Test your business idea | The 7 most well-known ways

How to test your business idea before getting started?

Do you want to know the best ways to test your business idea? Validating your business creation idea before launching optimizes your chances of success and allows you to face the reality of the market. That’s why this article has compiled for you the best ways to test a business activity before launching. From evaluating your idea to professional events, through wage portage or micro-enterprise, start your entrepreneurial journey on the right foot and minimize your risks.

Evaluate your business creation idea

Before testing, start by evaluating your business creation idea:

• Start by describing your products or services offer: ask yourself about their usefulness and how, to whom, and where you’ll sell them.
• Conduct a market study: study your client typology, geographic area, current market state and its trends.
• Assess your compatibility with your project: consider your personality traits, your skills, and your know-how. If you feel you lack certain skills, consider finding a business partner.

💡Good to know: The CCI offers free and anonymous tests to check your compatibility for entrepreneurial activity (aptitude and personality tests, useful skills for entrepreneurs, etc.). Check out the page test yourself before starting a company on the CCI website for more info.

Find a sample of potential customers

You can test your business idea by selecting a sample of your potential clients. The goal is to collect feedback and analysis from outside parties.

Join a business incubator or business cooperative

Business incubators and cooperatives offer you legal hosting to test your activity in a legal framework.

Create a micro-enterprise

The micro-enterprise is perfectly suited for testing a business idea:

• It allows you to start easily;
• Its procedures are simplified;
• Administrative costs are reduced;
• It allows you to operate occasionally or regularly;
• It does not carry significant professional risks;
• It does not require major investment or expense.

This status allows you to test both a commercial, craft, or liberal activity.

💡Good to know: Micro-enterprise thresholds in 2025 are €188,700 for sales of goods and €77,700 for services.

For more information, take a look at our guide quitting your permanent contract to become self-employed.

Use wage portage

Wage portage allows you to test a business activity while being legally employed by an umbrella company. Here’s how it works: you find a client and perform your services. The umbrella company invoices the client and then pays you your fees as a salary after deducting its commission and social security contributions.

💡Good to know: If you choose Weepo, you get a simulator with zero hidden fees for complete cost transparency.

Check our article to choose the right umbrella company.

Build a landing page

A landing page is a page on which an Internet user lands after clicking a hyperlink, an ad, etc. It is also called a “page d’atterrissage.” It enables you to test the market interest for a product or service in real conditions.

To increase your chances of success, you need to convince your visitors and potential clients with persuasive copywriting, highlight the benefits of your products and services, and include a call to action (cart button, contact form, etc.).

Multiply your contacts

Get in touch with other entrepreneurs in your sector by participating in events such as trade shows, webinars, or information meetings. Meet key players in your market like future clients, partners, suppliers, influencers, and more.

📌Example of a well-known professional event:
French regional fairs offer great business opportunities for SMEs to showcase their local know-how. They boost the economic dynamism of regions and are a more accessible entry point than traditional professional trade shows.

The key takeaways in 7 points

Now you know the main ways to test your business idea before getting started. Let’s recap:

1. Start by evaluating your business idea by describing your products and services, conducting a market study, and assessing your entrepreneurial skills.
2. Run test campaigns by finding a sample of potential customers, then analyze the results to decide whether to continue or not.
3. Join a business incubator or a business cooperative to benefit from legal hosting and test your business in the real market.
4. Register as a micro-entrepreneur and take advantage of the regime’s simplicity to easily test your idea.
5. Use an umbrella company (wage portage) to test your business while retaining the safety of employment.
6. Create a landing page to present and showcase your concept to attract future potential clients.
7. Expand your network with other entrepreneurs by attending professional events.

Additionally, check out our full guide to starting as a freelancer without experience.