Growth and Strategy
Feasibility Assessment
Most failed projects fail for a reason somebody could have named at the start. A feasibility assessment names them first. We work through each dimension of the proposed initiative, score it out of ten against agreed criteria, and give you a defensible view of whether to proceed — and where it is weakest if you do.
What a feasibility assessment is
A feasibility assessment is a structured evaluation of a specific project or initiative before you commit capital, capacity or reputation to it. Rather than producing a narrative that argues one way or the other, it assesses each dimension separately and scores it, so the result is comparable, discussable and hard to talk past.
The scoring is the useful part. A low score is not a veto — it is a named weakness with an owner and, usually, a path to clearing it. The composite view shows overall viability while keeping the weak dimensions visible, which stops a strong commercial case from quietly carrying an operation that cannot actually deliver.
A great deal of our work here is operational rather than financial. The commercial case is often the easiest part to build and the least likely to be what sinks the project. Capacity, systems, supply, approvals and above all people are where initiatives come undone, so those get the same rigour as the numbers.
This sits alongside Financial Diagnostics & Feasibility, which models the earnings, payback and breakeven. That establishes whether the project pays. This establishes whether your organisation can actually deliver it. They are frequently run together, and the financial modelling feeds the financial dimension of the score.
Who it’s for
This service is likely a fit if any of these sound familiar.
- You are weighing a significant project and the business case is one person’s conviction.
- You need a go or no-go decision you can defend to a board, lender or partner.
- You are choosing between competing initiatives and need them compared on one basis.
- A previous project was approved on enthusiasm and ran into problems nobody had assessed.
- You suspect the constraint is operational or people-related rather than financial.
- You are expanding into a new site, service line, market or delivery model.
- The commercial case looks strong and you want to know what it is not showing you.
- You would rather stop early and cheaply than discover the answer eighteen months in.
How we run the assessment
- Define the initiative precisely, so what is being assessed is not a moving target.
- Agree the assessment criteria and the weighting of each dimension before any scoring begins.
- Assess each aspect of the initiative and score it out of ten against those criteria.
- Give particular attention to people and HR viability — whether you have the capability, the numbers and the leadership capacity to run it, not just to build it.
- Test the assumptions the business case rests on, and identify which ones it cannot survive being wrong about.
- Produce a composite viability view that keeps the weak dimensions visible rather than averaging them away.
- Set out what would need to change for a low-scoring dimension to clear, and what that would cost.
- Deliver a proceed, proceed-with-conditions or do-not-proceed recommendation with the reasoning behind it.
What we assess
The dimensions are agreed with you at the outset and weighted to suit the initiative — a new site and a new service line do not carry the same risks.
Commercial
Is there a real market, will it pay, and can you reach it?
Financial
Capital required, projected return, payback, and the effect on cashflow while it beds in.
Operational
Capacity, process, supply chain and systems — can the business absorb it?
People & HR
The skills, the headcount and the leadership bandwidth to run it once it is live.
Technical
Whether it can be built or delivered as specified, with what is available to you.
Regulatory
Approvals, licensing, standards and the time each realistically takes.
Risk
What could stop it, how exposed you are, and what is genuinely mitigable.
Strategic fit
Whether it moves the business where it is going, or sideways at speed.
What you get
- A scored, comparable view of the initiative across every dimension.
- Weaknesses named early, while they can still be addressed rather than absorbed.
- A clear read on whether you have the people to deliver it.
- The ability to compare competing initiatives on the same basis.
- A decision you can defend to a board, lender or partner.
- Permission to stop early and cheaply when the honest answer is no.
Next step
Tell us what you are considering, and we’ll set out the dimensions we would assess and what a decision would rest on.
Book a consultation