The questions in the Viabilio questionnaire

Clarify the problem you solve and what makes your offer distinctive.

• How painful is the problem you solve for your customers?

  A strong, frequent and costly problem justifies paying to solve it.

  Scale: Minor → Critical

• How is your solution different from what already exists?

  • Identical to what exists
  • Slight improvements
  • Clear differentiation
  • Genuinely new approach

• Can you explain your offer in one clear sentence?

  Scale: Not yet → Very clearly

• Do you have a proof of concept (prototype, MVP, pilot) already tested?

  Professional
  • None
  • Internal prototype
  • MVP tested with users
  • Paid pilot underway

• Strength of your intellectual property or protected know-how

  Professional

  Trademark, patent, tacit know-how, proprietary data…

  Scale: No protection → Strongly protected

Size, momentum and accessibility of your target market.

• Estimated number of potential customers in your area

  • Fewer than 1,000
  • 1,000 to 10,000
  • 10,000 to 100,000
  • More than 100,000

• Industry momentum

  • Declining
  • Stable
  • Growing
  • Growing fast

• Ease of reaching your customers (channels, marketing budget)

  Scale: Very difficult → Very accessible

• Precision of your segmentation (quantified TAM / SAM / SOM)

  Professional
  • Not quantified
  • TAM estimated
  • TAM + SAM quantified
  • TAM/SAM/SOM with sources

• Impact of seasonality on your revenue

  Professional
  • Very strong, unmanaged
  • Marked but anticipated
  • Moderate
  • Low or none

• Regulatory and standards maturity of your market

  Professional

  Scale: Unstable → Stable and well-defined

Customer understanding, willingness and ability to pay.

• Precision of your target customer (persona)

  Scale: Vague → Very precise

• Are your potential customers ready to pay for this solution?

  Ideally validated through interviews or pre-orders.

  • No signal
  • Verbal interest
  • Commitment (pre-registration)
  • Sales already made

• Purchase / renewal frequency

  • One-off
  • Occasional
  • Regular
  • Subscription / recurring

• Estimated customer acquisition cost (CAC) vs margin per customer

  Professional
  • CAC > customer margin
  • CAC ≈ customer margin
  • CAC = 1/3 of margin (LTV/CAC ≈ 3)
  • CAC < 1/3 of margin (LTV/CAC > 3)

• Expected retention or loyalty level

  Professional

  Scale: Low → Excellent

Competitive intensity and barriers to entry.

• Number of direct competitors identified

  • None (bad sign or brand-new market)
  • 1 to 3
  • 4 to 10
  • More than 10

• Strength of your competitive advantage

  Brand, technology, cost, network, patent…

  Scale: Weak → Strong and defensible

• Barriers to entry for a new entrant

  Professional
  • None
  • Low (capital, awareness)
  • Significant (technology, regulation)
  • Very high (network, patent, scale)

• Threat of substitute products or services

  Professional

  Scale: Strong threat → Weak threat

• Bargaining power of your key suppliers

  Professional

  Scale: Very strong (imposed) → Weak (under control)

Revenue, margins, cost structure.

• Estimated gross margin

  • Under 20%
  • 20 – 40%
  • 40 – 70%
  • Over 70%

• Clarity on your break-even point

  Scale: No idea → Precisely quantified

• Ability to grow without costs exploding

  Scale: Very limited → Highly scalable

• Share of recurring revenue in the model

  Professional
  • 0% (one-off only)
  • Under 25%
  • 25 – 60%
  • Over 60%

• Intensity of your working capital requirement

  Professional

  Gap between customer collection and supplier payment.

  Scale: Very heavy → Very light

• Room to adjust your prices

  Professional

  Scale: None (tight market) → High elasticity

Skills, time, capital, regulation.

• Fit between your skills and the project

  Scale: Major gaps → Perfect

• Funding available to start

  • None
  • Partial (< 50%)
  • Almost sufficient
  • Sufficient + safety margin

• Regulatory constraints

  • Très lourdes / bloquantes
  • Significatives mais gérables
  • Standards
  • Aucune / très légères

• Time you can devote to the project

  • A few hours a week
  • Part-time
  • Full-time

• Complementarity and strength of your founding team

  Professional
  • Alone, with no backup
  • Alone with external advisors
  • Partial team
  • Complete, complementary team

• Strength of your professional network in the industry

  Professional

  Scale: Non-existent → Very established

• Personal financial capacity to last 12 months without project income

  Professional
  • No
  • 3 to 6 months
  • 6 to 12 months
  • More than 12 months

• Documented fallback plan / downside scenario

  Professional

  Scale: None → Detailed and quantified