Before you start something: are money, time, skills and risk enough?

What this is

One of our published methods, written in plain language: what it can do, when to use it, what goes in and what comes out.

Why it matters

Most methods are published as papers or code. This one is written so you can decide whether it fits your problem before you invest time in it.

How to use it

Read the page top to bottom. If it matches your question, use the online tool - or subscribe and run it on your own data.

What you get

A clear answer on what the method does and does not do, plus a live curve from our own demand series. Free to read.

Free to readOnline tools from $5 per runSee it →

Demand curve read by this method — A live reading from our own demand series - the shape of the signal this method works on. 570 industries are tracked daily; this is one of them.

Data base: InfoGap own records - 391 Chinese cities x 8 dimensions, 213,208 city-industry rows, 40,499 POIs (central / lifechain, 2026-10-08).

InfoGap Algorithm Handbook · one algorithm per page · plain language · formal name: Four-Dimension Landing Assessment

1In one sentence: what it does

Translates "I want to do it" into "can I actually pull it off": whether money, time, skill and risk each come up to the mark.

2When to use it

These three situations call for it:

You want to open a coffee shop in Shenzhen. You roughly have the money and you know coffee, but you still haven't dared to start.

What people usually do: keep putting it off, or sign on impulse.

With this: score the four items once each — it tells you straight which one is holding you back, and gives you the line "once the weak spots are fixed, you can start".

You want to do two things at once, and there is clearly not enough time.

What people usually do: take both on, and neither gets done properly.

With this: run both, lay the "time" column out and look at it, then decide which one goes first.

You have already started, and progress is never where it should be.

What people usually do: decide they are just not trying hard enough.

With this: check whether the weakest item is "skill" or "risk" — what you have to fix is completely different.

3What goes in · what comes out

Input (this is the set used for the real run)

· Money: 15 (out of 25)
· Time: 18 (out of 25)
· Skill: 14 (out of 25)
· Can you carry the risk: 12 (out of 25)

What comes out

These numbers are what it produced on the spot, not a character changed:

Landing score (it calls this number the "landing index"): 60 / 100
Grade: 🟡 Grade B — landing feasibility is average; weak spots need fixing

It flagged three items as "needs strengthening":
· Money (15 points) — is there enough funding to start and to keep going?
· Skill (14 points) — do you have the ability required?
· Risk (12 points) — is the risk controllable?

Its action advice:
· Skill falls short — consider adding the skills you need, or finding a partner
· 💡 Once the weak spots are fixed, you can start

How to read it: don't look only at the 60. Look at those three "needs strengthening" items, above all the lowest one — here that is "risk" (12 points). Which is to say, this thing is not blocked by "not enough money", it is "you still don't know whether you can absorb a hit". The order should be: think the worst case through first, then talk about hiring and choosing a location.

📈One picture: wanting to do it, being able to do it

Money, time, skill and risk — the shortest of the four decides whether you dare to start.

4How to use it

There is no public calculator for this yet — the method above is the whole procedure; on this site the inputs have to be keyed in by hand.

Score each of the four items (0–25 each)
Read the weakest item and the action advice it gives

5Who it is for

People with a specific idea in hand who still haven't made a move; people who want to do two things at once; people who have started and find it won't move, and want to know where it is stuck.

6Common questions

Q: Who gives the four scores?

A: You do. It will not check your savings, and it will not check what you know. So what it really does is help you write down the estimates in your own head and put them on the table.

Q: How high does the landing score have to be before you dare to start?

A: On its grading, only grade A (usually 85 points or more) means "you can start". Grade B means "weak spots need fixing", grade C means "leave it alone for now".

Q: How is the "risk" item worked out?

A: This item runs the other way — the higher the score you enter, the more controllable the risk. A low score doesn't mean you are afraid, it means you haven't thought the worst case through yet.

7Related algorithms

five-dim-gold · scoring from five angles six-line-five-color · what you have in hand water-pool · working out your inflow and outflow ← Back to the Algorithm Handbook

✓Why this scenario exists (where the content comes from)

This scenario comes from the record of the "algorithms meet demand" round: the Shenzhen · coffee shop demand was run against several algorithms, and this one was judged useful, on the grounds that "funding / time / ability / risk at 25 each → landing index 60, grade B, with a per-dimension 'needs strengthening' output plus follow-up questions. Can go straight onto the landing-assessment page".

The input and output above are what a re-run of that set of numbers gave: 15 / 18 / 14 / 12 → landing index 60, grade B, three items needing strengthening.

Source: row 32 of the site's city × industry opportunity-gap table (Shenzhen coffee shop, score=114.73); the D3 entry in the matching ledger.