Living Entrepreneurship Blog / Babson Entrepreneurs

Your Success Depends on Feasibility

Many entrepreneurs wish to accomplish their great idea. Entrepreneurs think their business will flourish because their idea seems attractive. However, some questions must be asked in order to assess whether the idea is feasible or not. Earlier last month, Bradley George facilitated a feasibility workshop to provide insight on what feasibility is.

Bradley George

Three fundamental questions must be asked before business planning:

  1. Is the potential market big enough so that a game is worth playing?
  2. What resources do you need? Can you afford them?
  3. Will it meet your financial and personal goals?

If your idea corresponds to these questions, then you are in the idea generation phase. The idea must solve one or more problems that customers have. In a feasibility analysis, describe the problem that you are trying to solve and how your idea addresses the problem. You need to list why people/businesses would be willing to pay for your idea. A value position is recommended to be summarized in one or two sentence. Keep it concise.

Once the idea is clarified, the business concept should be refined. Define the industry you will be in, type of products or/and services that you are providing, what value are you delivering and whom are you targeting.

Now is the time to get into a realistic analysis after you completed establishing the idea and refined the business concept. There are many markets within the industry where you belong. Among these markets, you should find your potential market. Potential market consists of only those that are willing and able to pay for your product/service. You can determine what your potential market is by interviewing with people who would value your solution, confirming initial assumption. The potential market can be then segmented to smaller markets where there are commonalities within the segments and differences between the segments are maximized. Pick a specific target market which you want your product and/or service the most.

Analyzing competitors is another crucial factor. Position your venture in a competitive manner so that you can compete with other players. One way to identify the competitive advantage is to fill out a competitive matrix. After analyzing the data, you can identify gaps that matter.

Financial feasibility is another factor to consider. You should have a thorough understanding of where does the money come in. Understanding key drivers and timing will help a lot regarding this matter. Cost analysis is also important as you must manage fixed and variable costs properly.

What do you do after you have all this information? The last step is assessing whether you still want to play the game based on your analysis. If you are still passionate about the idea after considering the projected financial performance, compensation, personal goals, act and move the venture forward. If not, adapt or move on.