What should I test before committing to a new business model?

Before committing capital, reduce a broad strategic option to the questions that determine whether it can work. Start with one clear strategic question, rather than a long list of loosely connected opportunities. From a shortlist of possibilities, frame the hypotheses, questions and tests needed to make an informed decision.

This approach was used with Carbon Tanzania, where a workshop initially explored answers to a single strategic question. As discussion progressed, participants recognised that they were addressing the wrong question. Reframing the challenge around protecting Carbon Tanzania's equity and legacy created a more productive basis for deciding what to do next. The practical lesson is to test the framing as well as the proposed solution. If the question is wrong, apparently rigorous research, financial modelling or customer work can still lead to the wrong commitment.

Historical data, market research and financial analysis are useful inputs, but they may not reveal a credible new direction on their own. Use them to establish constraints, audience evidence and the current position, then create time-limited exploration to develop alternative possibilities. Begin with a clear objective, follow promising hypotheses, and stop exploration when it no longer produces meaningfully new insight.

Creative exploration should not operate separately from evidence. Qualitative and quantitative research, audience intelligence and other research can help refine ideas for impact. The purpose is not to choose between analytical planning and imagination. It is to make options clear enough to compare, identify what remains uncertain, and focus testing on the assumptions that could change the decision.

A new business model requires more than executive approval. Product, sales, marketing, finance, operations and technology teams will each see different constraints, customer signals and delivery implications. Bringing those perspectives into a structured process can reveal issues early, but participation needs a clear purpose: resolving a strategic question, choosing among options or defining what must be tested.

Cross-functional workshops can provide a focused setting for people to surface ideas and challenge assumptions. They work best when leaders encourage collaboration, protect time from distraction and reward shared contribution rather than individual ownership. This is not an argument for endless consensus meetings. It is a way to create enough shared understanding that teams can act on a chosen direction, rather than treating it as an external recommendation they do not understand.