There is a rapid growth in the number of businesses in today’s world. A new business takes birth every day, be it small or big. Many people have the same ideas or practices and run the same type of business, and hence everyone needs to learn how to run a business and understand every aspect of it.
One needs to research and make sure that a business/idea can be achieved and can make a profit. In other words, something needs to be feasible and viable. An in-depth study is required to save your business and make it successful.
Feasibility vs Viability
The main difference between feasibility and viability is that feasibility or feasible means how easy or difficult something is and whether you can achieve it or no whereas viability means the ability to work successfully (make a profit) and make sure that the business works great in the long run. It is the ability to survive.
Feasibility measures how easy or difficult it is to achieve or to do something. One should always think about how feasible their goal/idea is. It gives you the answers to whether or not something you have planned can execute and work. This plays an important role in the business sector. They conduct a feasibility study to assess the practicality and possibility of a project/idea.
Viability measures how long (duration) it will work for and how successful it will be. The ability to work well and gain profits is known as viable or viability. It assesses all the factors and gives us answers/ results to if the business or idea is viable and should be continued. The study that determines these factors is known as viability study and is important in the business sector.
Comparison Table Between Feasibility and Viability
| Parameters of Comparison | Feasibility | Viability |
| Definition | Feasibility measures how easy or difficult it is to achieve or do something. | Viability measures how successful (profit) and how sustainable the business will be. |
| Study | Feasibility study | Viability study |
| Types | Operational feasibility, technical, legal, financial feasibility, etc. | Marketing viability, technical, financial viability, etc. |
| Components | Defines the project scope, determining current market trends, conducting a detailed risk analysis, etc. | Defining strategic objectives, evaluate production costs, financial scenarios, etc. |
| Usage in a Sentence | ‘I doubted the feasibility of his new business plan.’ | ‘I was positive about the long-term viability of the plan.’ |
What is Feasibility?
Feasibility measures how easy or difficult a task or work will be. In other words, it is the state of being easily done. It is used as a tool in the business sector. It finds out whether or not a business will work and give an outcome as planned or will it fail. Any person/businessman should study and look into the feasibility of the business before starting it.
There is a study that is conducted to discover the strengths and weaknesses of an idea/ business. This study is known as a feasibility study. It helps a lot to save your business and run it successfully. It checks and deals with the opportunities, legal, tax requirements, finance and accounting, background check, and market policies. The study also helps to develop objectives, form a framework, etc.
The feasibility study is important to save the company from losses, as investing money blindly for something which is not feasible is a risk.
There are different types of feasibility studies according to the different areas and sectors –
- Marketing feasibility – studies and determines the aggregate demand for the product/service. They need a lot of information to carry out this study. Market surveys and secondary sources can give partial information.
- Technical feasibility – it studies the technology for production and various other processes. They check the capacity, raw materials required, etc.
- Economic/financial feasibility – which analyses the costs/ expected profits/ benefits. It studies whether or not the business will be able to meet the needs and bear the costs of the products and services. They compare the benefits with the costs.
There are few other types of study as well.
What is Viability?
Viability measures how successful and how long the business will run. In simple words, it is the ability of a business or an idea to survive. If a business is not sustainable, then it is not considered viable. It is very necessary for any person to check and study the viability and only then covert the idea or the plan into a business. This helps to avoid loss.
If the plan has the scope of developing and advancing with time, then it is considered to be viable. The study investigates the ability of the business to earn profit and sustain itself in the market. This study is known as a viability study. The study looks into the market, technical aspects, business model, etc.
There are different types of liabilities according to the different aspects and sectors. They are –
- Market viability – it assesses the environment, target market, potential competitors, pricing, distribution, etc.
- Technical viability – assesses the supply chain, manufacturing raw materials, resources, etc
- Economic viability and financial viability – this assesses the overall costs that are needed and all the other aspects that come under finance.
- Etc.
If the benefits of the business exceed the economic costs, the business will be considered viable.
Main Difference Between Feasibility and Viability
- Feasibility measures how easy or difficult it is to achieve or execute a plan, whereas viability measures how successful (profit) and sustainable a plan is.
- The study of feasibility is known as feasibility, whereas viability is known as viability study.
- The types of feasibility are operational feasibility, technical, financial feasibility, etc., whereas the types of viability are marketing viability, technical, financial viability, etc.
- Components of feasibility are defining the project scope, detailed risk analysis, etc., whereas the components of viability are defining the strategic objective, evaluating production costs, etc.
- A feasibility test is conducted to test whether the plan will be a success or a failure, whereas a viability test is conducted to test whether the plan is worth and will bring in profits and benefits.
Conclusion
There is a lot of competition in today’s world. Everyone wants their business to be successful than the others. To sustain in this developing market, you need to study the feasibility and viability of your plan or idea. Only those who understand all the aspects of this market can run their business successfully.
Feasibility and viability are tools used in the appraisal of a project. Both the terms are related, and hence people tend to use them interchangeably. If a plan is feasible, then with proper planning and execution, it will be easy to make it viable.
References
- https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/viewByDoi/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199234769.003.0010
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359835X05004331