Launch Foundations
Starting a business in Kenya? Find out what the market will buy before you spend on building it.
A market entry strategy for new businesses. Four working sessions over four to six weeks, starting at KES 55,000.
Before the logo, the website and the stock
You have an idea for a business and money set aside to start it. Perhaps redundancy brought the decision forward. Perhaps you have planned this for years.
When you are starting a business in Kenya, most of that money goes out before the first customer pays. A launch budget might look like this:
| Planned spend | KES | Answer this first |
|---|---|---|
| Premises and deposits | 400,000 | Does this location reach enough of the customers you are planning for? |
| Initial stock | 800,000 | Which products, at which prices, have evidence of demand? |
| Equipment | 250,000 | Does the offer customers will buy need it from day one? |
| Branding and website | 250,000 | Is the positioning clear to the buyer, and does the buying journey need a website at launch? |
| Launch marketing | 300,000 | Can the offer and sales process turn interest into sales? |
| Total | 2,000,000 |
Launch Foundations answers those questions with evidence before the money moves. It costs KES 190,000 across three stages, under a tenth of that budget, and the first stage costs KES 55,000.
It suits you if
- You are preparing to start a business
- You have a developed business idea and want to know who will buy before you build
- You have started spending and want to check you are investing in the right things
- You want an independent view alongside the opinions of people close to you
You do not need a registered business, a brand or a website. You do need to be willing to speak to prospective customers and change course if the evidence points elsewhere.
Three stages, three decisions
01
Market Opportunity
We examine the market you want to enter, the customers you have in mind, what they use today and the evidence of demand, in Kenya or wherever you plan to sell.
KES 55,000 | USD 420
You receive:
- Market Opportunity Assessment: the market, the customer groups and the alternatives they use, the evidence of demand, and the assumptions still to test.
You decide whether the opportunity is worth testing further.
02
Customer and Offer
We define your first customer, the problem you solve for them and the offer you will test. We design the conversations you hold with prospective customers, then review what they tell you, separating encouragement from real buying intent.
KES 80,000 | USD 620
You receive:
- Customer and Offer Definition: who you will serve first, what you will sell them and why it matters to them.
- Validation Guide: who to speak to, what to ask and what to listen for in your customer conversations.
- Evidence Review: what the conversations and research show, and how strong that evidence is.
You decide whether to proceed, adjust the offer or look further.
03
Market Entry
We set out how you will reach your first customers: the routes, the proposition, the channels, what your website and sales materials need to do, and how enquiries will be followed up.
KES 55,000 | USD 420
You receive:
- Positioning and Sales Proposition: how you explain the offer and its value to your first customers.
- Launch Requirements: the marketing, sales and digital essentials to have in place before you sell.
- Marketing and Market-entry Budget Priorities: what to fund now, what depends on further evidence and what can wait.
- 90-day Market-entry Roadmap: the sequence of steps from now to your first customers.
You decide what to put in place now and what waits for stronger evidence.
KES 190,000 | USD 1,460 for all three stages. You pay for each stage before it begins, and you decide after each one whether to continue. Most founders start with Stage 1. Additional fieldwork, including recruiting and interviewing customers for you, is scoped and priced separately.
Every stage ends in a decision
Whichever way the evidence points, you leave each stage knowing what to do next.
Go ahead
You move to the next stage, or into the build, with the evidence behind you.
Change course
You know which assumption failed and what would need to be true for the business to work.
Stop or pause
You keep your capital, and the research on the market and customers stays yours for the next idea.
If you go ahead, we can scope the build: brand, website, sales materials, channels, systems and launch campaigns. Or you can take the plan to other suppliers or run it yourself. The roadmap is yours.
How we assess an opportunity
Every engagement examines the same four areas. The depth in each follows your business.
- The market: demand, competitors and substitutes, and how customers solve the problem today.
- The customer: who buys, who decides, and what they need to believe before they pay a new business.
- The offer and price: what you plan to sell, tested against what customers pay today and what it costs to reach them, using your numbers.
- The route to customers: the channels, the sales path and what has to be in place before you sell.
Each finding is marked by the strength of the evidence behind it, so you can see what is established, what is indicated and what is still an assumption.
How we work together
Four working sessions over four to six weeks.
Session 1: The opportunity
We examine the idea, the market, the alternatives customers use today and the evidence available.
Session 2: The customer and offer
We define your first customer, the problem you solve and the offer to test, and design your customer conversations.
Session 3: The evidence
You share what prospective customers told you. We assess what it shows and what it changes.
Session 4: The market-entry plan
We set out how to reach your first customers, what to put in place and what to fund now.
Customer conversations: who does what
You hold the conversations with prospective customers, because buyers speak differently to the person who will serve them. We prepare you for them: who to approach, what to ask, what to listen for and how to record it. Afterwards, we review every conversation with you and separate evidence from politeness.
If your network does not reach your buyers, we help you find where they are. If the answers contradict each other, that is a finding in itself, and we work out what explains it. If you want us to recruit and interview customers directly, we quote that fieldwork separately.
Your launch budget, in three columns
Every recommendation in Stage 3 lands in one of three places:
- Essential now: what you need to reach your first customers and start selling.
- Conditional: what becomes worth funding once a specific assumption is proven or a milestone is reached.
- Defer: what can wait until the business has a clearer need.
Where we can, we give indicative cost ranges and say which work you can do yourself.
What founders asked for, and what they needed first
Founders who came to us before launch, and what each decided.
Professional services
Gender systems consultancy
Asked for
Help shaping a consulting offer and brand.
Needed first
The founder’s methodology documented and named, and a way in that matched how buyers actually buy.
What happened
She took the findings, took her website down and rebuilt the offer before relaunching.
Consumer services
Family services start-up
Asked for
Social media support.
Needed first
One product that working parents would pay for, tested before the app, the product line and partnerships.
What happened
She launched the full plan. Nearly a year on, she reports no sales.
What happens after you enquire
- We read your enquiry and reply within two working days.
- A free 30-minute call to hear about the business and check that Launch Foundations fits what you need.
- A written scope for Stage 1 and an invoice. Nothing starts until you have agreed the scope.
- Session 1 on a date we agree together, once payment is in.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a developed idea?
Yes. Launch Foundations starts from one business you have decided to pursue: what you plan to sell, who you think will buy it and roughly what you plan to invest. You do not need to have registered the business.
I have several ideas. Can we look at all of them?
We work on one developed idea at a time, so the research stays focused. Bring the one you are most ready to invest in.
Will you tell me whether the business will succeed?
We tell you what the evidence supports, what remains uncertain and what to test next. The decision stays with you.
People like my idea, but nobody commits. What then?
That is what Stage 2 is for. We help you tell enthusiasm apart from evidence of need and willingness to pay.
Do you find customers for me?
We show you who your first customers are and how to reach them. The selling is yours.
What if the evidence says my idea needs to change?
Then you have learnt it for KES 55,000 or KES 135,000, before committing the rest of your budget.
Does it include business registration, legal or financial advice?
Those sit with the relevant professionals. When starting a business in Kenya raises a legal, tax or regulatory question, we flag it for you to take to the right adviser.
My business is outside Kenya. Can you help?
Yes. We work across markets. The research scope depends on the market and the information available.
Is my idea kept confidential?
Yes. Everything you share stays between you and Qallann, and we will sign a non-disclosure agreement before you share details if you prefer.
Are the sessions online or in person?
Online, on Google Meet. We work remotely with founders in Kenya and elsewhere.
How much of my time will it take?
The four working sessions are fixed. The rest depends on your business and how much groundwork you have already done, and most of it falls in Stage 2, when you hold your customer conversations. We agree a realistic plan for those with you in Session 2.
How do I pay?
By M-Pesa, bank transfer or card. You pay each stage before it begins. Clients outside Kenya are invoiced in US dollars at the prices shown.
Tell us what you are planning
Tell us about the business you are planning. We will review what you share and arrange a short conversation to see whether Launch Foundations fits.