and primary research, and we show how uncertain the results are. Where data are very thin, we may recommend a pilot to generate evidence before a full commitment.
Can students use this for a capstone?
Students can use coaching and feedback: we help you understand the frameworks and review your model and draft. The study you submit must be your own work.