A practical guide to testing a business idea

Kossi (illustrative) had a brilliant idea: a delivery service for fresh fruit juice to offices in Cotonou. He was sure it would work. He spent his savings on a blender, bottles, branded stickers and a used motorcycle. He printed 1,000 flyers.

Three weeks later, he had seven customers. Offices already had juice sellers who walked in every afternoon. His juice cost more. And most workers preferred to buy on impulse, not order ahead.

Kossi's idea wasn't terrible. But he tested it after spending his money, not before.

How can you test a business idea cheaply and quickly — before risking your savings?

Why testing matters

Most new businesses don't fail because the founder is lazy. They fail because they build something people don't want enough to pay for.

CB Insights, a research firm, analysed failed start-ups and found that one of the top reasons was "no market need" — cited in about 35–42% of cases, depending on the edition of the study. The product may have been good; there just weren't enough people who wanted it.

"No market need" is among the top reasons start-ups fail, cited in over a third of failure post-mortems. (CB Insights, The Top Reasons Startups Fail) Testing early is how you find out before it's too late.

The big idea: test small, learn fast

Entrepreneur Eric Ries popularised the "Lean Startup" method with a simple loop: Build → Measure → Learn. Build the smallest possible version of your idea (called a Minimum Viable Product, or MVP), measure how people respond, learn and adjust.

For a small African business, an MVP might be:

• 20 bottles of juice sold at one office.
• A WhatsApp catalogue with five dresses made on order.
• A one-day cooking class for six people.
• A hand-drawn poster offering tutoring, pinned at three schools.

"The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else." — Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (2011)

Joke break: An MVP is not "My Very Perfect product." It's the opposite. If you're not a little embarrassed by your first version, you probably waited too long.

Step 1: Write your idea as a guess

Write one sentence: "I believe [specific customers] have [specific problem] and will pay [price] for [solution]."

Example: "I believe office workers in Ganhi have no time to buy healthy lunch and will pay 2,000 FCFA for a pre-ordered healthy lunch delivered at 12:30."

This sentence contains several guesses (called assumptions). Your job is to test each one.

Step 2: Talk to real people (the right way)

Before building anything, talk to at least 10–20 potential customers. But be careful: people are polite. If you ask "Would you buy my healthy lunch?", most will say "Yes, of course!" — and then never buy.

Rob Fitzpatrick's book "The Mom Test" explains how to ask better questions. The rule: ask about their life and past behaviour, not your idea.

Bad questions:

• "Would you buy this?"
• "Do you think it's a good idea?"

Good questions:

• "What did you eat for lunch yesterday? Where did you get it?"
• "How much did you spend on lunch last week?"
• "What's annoying about getting lunch at work?"
• "Have you ever tried a lunch delivery service? What happened?"

Past behaviour predicts future behaviour. If nobody has ever tried to solve this problem, maybe it's not painful enough. See How to test a tech idea with the people who need it.

Step 3: Build the smallest test

Choose the cheapest, fastest test that gives real evidence. Options:

• Pre-sales: Ask people to pay (or pay a deposit) before you produce. This is the strongest proof.
• Pop-up stall: Sell at a market, event or office for one day.
• WhatsApp or Instagram test: Post the product and count real orders, not "likes."
• Service by hand: Deliver the service manually for a few clients before building a system or app.
• Landing page or flyer: Describe the offer and count how many people contact you.

Step 4: Decide what "success" means — before you start

Set clear targets in advance so you don't fool yourself:

• "If at least 15 of 50 people I talk to pre-order, I continue."
• "If I sell 30 lunches in the first week and 50% of buyers reorder, I continue."
• "If fewer than 5 people order, I change the idea."

Without targets, it's easy to say "7 customers is a good start!" when it might not be.

Step 5: Measure what matters

Track:

• How many people saw the offer?
• How many showed interest (asked questions)?
• How many actually paid?
• How many came back?
• What did they say?

The most important numbers are paying customers and repeat customers. Likes, views and compliments are nice, but they don't pay rent.

Step 6: Learn and decide

After the test, you have three options:

• Persevere: The results are good. Improve and grow carefully.
• Pivot: Some parts worked, others didn't. Change one major element — customer, product, price or channel.
• Stop: The idea doesn't work. Celebrate the money you saved and try another idea.

Back to Kossi. If he had tested first, he might have discovered that offices didn't want pre-ordered juice — but gyms, schools or events did. That's a pivot, not a failure.

A test scorecard

Score each from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong):

• Problem: Do people clearly have this problem?
• Urgency: Do they want it solved now?
• Willingness to pay: Did people actually pay?
• Repeat: Did they come back?
• Reach: Can you find many more customers like them?
• Margin: Is there enough profit after costs?
• You: Do you have the skills and energy for this?

Total 25+ out of 35: promising. 15–25: needs changes. Below 15: consider a different idea.

Real examples of testing in Africa

• M-Pesa was first piloted in Kenya with a small group before its national launch in 2007. Early users used it in unexpected ways — sending money to family — which shaped the product that became famous.
• Many African food, fashion and beauty brands started with small batches sold to friends and at markets before investing in shops or factories.
• Ghanaian and Nigerian fintech start-ups often start by offering services manually (through WhatsApp or agents) before building full apps.

The lesson: successful businesses start small and adjust based on what real customers do.

Common testing mistakes

• Asking only friends and family (they'll be too kind).
• Counting likes instead of sales.
• Testing too long without deciding.
• Changing everything at once (you won't know what worked).
• Falling in love with the idea instead of the problem.

A 14-day testing plan

If you like deadlines, try this two-week plan:

Days 1–2: Write your one-sentence guess and list your assumptions. Days 3–6: Talk to 15–20 potential customers using past-behaviour questions. Take notes. Day 7: Review notes. Adjust your idea if needed. Set success targets. Days 8–9: Prepare the smallest test: samples, a WhatsApp catalogue, a pre-order form or a pop-up stall. Days 10–13: Run the test. Count viewers, questions, orders and payments. Day 14: Decide: persevere, pivot or stop.

Total cost: often less than the price of one month's rent for a shop. Total value: potentially saving your entire savings.

What if my idea needs money to test?

Some ideas — a restaurant, a factory, a clinic — can't be tested with a WhatsApp post. But you can still test parts of them:

• Test the food with a weekend food stall before opening a restaurant.
• Test demand for a product by importing a small batch before building a factory.
• Test a service by partnering with an existing business before opening your own location.
• Test your ability to sell by working for a similar business for a few months.

Every big idea has small pieces that can be tested first. Find them.

How to tell a pivot from giving up too early

Sometimes a test looks disappointing because it was badly run, not because the idea is bad. Before you change direction, check:

• Did I reach the right customers, or just whoever was nearby?
• Was my offer clear — price, product, delivery?
• Did I test long enough to see repeat purchases?
• Was the product quality good enough to judge?

If the test was fair and results were weak, change something. If the test was weak, run a better test first.

Test before you invest

Testing isn't a sign of doubt. It's a sign of intelligence. The best entrepreneurs don't guess — they experiment.

Before you rent a shop, print 1,000 flyers or buy a motorcycle, sell 20 units. Talk to 20 people. Learn. Then decide.

Keep reading: What to ask before starting a business in Benin, The first customers: lessons from local entrepreneurs, Why customer feedback matters more than a logo, and our Business & Work section.

Questions

How do I test a business idea cheaply?

Talk to potential customers about their past behaviour, then run a small test — pre-sales, a pop-up stall, a WhatsApp catalogue or a manual service — and measure real payments.

What is a minimum viable product (MVP)?

The simplest version of a product that lets you test whether customers want it and will pay for it.

How do I know if my idea is working?

Set targets before testing — for example, a number of paying customers and repeat buyers. If you meet them, continue; if not, adjust or stop.