SoloWorks — Business plans and feasibility studies
Tested before
it is built
Business plans, feasibility studies and financial models that tell you whether a shop, a workshop, a block of flats, a guesthouse or a resort works, when it pays back and what happens if the numbers slip.
Service profile
- Service :
- Plans and feasibility
- Readers :
- Owners, banks, investors
- Output :
- Report and working model
- Currency :
- MVR, USD where needed
[01] Services
What we do
A feasibility study answers one question honestly: should this go ahead, and on what terms? We test the market against official statistics and the real competition, the site against council, HDC, tourism and environmental rules, the cost at landed island prices and the cash flow after every tax and charge, then show you the break-even and what happens if the assumptions move.
Market study
Demand, competitors and the prices, rents or occupancy you can expect, from official statistics, such as tourist arrivals from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, and from the shops, flats or properties around you.
Site and concept appraisal
What the plot or island can carry under the council, HDC or Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation rules, with an outline layout and phasing from our architecture team.
Development cost plan
Build, fit-out, equipment, imported materials, freight and island logistics, plus soft costs such as permits, insurance, the EIA and lease payments, with a contingency you can defend.
Financial model
Five to twenty years of revenue, operating cost, debt and cash flow, after GST, income tax and rent, and for tourism after 17% TGST, green tax and service charge, with payback and IRR.
Sensitivity and risk
What happens if arrivals, rates, build cost or the exchange rate move, and which risks matter most to the lender.
Business plan
The bank- or investor-ready document: strategy, management, financials and the funding ask, set out the way SME Digital, BML or your investor asks for it.
Island and lease bids
For island and lagoon tenders from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation: the lease acquisition cost you can afford to offer, the build programme and the financial part of the bid.
[02] Sample deliverable
| Year | Net revenue | Opex | EBITDA | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yr 0 | — | — | — | (2,400) |
| Yr 1 | 3,100 | 2,650 | 450 | (1,950) |
| Yr 2 | 3,600 | 2,950 | 650 | (1,300) |
| Yr 3 | 3,950 | 3,150 | 800 | (500) |
| Yr 4 | 4,200 | 3,300 | 900 | 400 |
| Yr 5 | 4,400 | 3,420 | 980 | 1,380 |
When you need it
- —You want to start or expand a business and need to know it will pay
- —You have a plot in Malé, Hulhumalé or on an island and need to know what to build
- —SME Digital, a bank or an investor has asked for a business plan or feasibility study
- —An island or lagoon is out to tender and you want to bid
Outcome
A feasibility report and working financial model, with a clear go, no-go or go-if recommendation.
[03] Process
From brief to handover
Each stage closes with something you keep and sign off. Hire us for the whole run or for the stage you need.
- 01
Brief and data
What you want to build or start, who will read the study, and what they need to see.
- —Scope letter
- —Data request
- 02
Market and site
Demand from official data and the real competition, and what the site can carry under planning, tourism and environmental rules.
- —Market summary
- —Outline layout
- 03
Cost and model
Development cost plan and a financial model built from it, with every tax and charge in.
- —Cost plan
- —Financial model
- 04
Sensitivity
The model pushed until it breaks, so you know where the risks are.
- —Sensitivity tables
- —Risk register
- 05
Report
The study or business plan, presented to you and, if you want, to the lender.
- —Feasibility report
- —Presentation
Will a bank accept your study?
Our reports follow the structure Maldivian lenders such as Bank of Maldives and SME Digital (formerly SDFC) look for: the market, the people, the cost, the cash flow and the security. We check the lender's own requirements before we start.
Do you do plans for small businesses?
Yes. A café, a workshop, a fishing vessel or a small block of flats gets the same honest test at a smaller scale and fee. SME Digital and BML run financing schemes for small businesses, including women and young entrepreneurs, and some lend up to a limit without collateral, but every one of them wants a plan and a cash flow it can believe.
Can you help with an island bid to the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation?
Yes. Islands and lagoons for resorts are leased through open bidding announced in the Government Gazette, usually on 50-year leases. Bids are scored mainly on the lease acquisition cost offered, alongside criteria such as renewable energy and community benefit, and the resort normally has to be built within three to four years of signing. We model how much you can afford to offer and still pay back, and check every figure against the bid document.
Does the study cover permits and the environmental impact assessment?
Yes. Resort development and many larger projects need an environmental impact assessment under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (Law 4/93), approved before work starts; smaller projects go through screening, and some housing is now exempt. Buildings also need a permit from the council, HDC or the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. We put the cost and time of each approval into the programme, so none of them is the thing that delays the build.
Do we get the financial model?
Yes. You receive the working spreadsheet as well as the report, so you can test your own assumptions.
Will you tell us if a project should not go ahead?
Yes, and sometimes we do. A study that only ever says yes is no use to you or your lender.
Other services
Start a project
Send us the
idea and the plot
Tell us what you want to build or start, where, and who needs to read the study. We reply with a scope, a fee and a timeline.