“An idea ahead of its time”
Bet you heard that before. I have not only heard about it, I have lived through these, at least a couple of times trying to be way too cute and not getting the timing right. Just two examples: wanting to can coconut water in 1989, or starting a food delivery platform over the Internet in 2002.
How to know? When is an idea ripe for the market?
Here is one test that I came up with as a test, but first let’s assume that you have come up with a good enough pitch for your idea, that catches the attention of your audience, it can be delivered quickly, before they nod off on you, and last, but not least, that gets the idea through without any misunderstanding.
If we can check those off the list, pay attention what happens when you pitch the idea.
It is great if you get a “Huh!?” and you can see the gears moving in their heads. That’s good because you just made them have a revelation. They just awakened to a new reality where your idea, your way of seeing the world, exists.
But that’s not enough.
You know you have a winner, if they get all excited and they tell you how many times they needed something like you are pitching, and that they were just waiting for someone to make it happen. That’s when you know that it’s ripe.
Then there is everything in-between.