How to Write a Feasibility Study

How to Write a Feasibility Study

Our team at Prospectus writes feasibility reports on a daily basis for a wide variety of companies offering an even wider array of products and services. Many ask us how to write a feasibility study and if it’s possible for one to do so without employing (or paying really) an outside party for assistance. The short answer is yes.

The first step in writing a feasibility study report is to identify the project or product at hand. Here are the 10 steps to on how to write a feasibility study. Please note that within each category below there are sub-categories – and not to discourage you – there are even sub-categories to those sub-categories!

Top 10 Steps to Writing a Feasibility Study Analysis Report

Step by Step Process to Write a Feasibility Study

  1. Identify the project you wish to undertake and clearly explain it. Know exactly what you want to do and illustrate the business plan. Deviation is only a good idea if the current business model falls through or you must pivot due to a change in market conditions.
  2. Ensure your market statistics and analysis is up to date. Double and triple check your market research numbers. Inaccurate numbers can doom a project and certainly hinder growth, contribute to the failure of not raising capital and much more.
  3. Identify any legal hurdles that must be overcome. Regulatory issues, permitting, government licenses and more need to be ascertained from the onset. If for any reason you believe you cannot obtain a particular legal requirement then it may be best to move on from the project.
  4. Financials. Know your numbers. From your development or budgetary requirements, to the proforma, income statements, cash flows and balance sheets, profit and loss and others. Know your numbers backwards and forwards.
  5. Use of proceeds. The use of proceeds is somewhat tied to the financials, however this is a separate standalone document that shows where your capital will go, how it will be utilized, from purchasing equipment, to hiring to development, sales and marketing.
  6. Risk Factors. Identify the risk of the business. List all reasonable and valid risks and even unforeseen risks. Not including adequate risk factors in a feasibility study can doom a business from obtaining financing and bring a company to the non-existent world. Risk factors should not be underestimated, and all resources should be utilized to ensure you have covered all notable risks to the business.
  7. Exit Strategies. Include an analysis of your business’ potential exit strategies and how you plan on achieve such an exit. An exit strategy might include a strategic sale or an investor buy-out or even an initial public offering or IPO.
  8. Scale the business. Any feasibility study should show how you plan on scaling the business and growing the products or service.
  9. Profit Explanation. Explain how you will make a profit. Profit is also tied into the scaling of the business, the financials and the exit strategy. There really is no positive exit unless the company generates revenue and profit (of course this is not always the case for publicly listed companies that do not generate any profit yet are priced on future performance – but not all of us are that lucky).
  10. Team. Last but not least the team aspect of the company should be emphasized in the feasibility report. A solid management team can go a long way with any business, especially if capital is needed to launch or grow the company. Surround yourself with an experienced group of people and make sure you emphasize their skills in the report.

While each of the noted steps above are somewhat broad, it is important to keep in mind that there are many variations of this model and subsets of categories within each group. But the above should give you an idea as to the importance of covering the basic fundamentals of any feasibility study.

Prospectus’ Feasibility Services

Prospectus.com’s team writes first class feasibility study reports. Indeed, hundreds of companies worldwide have utilized our feasibility services. Our staff of researchers, business plan and financial consultants and attorneys have written hundreds of feasibility study documents in more than 50 countries. We have written feasibility studies for a diverse range of industries and businesses, including real estate development, oil, gas and energy, product launching, scientific exploration and much more.

A feasibility study is conducted prior to a project’s undertaking. Principals of companies and their investors want to ensure that any given project they plan on developing is actually “feasible”, and preparing a study showing this feasibility is the main point of writing such a report (which of course will help save needed capital and time in the long run). A feasibility study includes such vital information and data as the funding needs to complete the project, the market opportunity, government regulations, risk factors, strength and weaknesses, the management team and the financials of the company. While a feasibility study somewhat sounds like a business plan, such reports tend to be many times longer with more details on the market and financials.

Prospectus.com’s team is respected for its keen insights into any given market, and our straight forward assessment regarding a projects viability. We work one-on-one with our clients to ensure that each project is specifically tailored to the company’s needs.

Various Types of Feasibility Study Reports and How to Writer Them

Prospectus.com’s team can assist with any of the noted feasibility studies below. Each separate study has its own features but there are more similarities among them than there are differences.

4 Main Feasibility Studies

  • Real Estate Feasibility – This is the most common feasibility study that we at Prospectus.com write. Real estate feasibility reports include such features as the land survey, building permits, zoning laws, impact on the surrounding environment and natural habits, traffic issues and general impact on businesses in the area as well as the overall market opportunity. Housing developments such as condos, single family homes and apartments, or larger projects such as hotels or buildings or sky scrapers often create real estate feasibility studies before land acquisition and development.
  • Comprehensive Feasibility– A comprehensive feasibility study is an all-inclusive report that takes into consideration some of the most rational business practices one should implement before undertaking any project. The comprehensive feasibility includes data on land acquisitions and real estate issues, economic and cultural impact on the greater surrounding areas, and more. Such comprehensive studies can be found in our business plan features (if a client wants a very long and detailed analysis). The comprehensive feasibility study is also referenced in the real estate feasibility study (see above) and together with the real estate report is the most popular feasibility study we offer.
  • Financial Economic Feasibility– An economic feasibility study is conducted when a company wants to know if the proposed amount of capital and financing is sufficient to complete a project successfully. While a business plan may have a section called the “CBA” or cost-benefit-analysis, in an economic feasibility study it will be greater in detail and have more statistics and numbers in the financials.
  • Marketing Feasibility– The marketing feasibility studies the market impact and penetration, such as the demographics, target market, product testing and more. Prior to launching a project into the market, whether in a local, regional, national or global environment, a viable study on the market is imperative.

 Additional Feasibility Studies

Our firm has also written and assisted with the following additional (not as popular) feasibility reports, including:

 Technical Feasibility– If a company has the technological know how and resources to achieve its goals.

  • Schedule Feasibility-Is there enough time and resources to complete the project on time?
  • Cultural Feasibility-Local and greater cultural and societal impact.
  • Legal and Ethical Feasibility– Are there ethical and legal implications of a project and if so what are they?
  • Resource Feasibility-What resources are needed and is that enough to complete the project successfully?
  • Operational Feasibility– can your firm solve difficulties and maximize potential opportunities during the development.

 Why Write a Financial or Market Feasibility Study?

Writing a professional feasibility study is good business practice, especially for companies that are planning on raising many millions of dollars and want to have the knowledge readily available to make an educated decision about a projects viability. By creating such a feasibility study, for instance, for a real estate project, you will be able to navigate potential pitfalls during development and save needed capital in the process, as well as possibly discover new opportunities in the market.

What We Do

Our team at Prospectus.com has worldwide experience in writing feasibility studies. Here is a partial list of our process. We have used a real estate project as an example. Numerous features are missing but the general idea can be conveyed as follows:

Review

  • Initial analysis of your project
  • Recommendation on next course of action
  • Undertake the project

Information assessment and collection

  • Initial analysis of the proposed development area, including the initial demographics
  • Conduct land or site review
  • Proposed construction and development costs

Market analysis

  • Demographic analysis of proposed area
  • Neighborhood analysis
  • Demographic comparison
  • Municipal incentives
  • National market overview
  • Analysis of similar project or developments
  • Regional market analysis
  • Competitive market analysis
  • Competitive advantages of project or location
  • Disadvantages of project or location
  • Projected overall market
  • Pricing analysis
  • Purchases or occupancy
  • Interviews if needed
  • Financial analysis

Management summary

  • Principals
  • Advisors
  • Third party team, i.e. law firm, accountant etc.

Financial Statements and Projections

  • Pro forma
  • Balance sheet
  • Income statement
  • Profit and loss

Recommendations

Appendixes and Addendum

Once complete we will then send the draft version of the feasibility study for review and comments.

Start to Finish

Prospectus.com is a one-stop company for all your feasibility study, prospectus, business plan or offering document needs. Our team has been involved in literally thousands of projects.  We have set the bar high for feasibility study performance, taking into consideration time constraints and budgets. We pride ourselves on offering superior service – not just on a local or national level but on a global scale – at a fraction of the cost of our competitors and usually twice as fast. We give our clients the tools they need to make an educated decision about the business opportunity at hand by producing a market driven, financially conscience feasibility study. The success of our clients is the number goal of our company.

Feel free to reach out to us any time for a free consultation for your feasibility study.

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How to Write a Feasibility Study