How do you write a feasibility study for a project?

Here is a step-by-step guide to help you write your own feasibility study:

1. Describe the project.

2. Outline the potential solutions resulting from the project.
3. List the criteria for evaluating these solutions.
4. State which solution is most feasible for the project.
5. Make a conclusion statement.

How to Write Feasibility Studies

April 1, 2021

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By: Indeed Editorial Team

Whether you are preparing to start your own business or you want to implement
a new project to improve your business, there are a few professional strategies
you can use to ensure success, one of which includes conducting a feasibility
study. By reviewing the necessary components and preparation required to write
a feasibility study, you can create one that contributes to a successful business
venture.

In this article, we define feasibility studies, review why they are important, outline
some key components included in a feasibility study and provide you with the
steps you need to learn how to write your own.

Related: How to Write a Case Study Step by Step (with Examples)

What is a feasibility study?

A feasibility study is a report that aims to determine the practicality, strengths

and weaknesses of a proposed project, existing system or corporation as a whole.
Further, feasibility studies also help professionals do the following:

 Plan a course of events to complete the project

  Identify the challenges that could arise
 List potential solutions that would come about as a result of the project

Two distinct components summarize all of these factors: Desired values to

achieve and the cost required to carry out the venture.

Related: Product Cost: A Definitive Guide (With Examples)

Why is a feasibility study important?

Feasibility studies are important because they encourage professionals to

consider all of the factors that go into a project or business start-up. These
include areas such as background, project summary, description of operations,
market research and legal and financial documents.

Furthermore, a well-written feasibility study can help project leaders gain the
approval they need to complete the project. By analyzing each of these areas and
preparing a plan of action, professionals can have the best chance of creating a
successful project that benefits the corporation or broader society.

Related: 5 Phases of the Project Management Life Cycle

Key components of a feasibility study

A feasibility study gathers essential company information and encourages

investors, company officials or other company employees to support a project.
Here are some key components of a feasibility study to consider including in your
own:

 Title page
 Table of contents
 Executive summary
 Market feasibility
 Technical feasibility
 Financial feasibility
 Organizational feasibility
 Conclusion
 Appendix and reference pages
Title page

The title page is the first part of the feasibility study that your reader sees. You
should use a clear title that provides some insights into your project. A good
example is "Feasibility Study for Cultivating Unified Goals Across Departments."

Your title page should also include the names of the project leader and project
members along with their job titles. You might consider including the date the
project is set to start and estimated date for completion to provide more context
about your time frame to the reader.

Table of contents

The table of contents aims to provide the reader with easy access to any section
within the report. Complete your table of contents after you finish the report to
make sure the page numbers coincide with the section titles. Usually, your word
processor has a table of contents feature that makes creating this component
quick and efficient.

Executive summary

The executive summary should be the first major component of your feasibility
study. In this section, you should include an introduction to the project, its
purpose, desired solutions and an overview of the sources you used to support
the legitimacy of the report.

Market feasibility

The market feasibility portion of your report provides the reader with insightful
information about company statistics, market research and the future outlook for
the company. Start by summarizing your company's industry. Discuss its history,
current practices and trends along with future projections for the industry as a
whole.

Then you can start narrowing your focus to discuss how your company fits within
this industry. List your top competitors, your primary sources of revenue, sales
figures and potential niche areas you could pursue to expand your customer base.
The market feasibility section helps your reader gain more of an understanding of
your company, what it has to offer and how your feasibility project could benefit
its growth.

Technical feasibility

The technical feasibility section outlines several operational factors that influence
the success of your business. Discuss your company's location, materials needed
to create the products or services you offer, the manufacturing process, quality
assurance facilities and necessary transportation to ship your products to retail
locations.

The technical feasibility section provides your reader with a detailed

understanding of which factors maintain your business so you can continue
delivering top-tier products and services to your customer base. Additionally, this
section helps support the credibility of your financial feasibility section.

Financial feasibility

The financial feasibility section outlines all aspects of your company's finances to
the reader. In this section, you should include information about your investors,
current revenue, assets and liabilities as well as total annual revenue from the
previous year. You should also include a cost-benefit evaluation that helps
support your business needs.

The financial feasibility section aims to convince the reader to either invest their
support, funds or both into the proposed project by showing them the costs
needed to maintain business operations.

Organizational feasibility

The organizational feasibility section demonstrates your company's legal and

ethical practices to the reader. This section should include an outline of the
general structure of your company, such as branch locations or departments.

You might want to include a small bio for each of your founders or board
members. You can also benefit from highlighting the HR procedures that your
company uses to maintain ethical and legal responsibility toward employees, as
well as motivational methods you use to instill productivity in the workplace.
The organizational feasibility section helps the reader determine whether your
company's current practices complement or support the proposed project.

Conclusion

The conclusion is the last written section of your report before your appendix and
reference pages. This section summarizes each of the previous sections. You
should end the conclusion by highlighting one or more recommendations to
motivate further action on the topic. You can make these recommendations into
a separate section if they require more than a few sentences of explanation.

Appendix and reference pages

An appendix is an optional section, but it's usually beneficial for the reader of the
report. This section includes any information that the reader might find useful but
which is not directly relevant to the other topics discussed in your report.
Regardless of whether or not you choose to include an appendix section, you
should include references.

A reference section can have one or more pages depending on the number of
sources you used to create your report. You can use company documents,
scholarly articles related to your industry, or any additional documents you wrote
during the project's completion. Be sure to use citations that adhere to the style
guide you are using.

Related: How to Measure Productivity and Increase Efficiency in the Workplace

How to write a feasibility study

Here is a step-by-step guide to help you write your own feasibility study:

1. Describe the project.

2. Outline the potential solutions resulting from the project.
3. List the criteria for evaluating these solutions.
4. State which solution is most feasible for the project.
5. Make a conclusion statement.

1. Describe the project

The first part of a feasibility study includes a description of the project you want
to complete. You should highlight its purpose and main components that
influence its success. For example, "This project aims to use department
education and best HR practices to ensure the successful integration of new
employees with the upcoming merger."

2. Outline the potential solutions resulting from the project

Secondly, talk with your team to create some possible solutions that could result
from the project. This can help you later on in the process when you try to
determine which solution provides the most benefits.

For example:

 "Enhanced company productivity"

 "Positive workplace culture"
 "Satisfaction of new and existing employees alike"
 "Improved HR strategies and overall department"

3. List the criteria for evaluating these solutions

Thirdly, write out a list of rules for you and your team to accurately assess these
solutions. Consider criteria such as the potential for revenue, increased
productivity, better communication across departments, expansion of a product
line or customer satisfaction.

For example:

 "Number of new employees joining the branch during the merger"

 "Current state of the HR department and practices used"
 "Current workplace culture and employee optimism"
 "Projected revenue gained as a result of the merger"

4. State which solution is most feasible for the project

Fourthly, after deliberating with your team, make a statement about the solution
to which you want to guide your project. Make sure you include an explanation
for why you want to achieve this solution above the other options you discussed.
For example, "Based on the potential solutions offered by this merger project, we
have decided that the most feasible solution for both the project and the future of
our company is improved HR strategies and overall department. This is because
the basis of our success now and in the future relies on the talented onboarding
efforts of our HR team."

5. Make a conclusion statement

Lastly, the concluding statement helps you summarize your main points. You
should start by reiterating the statement made in your project description that
defines it and your reasoning for starting the project. Then, restate which solution
you primarily want to achieve through the project's completion and explain why
you want this solution to hold more significance than the other solutions.

For example, "The goal of this project is to give our HR department the resources
they need to coordinate a successful merger. We have chosen improved HR
strategies and overall department as the most feasible solution because our HR
department serves as a fundamental structure to other solutions, such as
increased productivity, positive workplace culture and job satisfaction among our
employees."