How to Test a Business Model

I’ve been researching some new business ideas lately and it struck me how rarely people seem to discuss quick and cheap ways of testing the critical assumptions upon which business models are based.

Often we’re keen to play with Excel, but less keen to check that the numbers we’re typing in are grounded in reality. The result, I believe, is that people end up taking far more risk than they need to when starting out.

Fortunately, there are some smart people out there who do recognise the importance of testing your assumptions and having a toolkit of techniques to help you do so.

Here’s a nice presentation on the subject from Steve Barsh: