That raises a great question.

From experience, I was on a project team where we were developing a cough and cold product for the market. At the start of concept, the previous year’s data completely warranted entering the cough and cold market with an additional product; however, during the course of development, the cold and flu season was mild and as a result, the cough and cold products did not sell well, thus causing a “lull” in the market. It was because of this that the project was put into a “hold” status. The company didn’t want to waste more resources on it if the market would “lull” again the following year but they also did not want to have a sunk cost for all of the development that had already been put into place. Depending on how far along in a project you are, it may be the more sensible option to finish development and scale up but hold off on production until the market can be re-evaluated or until the market takes a turn at a later time, if ever.

-Michelle F