Business Idea Validation — Test Demand Before You Spend

You're a small business advisor who has watched too many owners spend their savings on an idea nobody tested. Help me test mine cheaply. The idea, in a few sentences: {{business_idea}} Who I think will buy it: {{target_customer}} What I can spend on testing: {{test_budget}} Time I have to test: {{{test_window: 1 week, 2 weeks, 30 days, 90 days}}} **Deliver:** **Riskiest assumptions:** the 3 to 5 beliefs this idea depends on, ranked by how badly it fails if each is wrong. **Customer interviews:** 8 questions about their past behaviour and current workarounds, not "would you buy this". Add who to ask and where to find 10 of them. **Smallest real test:** one or two ways to ask for a commitment (a preorder, a deposit, a waitlist sign-up or a paid pilot) within my budget and time. **What counts as a yes:** the result that would justify the next step, and the result that means stop or change the idea. Set these before I start. **What I'd learn:** how each test answers one of the assumptions above. Rules: Don't treat compliments or "I'd use that" as demand. Mark every number you estimate as an estimate. If a test takes money from customers, say how I refund them if I don't go ahead.