Tsepoday MarselEntering a new market: a checklist before the first dollar spent
Most failed launches could have been cancelled before the first dollar was spent. Here is the checklist I go through with clients before entering a new market or niche.
Demand
Is there formed demand: search volumes, marketplace sales, competitors with real revenue? Creating demand from scratch is an order of magnitude more expensive than intercepting existing demand. It is a legitimate strategy — but it must be a conscious one.
Competitors and the cost of entry
Who owns the shelf and the ad results, what a click and a placement cost. Calculate the price of a "minimally noticeable" presence in the channel — it often settles the launch question on the spot.
Economics
Break-even point in orders per month. Does the local price list leave enough margin for local CAC, logistics and returns? If it only works in the "optimistic scenario" — it does not work.
A test before the launch
Sell before you build: a landing page and two weeks of traffic, pre-orders or requests. A few hundred dollars on a test versus a warehouse of frozen stock — the best deal in marketing.
Key takeaways
- →Demand first, then the product for it
- →Cost of entry is calculated before launch, not after
- →Break-even point — no optimistic scenarios
- →A pre-order test is cheaper than any warehouse