Knowing when to launch a product or service is tough business. Launch too early and you may sell a product that fails to meet market needs or worse, just plain fails. An equal danger looms from holding onto a product or service too long, endlessly refining every single feature, function, and detail before you take it to market.

A balance needs to be struck between launching a reliable and meets-the-needs-of-the-market product with an urgency that results in your product getting to market fast, before evolving needs or competitors obsolete your efforts.

I've worked with companies that suffered from both releasing a product too early and holding one in-house too long. Interestingly, they both made the same amount of money in their respective markets, none.

StartupJournal has a wonderful article on this topic. The best line of all is the closing statement - It doesn't matter how great a product is, if it never makes it to the marketplace. Wise words we should all heed.

When do you think is the best time to launch a new product or service? How do you manage the risk of waiting too long or launching too early?