Define the customer and the demand
Start with a specific customer segment and the problem your offer addresses. A large market estimate does not establish demand for a particular product, price or delivery model.
Look for evidence close to the buying decision: conversations, enquiries, existing customer behaviour or a small test. Record where the evidence comes from and whether it represents the segment you intend to serve.
Examine the route to customers
Consider how a customer would discover, evaluate and buy the offer. Compare direct sales, a partner, a distributor or another route using the same questions about access, control, dependencies and delivery.
A promising introduction is not a complete route to market. Identify which parts of the process are established and which still depend on an untested relationship or capability.
Check whether the offer can be delivered
Ask what must be in place to fulfil the promise: people, supply, support, systems and a clear owner. Write down the dependencies that could prevent a successful test.
Identify questions that require local legal, tax, regulatory or other specialist review. This checklist helps organise those questions; it does not answer them or establish compliance.
Make the commercial assumptions visible
State the assumptions behind the proposed route, including the effort needed to reach a customer, the resources needed to deliver and the conditions that would make the route unattractive.
Use scenarios to examine how the direction changes when an assumption changes. Keep the basis of the calculation available. A plausible-looking result is still conditional on its inputs.
Choose a bounded first test
Design the smallest useful step that could challenge the most important assumption. Define what is being tested, who owns the work and what evidence will be reviewed.
Agree the decision after the test in advance: proceed, adapt, gather more evidence or stop. A test with no review point can become an open-ended commitment without a fresh decision.
Keep this working checklist
- A defined customer segment and problem.
- Evidence for demand, with sources and gaps.
- A credible route to reaching and serving customers.
- Delivery capability and specialist-review dependencies.
- Visible commercial assumptions and scenarios.
- A bounded test with an owner and a review decision.