Market validation
Test the market before you commit to it
China market entry for SMEs whose advantage is a brand, a technology, or industrial know-how
We test whether buyers exist at your price. We test whether a partner can actually sell for you. Most companies commit before they know either.
Getting it wrong is expensive and slow to undo. A test costs you weeks. A wrong entry costs you capital, a company structure, and a year
What is China market validation
Validation tests whether successful entry is possible
What we test
Will people buy? Can a partner sell it? Do the numbers work?
When it is done
Before you commit significant resources or make irreversible decisions.
What you get
A go, a no-go, or a sharper question to test next.
Who this is for
China market validation is designed for SMEs whose competitive advantage sits in brand, technology, or industrial know-how - and who are actively considering whether China is the right next move:
You already sell well at home.
A Chinese distributor has approached you, and you cannot tell if the interest is real.
You have been to China, seen the opportunity, and want to test it before you spend.
You tried China once. This time you want evidence, not fresh optimism.
Your board or a competitor is pushing you to enter, and you need facts first.
This validation is not designed for companies in early-stage product development, or for companies without a clear China ambition and the commitment to follow through.
Three things we test
Three major conditions
You will arrive with signs of interest: enquiries, trade fair talk, a keen distributor. That interest is real. It is rarely the same as people buying at your price, in the volumes you need.
The question that matters
Is the interest real at your price, in the volume you need.
How we run it
The output is a decision, not a market report
A working business model to test
We write down what has to be true. Buyer segments, how the product is sold, what kind of partner you need.
Signals of buyer and partner intent
We test it in China. Channel talks, partner checks, regulatory mapping, and where we can, real buying signals
Go, no-go, or a sharper question
We hold the answer against what you believed at the start. Without that discipline, companies in attractive markets carry on regardless.
Entry planning comes after this.: Without a validated case, an entry plan is guesswork.
China entry planning
China market entry
No cure, no pay
And why our recommendation is independent
We earn only if the entry works. If the evidence says no, we say no.
Shaeps is paid on commercial success, not on engagements. A no-go decision costs us the same as a go decision. We have no financial incentive to produce a positive recommendation when the evidence does not support it. A fee-based advisory engagement, by contrast, is paid to deliver a report. The two engagement models will produce different recommendations on the same evidence.
How the no-cure-no-pay model works
