Course 1 - Savings
and Feasibility Study

Savings

The general public, including business owners should fully comprehend the importance of savings. The first part of Course 1 presents through discussion and a brief play some of the reasons to save money. For example, savings may be an avenue for obtaining the goal to improve one's life, the life of one's family, or life within one's community. Savings is also one way to achieve the goal of starting a new business that needs funding. As a business owner savings are important for handling emergencies, as possible support during low-sales months, and for expanding an existing business.

Feasibility

Through the story of Aminta, a woman who starts two different businesses with very different results, the second part of Course 1 presents the idea of why a feasibility study is important. Following the story, a detailed discussion of how to do a feasibility study, the six steps involved, is presented.

Click here to view illustrations depicting the story of Aminta.

It is extremely important to do a feasibility study before an individual or group starts a new business to help in the following areas:

• Avoid failure of the new business.
• Know and diminish risks of starting a new business.
• Assure that the effort and time spent is worthwhile.

In other words, a Feasibility Study is an investigation that considers the following:

• What product or service to sell.
• Is there a market for the product?
• How the business will operate.
• Start up and continuing cost of the business.
• What should be the price of the product?
• Will the business be profitable?

• Asking questions-lots of questions!
• Making observations.
• Doing interviews.
• Research.