The document provides information about conducting a feasibility study for a proposed project or business venture. It defines what a feasibility study is, distinguishes it from a business plan, and outlines the typical steps involved in conducting one. These include assessing the technical, financial, market, and organizational feasibility of the project. Key parts of a feasibility study involve analyzing strengths/weaknesses, conducting market research, planning operations, and preparing projected financial statements like an income statement and opening day balance sheet. The overall goal is to objectively determine whether the project is viable and feasible to implement.

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Feasibility
study
Hassanein Alwan Malik
MSc in Artificial intelligence, University of Technology – Baghdad
Over 15 years of experience as Service Delivery, Social Accountability,
Monitoring and Evaluation, Planning, Decentralization, Awareness
Campaign, Business Process Analyst, and Information Management
specialist

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Feasibility Study Definition
A feasibility study, as the name suggests, is designed to reveal whether a
project/plan is feasible. It is an assessment of the practicality of a proposed
project/plan.
The feasibility study is one of the most important decision support systems, it is
conducted in order to objectively uncover the strengths and weaknesses of a
proposed project or an existing business. It can help to identify and assess the
opportunities and threats present in the natural environment, the resources
required for the project, and the prospects for success.
Feasibility Study vs. Business Plan
A feasibility study is not a business plan. The separate roles of the feasibility study
and the business plan are frequently misunderstood. The feasibility study provides
an investigating function. It addresses the question of "Is this a viable business
venture?" The business plan provides a planning function. The business plan
outlines the actions needed to take the proposal from "idea" to "reality."
Information File C5‐68, Writing a Business Plan, offers more discussion of drafting
a business plan.
The feasibility study outlines and analyzes several alternatives or methods of
achieving business success. The feasibility study helps to narrow the scope of the
project to identify the best business scenario(s). The business plan deals with only
one alternative or scenario. The feasibility study helps to narrow the scope of the
project to identify and define two or three scenarios or alternatives. The person or
business conducting the feasibility study may work with the group to identify the
"best" alternative for their situation. This becomes the basis for the business plan.

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The feasibility study is conducted before the business plan. A business plan is
prepared only after the business venture has been deemed to be feasible. If a
proposed business venture is considered to be feasible, a business plan is usually
constructed next that provides a "roadmap" of how the business will be created
and developed. The business plan provides the “blueprint” for project
implementation. If the venture is deemed not to be feasible, efforts may be made
to correct its deficiencies, other alternatives may be explored, or the idea is
dropped.
Benefits of a Feasibility Study
It’s a comprehensive and convenient tool that assists organizations to take action
based on relevant information.
 Stakeholders benefit from it by gaining a clearer picture of the project.
 Bringing to light new opportunities that weren’t obvious from the start.
 Your team’s commitment improves by gaining a higher sense of focus.
 They help to make well‐grounded decisions and they are easily scalable,
which means they can be applied to any kind of project
 Project failure is minimized through logical assessment.
 Analyzing the different options helps to simplify the decision‐making process
and increasing insight for better and faster project decision making
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Malik
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Date: 2021.07.29 13:14:55 +03'00'

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Characteristics of the Feasibility study
1. Is this plan technically feasible?
Starting off, this question will help you determine whether or not your organization
has the technical resources to successfully execute this project.
This includes evaluating all of the hardware, software, and other technical assets
you have at your disposal and whether or not they meet the requirements of your
new project.
2. Is this plan legal?
Does your organization meet all of the requirements, laws, and regulations to
complete this project?
It’s a complete nonstarter if your project doesn’t meet the legal threshold for
completion, which includes anything from data protection laws to building
requirements.
Otherwise, you’ll make it halfway through your project before you realize that your
team isn’t meeting some overlooked regulation that’ll waste more time and
resources to rectify later.
3. Is this plan operationally feasible?
Will this proposed project solve the problems you hope it will solve? Is the solution
reliable, maintainable, and affordable?
There is no sense in sinking time, money, and energy into a project that isn’t likely
to produce quality results for your team or your stakeholders.

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4. Is this plan feasible within a reasonable period of time?
This is one of the most important questions: do you have the time to complete this
project?
It’s important that you establish a realistic project schedule for project completion,
otherwise, you’ll find yourself dropping the ball on deadlines and quality for your
deliverables.
5. Is this plan economically feasible?
Finally, we reach the most obvious of the feasibility questions.
This is where you will assess whether or not this project will provide the supposed
value needed to justify its cost. You can assess this area of feasibility based on
several different factors, including:
 Projected profitability
 The total cost of completion
 Estimated investment by outside parties
 No matter how incredible a project may seem, if the numbers don’t add up,
then either you’ll have to seek out larger budgets or the plan isn’t worth the
risk.
Hassane
in Alwan
Malik
Digitally signed by
Hassanein Alwan Malik
DN: cn=Hassanein
Alwan Malik, o, ou,
email=hasanen982@ya
hoo.com, c=IQ
Date: 2021.07.29
13:15:33 +03'00'

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Types of Feasibility Study
1. Technical feasibility
 Technical: Hardware and software
 Existing or new technology
 Manpower
 Site analysis
 Transportation
2. Financial feasibility
 Initial investment
 Resources to procure capital: Banks, investors, venture capitalists
 Return on investment
3. Market feasibility
 Type of industry
 Prevailing market
 Future market growth
 Competitors and potential customers
 Projection of sales
4. Organizational feasibility
 The organizational structure of the business
 The legal structure of the business or the specific project
 Management team’s competency, professional skills, and experience.

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7 Steps for a Feasibility Study
1‐ Conduct a Preliminary Analysis
At this point, you need to outline your plan and it’s always a good idea to
focus on any distinct advantages your project, product, or service has. Then,
you need to identify whether or not there are any risks associated with it.
For example, if it’s too expensive, or if there are simply too many
competitors. Identify and analyze strengths and weaknesses, and make sure
to make any necessary modifications to your plan when identifying issues,
during this first step to the feasibility process, you may investigate a variety
of ways to organize the business and/or to position the product in the
marketplace. It is like an exploratory journey and you may take several paths
before you reach your destination. Just because the initial analysis is
negative does not mean that the proposal does not have merit.
2‐ Prepare a Projected Income Statement
This step requires you to work backward. Start with what you expect the
income from the project to be and then what investment is needed to
achieve that goal. This is the foundation of an income statement. Things to
take into account here include what services are required and how much
they’ll cost, any adjustments to revenues, such as reimbursements, etc.
3. Conduct a Market Survey, or Perform Market Research
This step is key to the success of your feasibility study, so make it as thorough
as possible. It’s so important that if your organization doesn’t have the
resources to do a proper one, then it is advantageous to hire an outside firm
to do so, the market research is going to give you the clearest picture of the
revenues you can realistically expect from the project. Some things to
consider are the geographic influence on the market, demographics,

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analyzing competitors, the value of the market and what your share will be,
and if the market is open to expansion (that is, response to your offer).
The five key benefits of market research are:
 Identification of other market opportunities for your project (new
customers, additional uses, etc.) through focus groups, surveys, and
potential client interviews.
 Insight into your competition including their products, services, marketing
choices, client base, etc.
 Information on the market for your project including the size and needs of
your potential clients.
 Conclusions on whether or not this project has succeeded in the past, what
it cost to complete, and what success looks like.
 Insight on the best ways to execute a project, such as a timeframe, the
required personnel, and even management styles.
4. Plan Business Organization and Operations
Once the groundwork of the previous steps has been laid, it’s time to set up the
organization and operations of the planned business venture. This is not a
superficial, broad‐stroke endeavor. It should be thorough and include start‐up
costs, fixed investments, and operating costs.
These costs address things such as equipment, merchandising methods, real estate,
personnel, supply availability, overhead, etc.
5. Prepare an Opening Day Balance Sheet
This includes an estimate of the assets and liabilities, one that should be as accurate
as possible. To do this, create a list that includes items, sources, costs, and available
financing. Liabilities to consider are such things as leasing or purchasing of land,
buildings, and equipment, financing for assets, and accounts receivables.

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There are a few major considerations that you should keep in mind when making
these calculations:
 Will your financial resources come from within your organization or from an
outside financier?
 What is the financial cost of failure when executing your project?
 Which risks will impose an undue financial burden on your project budget?
 What is the break‐even point for profit once your project is off the ground, if
applicable?
 How much will you need to complete this project, including risks?
 Always keep Murphy’s Law in mind when running through the financial
feasibility of your project, because whatever can cost you money, will cost
you money.
6. Review and Analyze All Data
Make sure your findings answer all feasibility questions, and if each one is
answered in the affirmative, that’s everything you need to recommend the go‐
ahead for this project.
All these steps are important, but the review and analysis are especially important
to make sure that everything is as it should be and nothing requires changing or
tweaking. So, take a moment to look over your work one last time.
However, if there are some concerns with certain aspects of feasibility, this doesn’t
mean you have to scrap the project altogether. Perhaps this is an opportunity to
reevaluate your approach, your budget, or your endgame to better suit your
organization.
Hassanein
Alwan Malik
Digitally signed by Hassanein
Alwan Malik
DN: cn=Hassanein Alwan Malik, o,
ou,
email=hasanen982@yahoo.com,
c=IQ
Date: 2021.07.29 13:16:13 +03'00'

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7. Make a Go/No‐Go Decision
You’re now at the point to make a decision about whether the project is feasible or
not. That sounds simple, but all the previous steps we’re leading to this decision‐
making moment. A couple of other things to consider before making that binary
choice is whether the commitment is worth the time, effort and money and is it
aligned with the organization’.
Template of Feasibility Report
Finally, here is an outline for the nine parts of a feasibility report:
1‐ Executive summary
2‐ Description of product/service
3‐ Technology considerations
4‐ Product/service marketplace
5‐ Marketing strategy
6‐ Organization/staffing
7‐ Schedule
8‐ Financial projections
9‐ Findings and recommendations
Hassanein
Alwan Malik
Digitally signed by Hassanein
Alwan Malik
DN: cn=Hassanein Alwan Malik, o,
ou,
email=hasanen982@yahoo.com,
c=IQ
Date: 2021.07.29 13:16:35 +03'00'