Feasibility guide for dummies
Plenty of successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople have virtually built up their empires from the ground up. Big time players from different fields in the business world rarely forgo strategic business models and intelligent ideas that keep their pastures greener year after year. For instance is the logistics genius of FedEx’s tracking system or Apple’s marketing genius that never seems to run dry. In the real world, every good idea in a business must first survive a rigorous process which involves a series of “study” to test how such projects would fare if introduced in the market, or if utilized by a company for its own use, most especially projects which are related to Information Technology for they will surely require heavy investments and continuous financing. According to some experts, only one idea out of fifty has any real chance of going long-term. By investing on a wrong idea, a company can lose millions overnight and profits can start tanking due to these insurmountable losses. A well-orchestrated project feasibility study provides the kind of impartial analysis that separates profitable ideas from unproductive brainstorms. It removes all the rotten eggs in a basket and leaves out the good ones, so to speak.
I have been talking a lot about feasibility study. What exactly is feasibility? According to the book, feasibility studies are preliminary studies where the information needs of prospective users and resource requirements, costs, benefits, and feasibility of a proposed project are determined. In layman’s terms, a feasibility study is an evaluation of, let us say, a project or a project proposal which aims to determine the imminent difficulties and dangers of carrying it out. Those who have intentions of establishing their respective businesses are heavily advised to conduct a feasibility study before proceeding with the actual implementation for it acts as a meter stick that effectively measures the readiness of the market for whatever business you are trying to venture in. As a rule of thumb, a feasibility study must precede technical development and project implementation. This reminds me of my parents’ failed attempt to put up a laundry shop back when they were still my age. My father wasn’t a big fan of basic marketing principles, and so was my mother, so without any regards for contingency plans or whatsoever, they had the business established right away which obviously ended up as a flop.
Aside from launching a new business, when do you think is feasibility most important? Most companies overlook the importance of feasibility studies, leaping into venture-backed businesses with reckless abandon. The same works for launching a new product or service. A company that understands very well the importance of feasibility studies can make strategic decisions that reap major dividends, which is what you would want. Ever heard of smokeless cigarettes? How about Harley-Davidson cake-decorating kits? These are classic examples of products that had high hopes of taking the market by storm, but ended up turning the market off and were left with squandered dollars and bruised egos. Further, subjecting ideas to a feasibility study before signing any contracts can keep a company from investing too much in company processes/systems that are deemed to fail in terms of gaining traction and meeting customer needs.
Since the May 2010 election is fast approaching, we shall take the poll automation as our hypothetical example, but first things first. Let us quickly run down through the three major categories we take into consideration when making feasibility studies. First up is operational feasibility. This is mainly concerned with issues regarding the stakeholders of a project. Does management support it? Are the users not happy with the current basic business practices? Have the users been involved in the planning and development? Economic feasibility involves weighing the expected benefits and expected costs of a project. For a project to be economically feasible, benefits must equal or exceed costs. Last but not the least is technical feasibility. Classic questions include: Do we have enough manpower to push through with the project? Is our software and hardware capable and reliable enough for expected results to come up?
So what’s the final verdict for the poll automations this coming May 2010? Problems could still outweigh the benefits. Theoretically speaking, the automation will be beneficial to the country, as it will hasten the election process. In reality, problems and dangers, which are well beyond the scope of human hands, may outweigh the benefits. A single power outage alone can compromise, at the very least, one part of the operations. Moreover, there is still no assurance of a clean election. Poll automation is not the best remedy that will put an end to the electoral fraud in the Philippines. Was there any nationwide pilot test on record? In terms of the hardware and software, are they fool-proof? They may be vulnerable to attack from hackers all over the world which could cripple the whole process.
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