Turnaround to expect on a proper feasibility study

A credible feasibility study isn't a quick document. The consultant who promises answers in two weeks is either cutting corners or hasn't grasped the scope. What a rigorous hire does is compress the timeline without sacrificing depth — they know which sources to tap first, which questions unlock the rest, and how to validate assumptions instead of guessing.

The speed of a proper study hinges on access and clarity. If you can walk the consultant through your existing data, introduce them to your supply chain, customers or competitors without gatekeeping, and answer their follow-up questions promptly, the work accelerates sharply. A consultant sitting outside your business, reverse-engineering information from public sources alone, takes considerably longer. They're not slower — they're starting further back.

When a study typically ships

A straightforward feasibility study — say, testing whether a service or product can reach profitability in your local market, or whether a second location makes financial sense — usually runs six to ten weeks from signed brief to final report. That timeline assumes the consultant spends two to three weeks gathering primary and secondary data, another two to three weeks modelling and stress-testing the assumptions, and a final week drafting and refining findings with you.

Scope bloat stretches that easily. If you're investigating not just demand and unit economics but also regulatory approvals, import tariffs, or supply-chain fragility across three provinces, you're looking at three to four months. A competitor analysis that requires site visits, interviews with distributors, or mystery shopping adds time. So does waiting on data from your funder, CIPC filings, or environmental assessments. Be honest about what the study must cover before you agree on dates.

The cost of rushing

Paying for a two-week turnaround usually means paying a premium, and it doesn't guarantee quality. What it tends to buy is narrower scope — fewer interviews, less stress-testing, fewer scenarios modelled. The consultant might skip validation of their assumptions or rely too heavily on existing reports rather than ground-truthing them. You end up with faster conclusions, not better ones.

If speed is genuinely essential, brief tightly instead. Tell the consultant: "We need to know whether demand exists in Johannesburg for this offer at this price point. Forget the Cape Town expansion scenario for now. Forget regulatory detail." A tight scope can turn a ten-week study into five weeks without sacrificing rigour. A fuzzy scope rushed into two weeks usually delivers either incomplete work or shallow work masquerading as done.

How to brief for real urgency

When you do need speed, give the consultant ammunition:

• Provide existing customer research, financial records, sales data and supplier contacts upfront, not piece by piece
• Name specific, answerable questions you need the study to settle — not vague ones like "Is this viable?"
• Flag dependencies: if a funder has set a decision deadline, say so; if a lease or contract renewal is imminent, the consultant can prioritise accordingly
• Be available for quick clarifications; async email turnarounds kill momentum
• Agree on a lean deliverable if that suits you — a 15-page focused report with raw data in appendices beats a 60-page narrative if you just need the go/no-go

What changes the timeline most

Access to decision-makers and data owners inside your business matters more than the consultant's speed. If they need approval from three departments to interview staff, or if your financial records are scattered across old systems, that alone can double the work. Similarly, the maturity of your own thinking affects pace. A founder who has already validated core assumptions with fifty customer conversations will get faster, more pointed conclusions than one asking the consultant to start from scratch.

A consultant with prior studies in your industry or geography also moves faster — they know which assumptions usually hold and which always break, so they stress-test smarter. That's another reason to check their track record before you hire.

The realistic timeline for a thorough feasibility study reflects the genuine complexity of what you're testing, your ability to feed the consultant useful data, and how clearly you've articulated what you actually need to decide. On Strove, you can ask a shortlisted consultant for a skeleton timeline before you commit — it shows whether they've thought through your specific ask or are quoting a generic 'six weeks' to everyone.