A test is not a small version of the plan. It is designed to answer one question you cannot answer from Europe — and to be cheap to abandon.
Decide the question first
« Will it sell? » is not testable. « Will a distributor in this category take a meeting, and what do they say about our price? » is. Write the question down before choosing the method; it eliminates most of the expensive options immediately.
The three methods
- A qualified conversation round. Ten real meetings with the kind of company that would buy or distribute. Costs a trip and preparation, and produces information no report contains.
- A cross-border listing. Sell a limited range without a local entity. You learn about demand, price sensitivity and returns with real money rather than opinions.
- A visible, credible presence in Chinese. A proper page and a WeChat account, then see who comes and what they ask. Slow, cheap, and it keeps producing after the test ends.
Set the exit condition in advance
Decide, before starting, what result would make you stop. Tests without a stopping rule turn into slow, unbudgeted market entries — which is the exact outcome the test was meant to avoid.