From Numbers to Decisions: A Training Course in Evaluating Project Feasibility Studies
1Summary
Every investment decision starts with the same question: is this project actually worth doing? Answering it properly takes more than a gut feeling — it takes a structured evaluation that weighs financial return against risk, social impact, and operational reality, using methods that hold up to scientific and professional scrutiny.
This training course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy walks participants through evaluating economic feasibility studies end to end: costing a project accurately, forecasting its returns, pricing in risk, applying recognised scientific and professional standards, and using modern tools like scenario analysis and big data to sharpen the final call.
2Objectives and target group
Who Should Attend?
- Executive and project managers responsible for approving new initiatives.
- Financial analysts and economic consultants building the case for investment.
- Owners of small and medium-sized enterprises evaluating expansion decisions.
- Anyone who needs to read a feasibility study and act on it with confidence.
By the End of the Course, You Will Be Able To:
- Explain what a feasibility study is for and how it fits into investment decisions.
- Build cost and revenue estimates and calculate NPV, ROI, and IRR.
- Identify, classify, and evaluate the financial, market, and operational risks facing a project.
- Apply scientific and internationally recognised professional standards to an evaluation.
- Use software, big data, and scenario analysis to stress-test a project's assumptions.
3Course Content
Module 1: Why Feasibility Studies Matter
- What a feasibility study sets out to determine, and why skipping it is expensive.
- How economic feasibility connects to financial feasibility and the investment decision.
- Defining the scope, timeline, and data sources needed to start the study.
Module 2: Collecting the Right Data
- Market analysis and structured methods for gathering credible data.
- Political and economic factors that shape a study's assumptions.
- The consulting team's role in keeping the evaluation objective and accurate.
Module 3: Costing the Project
- Separating fixed from variable costs, initial spend from operational spend.
- Accounting for hidden costs and opportunity losses that get missed.
- Why disciplined financial resource planning underpins every other estimate.
Module 4: Forecasting Returns and Financial Viability
- Methods for estimating future revenue and the market factors that move it.
- Calculating Net Present Value, Return on Investment, and Internal Rate of Return.
- Reading these numbers together to judge whether a project clears the bar.
Module 5: Identifying, Rating, and Managing Risk
- Financial, market, operational, and environmental risk categories.
- Qualitative and quantitative evaluation techniques, including sensitivity analysis.
- Mitigation strategies: hedging, insurance, diversification, and contingency planning.
Module 6: Applying Scientific and Professional Standards
- Mathematical and statistical methods behind a defensible evaluation.
- International standards such as IFRS and how they shape documentation.
- Where expert consultants add value, and how to read their reports critically.
Module 7: Weighing the Social and Environmental Picture
- Building environmental and social impact assessment into the study.
- Measuring a project's effect on local communities and job creation.
- Balancing economic feasibility against social and environmental outcomes.
Module 8: Modern Tools for a Sharper Evaluation
- Using Excel, SPSS, and simulation software to run the numbers.
- Applying big data and AI to improve cost and revenue predictions.
- Building multiple scenarios and sensitivity tests to pressure-test the final decision.