So, you have an idea for a business, product or service.

Maybe you’ve been trying to make it work for a while, maybe it’s yet to get off the ground.

In either case, the key to success lies in your ability to adapt to customer and market needs, in being agile. But when’s the right time to make a change? And how?

Here are five key signs that you might need to shift your thinking:

1. Only part of the idea works.
2. You need to explain it in detail, often, to be understood.
3. People don’t see the value.
4. The benefits don’t outweigh the effort of switching from another, more well-known provider.
5. It’s difficult to scale.

If any of the above ring a bell, you can make a few adjustments: 

• Iteration: Define your scope, build and release, gather feedback, use the data to redefine your scope and repeat the process. Each cycle is a new improvement iteration. 
• Pivot: Change parts of your idea, like your strategy or pricing model.
• Start over: Find an entirely new idea.