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Feasibility Study Services for US Lenders, SBA and USDA Applications

Last updated 11 October 2026. Written and signed by Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir, Business Plan Firm (an Avvale company).

We write independent feasibility studies for US lenders, SBA 504 projects, USDA guaranteed loans and grant programs, and boards making a go/no-go call. Fixed price $3,900 to $9,800, complex multi-site work from $14,000. Turnaround 10 to 20 business days. Every study is signed by a named author and structured to USDA's own federal template.

• Price: Essential $3,900 · Standard $6,500 · Premium $9,800 · complex from $14,000. Fixed, never hourly.
• Turnaround: 10 business days (Essential), 15 (Standard), 20 (Premium).
• Structure: the eight elements of Appendix A to Subpart D of 7 CFR Part 5001.
• Named author: Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir, UCL, published textbook author, with a written independence policy and two-reviewer QC.
• Deliverable: PDF study, editable financial workbook, source register, lender call.
• Book: free 30-minute call.

What is a feasibility study, and how is it different from a business plan?

A business plan argues your project should be funded. A feasibility study tests whether it can work, and is allowed to conclude that it cannot, which is why it must be written by someone with no stake in the answer. US federal regulation gives the cleanest definition: under 7 CFR 5001.3, a feasibility study is "a report including an opinion or finding conducted by an independent qualified consultant(s) evaluating the economic, market, technical, financial, and management feasibility of the proposed project or operation in terms of its expectation for success as outlined in appendix A to subpart D of this part." Five dimensions, one independent author, an explicit opinion, and a cross-reference to the appendix that sets out the contents in full, which is where the eight elements below come from. We use that as the spine of every study, USDA money or not.

How much does a feasibility study cost?

How that compares to a business plan

Our business plan tiers run $1,000 to $2,800, so a study is priced clearly above a plan. A study is several times the work of a plan: primary research, an independent opinion, a named signature. If someone offers one at business-plan prices, ask who signs it. We print no market price range for feasibility studies, because we hold no figures for other firms' fees that we could verify; across our own tiers the price moves with the number of sites, the amount of primary research and the program. Every tier we sell is listed in one place: see every price we charge.

Does the SBA require a feasibility study?

SBA's own rulebook imposes no blanket requirement. In SOP 50 10 8.1, the Standard Operating Procedure governing the 7(a) and 504 loan programs, effective 1 October 2026, the word "feasibility" appears five times, all of them in two adjacent paragraphs, headed Independent Studies or Reports and Feasibility Studies, inside Section C, Chapter 1, which covers 504 loans only. The phrase "market study" does not appear anywhere in the document. The full reading, by section and heading, is in SBA feasibility study requirements.

Both headings sit in the list the SOP opens with the words "The CDC's credit memorandum must address the following:". The language under them is permissive, not mandatory. The SOP lists feasibility studies among examples of "independent studies/reports" that "may be beneficial in mitigating any weaknesses identified in the credit analysis". It states that "SBA has the regulatory authority to request a feasibility study when it is needed to further understand the small business type and market conditions at the project location", and that the SLPC Director "will request a feasibility when appropriate" [SBA's wording]. It lists five circumstances that "may cause SBA to request a feasibility study": market saturation by industry type and location; a unique market concept; a highly specialized project property; project size disproportionate to the community served; or rapid growth of the applicant or affiliate group with rising undisbursed or unseasoned debt.

Two honest caveats. SBA keeps the regulatory authority to ask for a study even where the SOP does not mandate one, and lenders and CDCs may require one under their own credit policies. And the separate limited/special purpose property list, which sits in the same chapter under the heading Borrower's Contribution, governs the 504 borrower's contribution, not feasibility studies, whatever you have been told.

SBA publishes the SOP as a Word file, not a PDF, so cite the section and heading, not a page number. Version check: SOP 50 10 8.1 took effect on 1 October 2026 and replaced SOP 50 10 8, effective 1 June 2025. We compared the two files on 10 October 2026: the passage is word-for-word identical and still 504-only, "feasibility" appears five times in each, and "market study" appears in neither. SOP 50 10 8.1 adds two headings, Financial Reporting and TPL Underwriting, ahead of this passage in the same paragraph, CDC Credit Memorandum, so cite the passage by its heading and not by a paragraph letter.

Does the USDA require a feasibility study?

For some loans and grants, yes, and USDA is far more prescriptive than SBA. Under 7 CFR 5001.306(a)(3)(i) a feasibility study by an independent qualified consultant is required for a Business & Industry guaranteed loan greater than $1,000,000.00 made to a "new business", with its scope set by the Agency. At $1,000,000.00 or less it is discretionary under 5001.306(a)(3)(ii), and for a larger loan to an existing business the Agency may still require one under 5001.306(a)(3) when the lender's analysis, the borrower's business plan or the project information "is not sufficient to determine the technical feasibility, market feasibility, or economic viability of the project".

"New business" is broader than "startup". Beyond a business in operation for less than one full year, 7 CFR 5001.3 includes "a business that has been in operation for at least one full year and has not achieved full operational capacity or stable operations as determined by the Administrator, including a new enterprise or new affiliate of an existing business moving or expanding into a new location involving new market or labor areas".

Community Facilities. 7 CFR 5001.304 sets out two types of financial feasibility report, not three. A financial feasibility analysis, which the lender may prepare itself, covers guaranteed loans of $25 million or less to existing community facilities, loans secured by a general obligation bond or other tax-supported income sufficient to service the debt, or borrowers whose last three years of audited financials show ability to pay all debt service. Everything else needs a financial feasibility study with examination opinion, under AICPA attestation standards, by a preparer carrying professional liability insurance. Separately, 5001.304(a)(4)(i) requires a study for guaranteed loans greater than $1,000,000.00 to "a new entity or an entity conducting a new activity".

Value-Added Producer Grants. 7 CFR 4284.931(h) requires a Feasibility Study by a Qualified Consultant for Working Capital Grant applicants, but 4284.932 waives it for requests under $50,000; for Market Expansion requests of $50,000 or more from Agricultural Producers, with a Marketing Plan; and for Food Safety projects where more than 50 percent of the Project Costs go to post-harvest food safety. So a request of exactly $50,000 falls outside the under-$50,000 waiver, "over $50,000" is the wrong test, and a large request can still be exempt. The waiver "does not change the proposal evaluation or scoring criteria that pertain to issues that might be supported by a Feasibility Study or Business Plan".

REAP. The grant rules change on 16 October 2026. Until 15 October 2026, under 7 CFR 4280.116(b), a study is discretionary, renewable-energy projects only, no dollar threshold; the $80,000 and $200,000 figures in those rules tier technical reports and decide between an energy assessment and an energy audit, nothing to do with feasibility studies. From 16 October 2026 a USDA final rule with comment period (91 FR 62600, published 1 October 2026) reserves section 4280.116, removes Appendix D to Subpart B of Part 4280 and sets out the required contents of a REAP feasibility study in section 4280.122(a)(8)(ii). The project must be one "that has been completed between 12 and 24 months prior to the date of application" (new section 4280.122(a)(1)). For a renewable energy project "the Applicant must provide a Resource Assessment, or the Applicant can provide a Feasibility Study in lieu of a Resource Assessment", and for an energy efficiency project the applicant "must provide an Energy Assessment if the Project Cost is $80,000 or less; otherwise it must provide an Energy Audit" (new section 4280.131(b)(3), on grant applications). Section 4280.125(b)(7) lists feasibility studies among the unallowable uses of grant funds. The rule amends 7 CFR Part 4280 alone: REAP guaranteed loans stay under 7 CFR 5001.307(d), where a study is for renewable energy projects only, "when deemed necessary by the lender or Agency".

What does a lender-acceptable feasibility study contain?

USDA publishes the most detailed federal template we have found, and it has eight elements, not five. Every study we write carries all eight, whichever program you are applying to.

How long does it take?

The schedule below is the Premium track, 20 business days. Standard runs the same phases compressed into 15 business days. Essential compresses to days 0-10 and omits the primary-research phase, because that tier is desk research plus your own data.

• Day 0, scoping call. Program, trigger and decision-maker identified; fixed price given on the call.
• Days 1-3: data and site definition. Trade area drawn, competitor census built, datasets pulled and date-stamped.
• Days 4-8: primary research. Operator, supplier, regulator and referral-source interviews (Standard, Premium).
• Days 9-13, modeling and drafting. Demand model built, financials tied to it, draft written to the eight elements.
• Days 14-20: QC, delivery, lender liaison. Two-reviewer tie-out, sign-off by the named author, delivery call, then a call with your loan officer.

Rush work is possible on Essential and Standard. We will say on the call whether the research can honestly be compressed: often it cannot.

Who is qualified to write a feasibility study?

Where USDA's guaranteed loan rules make a study mandatory (7 CFR 5001.306(a)(3)(i) for Business & Industry, 5001.304(a)(4)(i) for Community Facilities), it must be prepared by an "independent qualified consultant acceptable to the Agency". 7 CFR 5001.3 defines the term: "Qualified consultant(s) means an independent third-party person possessing the knowledge, expertise, and experience to perform the specific task required." VAPG defines a Qualified Consultant at 7 CFR 4284.903 as "a third-party, without a conflict of interest, possessing the knowledge, expertise, and experience to perform the specific task required in an efficient, effective, and authoritative manner". In the USDA sections cited on this page we found no professional designation that a feasibility study author must hold: no CPA, PE or MAI requirement. The one credential-adjacent exception we found is the Community Facilities examination opinion (see below). Both definitions start from independence. Ours is written down.

Our independence policy

• No equity. We take no ownership stake, warrant or option in any business we write a study for.
• No referral fees. We neither pay nor accept fees from lenders, brokers, franchisors, equipment vendors or CDCs.
• No contingent fees. The fee is fixed in advance and unlinked to the conclusion, the loan closing or the grant award. We are paid the same for a "do not proceed".
• No operator advisory within 24 months. If we have advised the operator on the same project in the preceding 24 months, we decline the feasibility engagement and say why.
• Disclosure. Any prior relationship with the applicant, lender or site is disclosed on the qualifications page of the study itself.

Named author and QC chain

Every study is signed by Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir: UCL, published textbook author, founder of Avvale and its US brand Business Plan Firm. The firm is behind $1B+ in funding documents for 500+ businesses across 30+ countries, including Shark Tank and Dragons' Den clients. What each of those figures counts.

The QC chain has two reviewers, neither of them the drafter. A consultant drafts; a second consultant ties every figure in the narrative back to the source register and re-runs the model; Muhammad Tayyab Shabbir reviews the opinion and signs. The qualifications page ships inside the study, because Appendix A asks for it and because a lender should know whose judgment they are relying on.

Data sources

Every figure carries a source line and a retrieval date. We work from US Census Bureau County Business Patterns and American Community Survey data, BLS QCEW and OES series, BEA regional accounts, USDA NASS for agricultural projects, CMS and state health department data for healthcare, state and county licensing registries, local planning and permit records, and primary interviews run for your project. Estimates are labeled as estimates, with the method shown.

What we do not do

• No MAI appraisals. Valuation is a licensed discipline. If your lender needs an appraisal we refer you out to a state-certified general appraiser and coordinate so both documents share the same trade-area assumptions.
• No CPA examination opinions. This matters for the USDA Community Facilities top tier: the "financial feasibility study with examination opinion" at 7 CFR 5001.304(b) must be prepared under AICPA attestation standards by a preparer carrying professional liability insurance. We are not a CPA firm. On those engagements we build the market, technical and demand analysis alongside the CPA firm issuing the opinion, or send you straight to a CPA.
• No energy audits or engineering certifications. A REAP energy-efficiency grant application calls for an energy assessment or an energy audit, not a feasibility study.
• No Phase I environmental site assessments and no PE-stamped engineering work.
• No guaranteed outcome. Nobody can promise SBA, USDA or a credit committee will approve, and any firm that does is selling something else.

When you probably do not need one

You likely do not need one for a straightforward SBA 7(a) loan with no unusual concentration or property type: "feasibility" does not appear once in the SOP's 7(a) chapters. Likewise if your USDA B&I guaranteed loan is $1,000,000.00 or less or the borrower is not a "new business" (no study is automatic, though the Agency may still require one); if your VAPG working capital request is under $50,000, qualifies as Market Expansion at $50,000 or more, or puts more than 50 percent of the Project Costs into post-harvest Food Safety; or if your REAP grant application is for an energy-efficiency project. In the SBA 7(a) and B&I cases a well-built business plan with a credible financial model and honest market research is the cheaper document to commission. Under 7 CFR 4284.932 a VAPG simplified application "means submission of a Feasibility Study or Business Plan for the Project is not required" (a Market Expansion request of $50,000 or more needs a Marketing Plan), and a REAP energy-efficiency grant application needs an energy assessment or an energy audit. Ask your lender, in writing, what they require before commissioning anything.

Frequently asked questions

Is a feasibility study the same as a market study?

No. A market study answers "is there demand?". A feasibility study covers economic, market, technical, financial and management dimensions and closes with an opinion on whether to proceed. The phrase "market study" appears zero times in SOP 50 10 8.1.

Will my lender accept a study from you?

We cannot promise that, and no consultant honestly can. No federal rule we have found sets a credential a feasibility study author must hold, and where USDA's guaranteed loan rules require a study the consultant must be "acceptable to the Agency", but the absence of a rule is not the same as acceptance, and whether your particular lender, CDC or loan officer accepts our study is their decision, not ours. What we control is what we build to: independence, the federal eight-element structure, a source line on every figure and a named author's signature. Send your loan officer this page before you commit and ask them, in writing, what they require: if they need something we cannot provide, better to know on day zero.

Can you write the study if you already wrote my business plan?

Not within 24 months, under our own independence policy. We refer you to another firm and hand over the underlying data so you are not paying twice for the same research.

What if the answer is no?

We deliver the study and the fee stands. A firm that never writes "do not proceed" is not writing feasibility studies. The point of commissioning one before you commit capital is that a negative finding is a usable answer, not a failed deliverable.

How much of my own data do you need?

Existing operators: three years of financials, current pricing and volumes, site details. Startups: the site or shortlist, capex quotes, any letters of intent. We do the rest.

Do I get the financial model as well?

Yes: the editable workbook behind the projections, not just a locked PDF, plus the source register with retrieval dates.

How do I start?

Book a free 30-minute call. We identify the program, whether a study is genuinely required, which tier fits and what it costs.

Book a call

Book a free 30-minute feasibility scoping call. Fixed price on the call, no obligation, straight answers, including "you do not need this".

Sources. SBA, SOP 50 10 8.1, effective 1 October 2026, Section C, Chapter 1, part E, Credit Standards, paragraph 1, CDC Credit Memorandum, under the headings Independent Studies or Reports and Feasibility Studies: SBA distributes the SOP as a Word file, so the section and heading govern, not a page number. Read on 10 October 2026 from the Word file on SBA's page, which gives 7 October 2026 as its last update, and compared with SOP 50 10 8, effective 1 June 2025. Code of Federal Regulations, first read on eCFR as current on 20 August 2026 and read again on 10 October 2026 at the Legal Information Institute (law.cornell.edu): 7 CFR 5001.3, 5001.304, 5001.306; 7 CFR 4284.903, 4284.931, 4284.932; and, in force until 15 October 2026, 7 CFR 4280.116. Read at the Legal Information Institute on 10 October 2026 only: 7 CFR 5001.307 and, in force until 15 October 2026, 7 CFR 4280.118 to 4280.120 and Appendix A to Subpart B of Part 4280. USDA final rule with comment period on the Rural Energy for America Program, 91 FR 62600, published 1 October 2026 and effective 16 October 2026, read 10 October 2026. Appendix A to Subpart D of Part 5001 is published only as page images with no machine-readable text, so it was read from the govinfo CFR annual edition revised as of 1 January 2025 and is paraphrased above, not quoted. Federal Register checked on 10 October 2026 for amendments since 1 January 2025 to 7 CFR Parts 4280, 4284 and 5001. Verified against primary sources. Last updated 11 October 2026.