A feasibility study answers one question before you spend serious money: will enough customers pay enough, often enough, to cover the full cost of running this business? Ours is built around the three or four assumptions that decide that answer, tests each against evidence, and ends in a written verdict. If the evidence is weak, we say not yet and tell you what would need to be true to proceed.
What a feasibility study actually is
A feasibility study is a structured attempt to prove an idea wrong cheaply. It is not a business plan, a sales pitch or a market report you'll never reread.
Most owners arrive with a belief: a town needs a second bakery, a mobile service could beat the shop-based competitor, a product could sell in another province. The study turns that belief into specific, testable statements. "Households want this" becomes "at least 40 bookings a month at $120 within a 20-minute drive." Once the statement is that precise, evidence can confirm or reject it.
Who it's for
It suits owners with one concrete idea, a rough budget and a decision date.
- Founders about to sign a lease, buy equipment or order inventory.
- Existing businesses adding a location, service line or product.
- Partners who disagree and want a neutral read before one of them puts money in.
- Owners who were told "you need a feasibility study" and want one that is useful, not decorative.
It is less useful when the idea is still vague. If you can't yet say who the customer is and what they'd pay, a one-hour working session at our hourly rate is a better first step.
What's included
Each study covers five areas, weighted to whatever matters most for your idea.
- Demand. Who buys, how many of them are within reach, how often they buy, and what they pay now. We use public sources, search-demand data and competitor signals, and where possible a small live test through our market validation method.
- Competition. Who already serves these buyers, at what prices, and where they're weak. We read their offers, reviews and pricing the way a customer would.
- Costs. Start-up and monthly operating costs from real quotes, not estimates. Where you don't have quotes, the study lists what to get.
- Rules to check. The registrations, licences and inspections that may apply, with links to the authority that decides. We name them; your lawyer or the regulator confirms them. Our province pages list the main bodies by region.
- Break-even and cash. A light model showing how many sales per month cover costs and how long your cash lasts at a realistic ramp-up. For a deeper model see financial projections.
The deliverable
You receive a written report, usually 12 to 20 pages, with the verdict on page one. Every figure links to its source or is marked as an assumption.
Timeline
A typical single-idea study runs in four stages over four to six weeks.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | We agree the deciding assumptions, the pass marks and the evidence plan. |
| Weeks 2–3 | Desk research, competitor review, cost gathering. |
| Weeks 3–5 | Optional live demand test, if one is in scope. |
| Week 5–6 | Verdict, report and a call to walk through it. |
Your proposal confirms the actual schedule and milestones in writing.
How we measure whether it worked
A study is successful if it changes or confirms your decision with evidence you trust. We judge it against three tests: every deciding assumption has a stated pass mark; each pass mark has evidence for or against it; and the verdict follows from the evidence rather than from anyone's enthusiasm, ours included.
Mistakes we see owners make
- Using total market size as demand. "There are 400,000 people in the region" says nothing about how many will choose you.
- Pricing against the cheapest competitor. If your costs are higher, matching their price is a slow loss.
- Counting only start-up costs. The months of operating losses before break-even are often larger than the fit-out.
- Asking friends whether they'd buy. Polite interest is not demand. Deposits and bookings are.
- Treating a grant or rebate as revenue. Programs close and change. A sound idea works without them.
A worked version of the full checklist is in our guide to go/no-go feasibility checks. Studies are priced as projects; see pricing. Call, text or email to describe the idea and your decision date.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a feasibility study take?
Most single-idea studies follow a four-to-six-week sequence, depending on how quickly quotes and data come in. The exact schedule and milestones are confirmed in writing in your proposal.
What if the answer is no?
Then the study did its job. A no-go verdict explains which assumption failed and by how much, so you can decide whether a changed version, such as a smaller format or a different town, deserves a second look.
Do you visit the site or meet in person?
We meet in person or by video call, and work by phone, text and email, using public data, competitor research, your quotes and live buyer tests. If a site inspection matters, we'll tell you what to check and who should check it.
Will the study satisfy my bank?
We can't speak for any lender. Banks set their own requirements, and a feasibility study is not a credit application. Many owners do reuse the study's evidence in a later business plan.
Can you study more than one idea at once?
Yes, but we'd usually suggest a short screening of each idea first, then a full study of the strongest one. Spreading the budget across three full studies tends to produce three shallow answers.