The Art of Timing

Timing is crucial to the success of any endeavor. This subject is the most written about, yet least understood of any business topic.

Looking back on my string of startups, I can clearly identify timing as a major factor in each and every one that failed. Market timing of a product is critical in a rapidly changing field such as high tech, and ranks as very important in even the most slow moving arenas.

How do we ensure correct market timing? If we introduce a product before the market is ready for it (my mistake in my first ever startup, when I tried to introduce a VoIP chip in 1998)we risk having no acceptance. And if we introduce it too late, we enter a field crowded with competition.

My suggestion for this critical decision point is to get as much customer data as possible. Are your customers ready to adopt your new widget? Do they see the need now, or is it a future need? What factors are driving this need, and are they here yet, or yet to come?

One mistake many have made is to listen to the hype of the trade rags and analysts - which resulted in the dot com bubble and the VoIP bubble of the late 90s. Many products were introduced that were ahead of their time.

Another is to underestimate time to development of a product, and overestimate your competitors development time.

These are all key areas a good marketing manager has to monitor constantly.

All comments and suggestions welcome!