The problem is that legal agreements cost money and you don't want to spend money on an idea that is simply not marketable. Great idea, except that nobody wanted it. One fairly quick way to determine the level of consumer interest in your products is to hire a market research firm to conduct one or two focus groups for you, with the firm and the participants signing your confidentiality agreement. And you may not want to spend that much if there is only a small chance of a successfully marketable product. The bottom line is that ideas are relatively easy to copy and as such are not as valuable as someone who can market them and develop them into a profitable business.
Education helps, too.
All this makes perfect sense because high-income households almost always own larger homes with more rooms that need lighting, and some own second homes as well. Also, many larger homes have bigger yards as well, presenting more opportunity for exterior lighting. Here is how you could roughly estimate the market potential for the market you wish to serve with home lighting or any other household product that has the same buyer characteristics. The two key ingredients are the demographics of the heavy buyers and the same demographic characteristics for the market you wish to serve. Another product with a more complex demographic profile would, of course, require somewhat different calculations.