Feasibility Analysis

1. Chapter 4
Feasibility
Analysis
(contd)

2. Financial Feasibility
Analysis

3. Critical Non-Financial Resources

4. Tips for Conducting Feasibility Interviews?
General Rules-of-Thumb to Follow
1. Always qualify the person you’re talking to make sure he or she is
capable of giving good quality feedback.
2. Never ask questions for which you should know the answer. For
example, you shouldn’t ask, “Do you have a college degree?” If the
interviewee’s bio is easy to find on his or her company’s website and it
provides his or her educational background.
3. Never ask a question that starts with the word “would.” Examples
include, “If we built a product that solved X problem, would you use it?”
“How much would you pay for something that did X?” or “Would you
pay $1,000 extra for a 12-month guarantee?” These are hypothetical
questions that tend to produce inaccurate data.

5. Tips for Conducting Feasibility Interviews?
4. Always prepare an interview script, but allow sufficient flexibility so
the interviewee can take the discussion in an unexpected direction.
5. Be mentally prepared to hear things you don’t want to hear. If you
don’t, you might catch yourself trying to “sell” your idea rather than
soliciting honest feedback.
6. Ask open-ended questions. Minimize questions that have “yes” “no”
answers, such as “Do you like 24 Hour Fitness?” Instead, ask a
question along the lines of, “What do you look for in fitness centers?”
7. At the end of the interview, ask the interviewee if there is someone else
he or she believes you should talk to. This is one of the most effective
ways of getting additional interviews.

7. Whom to Interview?

8. Examples of Ineffective Feasibility Analysis
Interview Questions?
• “Do you like (something everyone likes) such as music,
good food, good friends?”
• “Do you have a problem (insert a problem everyone has)
such as finding enough time in your day to exercise or
read?”
• “Do you want to lose weight, want more money, or want
more free time?” (Who doesn’t?)
• “Would you pay for an HR training program that would
result in having happier employees?” This question
assumes that your interviewees’ employees aren’t happy

9. Examples of Ineffective Feasibility Analysis
Interview Questions?
• “Tell me about the biggest problem you have in your business?”
(Allows people to vent.)
• Leading questions—You shouldn’t ask a question that will sway
an interviewee to one side of an argument. An example would
be, “How bad do you think our health care system is?” Instead,
ask “What are your impressions of our health care system?”
• • Loaded questions—You shouldn’t ask a question such as,
“Where do you enjoy drinking beer?” The question assumes the
interviewee drinks beer. Not everyone does. If it is important for
you to know the answer to this question, it is better to first ask,
“Do you drink beer?”

10. Examples of Effective Feasibility Analysis
Interview Questions?
• “What does your typical day look like?” (This is a
good warm-up question and can tell you a great
deal about your interviewee’s major pain points.)
• “What’s the hardest part about (insert problem)?”
• “How are you currently solving (insert problem)?”
• “What don’t you love about the solutions you’ve
tried?”
• “What are some unmet needs you have?”

11. Examples of Effective Feasibility Analysis
Interview Questions?
• “What is the hardest part of your day?”
• “What would you describe as your ideal solution to this
problem?”
• “How likely would you be to tell your friends about this
product” (or would you recommend our solution to
others?)
• “Why?” This is by far the most powerful question you can
ask, so ask it often. By asking “why” after someone gives
you a response, you can often exact a more revealing
response and get to the core of the issue.

12. Strength of the Business Idea
For each item, circle the most appropriate answer and make
note of the (-1), (0), or (+1) score.

13. Industry-Related Issues
For each item, circle the most appropriate answer and make note of the (-1),
(0), or (+1) score.
Target Market and Customer-Related
Issues

14. Founder’s- (or Founders’-) Related
Issues
For each item, circle the most appropriate answer and make note of the (-1),
(0), or (+1) score.

15. Financial Issues
For each item, circle the most appropriate answer and make note of the (-1),
(0), or (+1) score.

16. Overall Potential

18. Point To Ponder