Business Concept Feasibility Assessment
Outcome
Identify strengths and weaknesses in your business concept as compared to a model business.
Overview
This assessment identifies the major criteria that can make or break the success of a business. By evaluating your business concept against these criteria, you can determine the level of risk you might be taking in starting that business. The criteria can also be used to develop benchmarks for improvement in the product/service, the market, and the financial aspects of the business.
Instructions
Step 1: Review the Business Concept Feasibility Assessment – Criteria Descriptions.
Review the criteria and descriptions on pages 3 through 5 of this document. For each criterion, choose the description that most closely matches your situation. Mark that description’s number (1 through 5) on the Scoring Page (page 2 of this document). If you do not know some of the answers right now, do not rate those criteria. As you go through this program and learn more, you will continue to rate your business against these criteria.
Step 2: Total your score.
On the Scoring Page, total the points for your business concept on the 20 criteria. NOTE: The model, or perfect, business would score a “5” on every criterion, for a total of 100 points.
Step 3: Evaluate your business.
In a comparison of a business concept against the model business, no score guarantees a feasible business. Generally, for a business concept to be feasible it must achieve at least one-half of the possible points overall and at least one-half of the possible points in any of the three feasibility areas—product or service, market, and financial. A score of less than 3 for any individual criterion indicates a weakness in the business concept, which requires further consideration.
Step 4: Identify one or two criteria that you rated low.