Feasibility Study Methods for Entrepreneurs in Sustainability-related Ventures

Abstract

Many good sustainability entrepreneurial ideas and projects fail to reach their objectives due to problems with feasibility. This chapter investigates the effectiveness of methods used to evaluate the feasibility of entrepreneurial ventures in the context of sustainable urban development. Traditional methods and tools based on cost–benefit analysis could provide some guidance for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs when evaluating sustainability strategies. Yet, such methods rely on restrictive assumptions, which cast doubt on their suitability for real-world sustainability applications. Traditional methods are far from really enabling entrepreneurs to make informed optimal decisions. New integrated methods are necessary for drawing conclusions vis-a-vis the practicality of entrepreneurial ideas by quantifying and analyzing the benefits and costs of all options in a given scenario. This chapter evaluates the effectiveness of current feasibility study methods and their suitability for sustainable urban planning and development. It surmises that caution is advised concerning their reflection of real-life applications, given the complexity and dynamicity of solving sustainability-related problems. It is shown that such methods can arguably be a useful tool when evaluating the viability of investing in innovation and sustainability if they are enriched with advanced modelling techniques, such as system dynamics and optimization methods. For this purpose, an entrepreneurial venture for promoting sustainable mobility via information and communication technology (ICT) is used as a case study. The proposed integrated ‘Sustainability Entrepreneurship’ approach for evaluating feasibility can prove to be very useful for entrepreneurs when assessing the efficacy of complex sustainable-related ventures.

Citation

Papageorgiou, G. and Ness, A.N. (2021), "Feasibility Study Methods for Entrepreneurs in Sustainability-related Ventures", Apostolopoulos, N., Chalvatzis, K. and Liargovas, P. (Ed.) Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-982-320211013