If you have completed Introduction to Entrepreneurship - Part 1 and Introduction to Entrepreneurship - Part 2, you have come full circle in your learning. The journey through those courses has brought you to an understanding of what it means to be an entrepreneur and the characteristics of entrepreneurship. You identified a possible business and you used that business for many of the subsequent lessons. In the previous course, you were introduced to the business planning process, which culminates in a formal document that publicizes your business to the world. Before you start to implement your business plan, you must first determine the feasibility of the business.
This lesson focuses on completing a feasibility study. Feasibility studies require that you to complete all of the initial research on your selected business before you complete the feasibility study. The experiences throughout this course and your new knowledge inform the feasibility study, making it more aligned to your future business activities. It's time to get started with completing your Feasibility Study.
In this warm-up activity, review your notes from throughout this course, especially your notes about the business you have been exploring. Consolidate the information you have gathered in the "Check Prior Knowledge" activities and from your lesson activities. You will need this information to complete the feasibility study at the end of this lesson.
Recommendation: Capture your responses to the "Check Prior Knowledge" activities and other various exercises presented in this course in a journal or notebook. Since many of these activities and exercises will not be turned in to your instructor, you should capture the information in one place. By writing this information down and reviewing it, you will begin to see themes emerge that will help you as you complete the course.
Official Course Competencies
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
Key Terms
As you read your assignment for this lesson, pay close attention to the key terms and phrases that are listed throughout the lesson. These terms and concepts are important to your understanding of the information provided in the lesson.
A feasibility study is simply an analysis of the viability of an idea. The outcome of a feasibility study is an answer to the question, "Should I proceed with the project or the business idea?" Feasibility studies are used regularly to test a business idea. The feasibility study should be completed before proceeding with the business-planning phase of starting a business. Determining that a business idea is not viable will save an entrepreneur both time and money in the future. Feasibility studies examine ventures including a start-up business, an expansion of an existing business, or the purchase of an existing business.
Conducting a feasibility study is considered a good business practice. Some of the reasons to conduct a feasibility study are to:
Feasibility studies assess the economic, operational, market, and technical feasibility of your proposed entrepreneurial venture.
Economic feasibility: Reports on the cost factors of a proposed venture. This portion of the study makes recommendations about the benefits and improvement areas.
Operational feasibility: Reports on the effectiveness of the operational functions of an entrepreneurial venture. This portion of the study recommends how the organization should function for more cost-savings and greater efficiency.
Market feasibility: Reports on the surrounding community and identifies shopping patterns, lifestyle, competition, and other influences. This portion of the study provides recommendations on the location and customer buying patterns related to your proposed venture.
Technical feasibility: Reports on problems and challenges of technological solutions that could be encountered in the entrepreneurial venture. This portion of the study identifies technology options based on resources, technology requirements, and current and future technology recommendations.
The complexity of a feasibility study depends on how unusual your business is or how hard it is to reach your market. If your idea is the first of its kind or is an unproven concept, you will need to do more investigation to show that your idea is one worth investing your time, money, and effort. The feasibility study is the beginning of your business plan. The feasibility study is where curiosity and questions meet research and answers. The more curious you are and the more you ask the tough questions, the more accurately your feasibility study will determine if you should continue pursuing a business venture.
Before you begin your own feasibility study, review the sample feasibility resources below.
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For Example |
The UBC Public Bicycle System Feasibility Study by Adam Cooper. This is an example of an extensive and exhaustive feasibility study.
Iowa State University, Feasibility Study Outline
Ready Planning – How to Write a Feasibility Study (formatting a feasibility study)
College of Business, Montana State University – Montguide: Starting a Small Business: The Feasibility Analysis by Michael Reilly, PhD and Norman L. Millikin, Ph.D.
Now you are ready to create your own feasibility study. Follow the directions in the assignment and complete a simple version of a feasibility study for the entrepreneurial venture you selected. Your goal is to determine if your proposed business idea is feasible. If you determine that the business is feasible, the next step is to turn your feasibility study into a business plan, build your business, and serve your customers.
Congratulations! You have completed this course! The work you did during this course gave you a foundation for starting your own business. As you explore your opportunities, enjoy the entrepreneurial adventures that will challenge, thrill, and scare you. Enjoy the journey!
Non-Graded Activities
The following activities will help you practice the concepts from this lesson. They will help you prepare for your project. You are not required to submit them to your instructor.
Graded Assignments
The following is a required assignment for this lesson.
This work is created by the National Information Security and Geospatial Technologies Consortium (NISGTC), and except where otherwise noted, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Authoring Organization: Rio Salado College
Written by: Lori Wieters
Copyright © National Information Security, Geospatial Technologies Consortium (NISGTC)
Development was funded by the Department of Labor (DOL) Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant No. TC-22525-11-60-A-48; The National Information Security, Geospatial Technologies Consortium (NISGTC) is an entity of Collin College of Texas, Bellevue College of Washington, Bunker Hill Community College of Massachusetts, Del Mar College of Texas, Moraine Valley Community College of Illinois, Rio Salado College of Arizona, and Salt Lake Community College of Utah.
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