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Advice on bootstrapping an invention?

Anything considered a "hustle" and not necessarily a CENTS-based Fastlane

bbar97

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I'm considering moving forward with one of my 70 ideas for inventions/new services, but there are a few roadblocks I need to clear before I decide to go all in with it.

Its a product in the garden/home product industry, and its moderately complex so design and manufacturing costs won't likely be low. Does anyone have advice on bootstrapping a new invention? Most of the bootstrapping advice I've seen is for services, so I'm not sure of all my options with a product.

I believe the things I need to check before I go through with this are:

-Is it feasible in terms of production?
-Can it be produced at a reasonable price-point?
-Is there market need for this solution?
-Will this product adequately solve the problem?
-How will I finance this?

I recently started a job in marketing, but pay is minimal so I won't be rolling in money any time soon. Assuming I want to go through with the idea, is my only option to get a loan for the design, patenting, and manufacturing/inventory?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
 
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bbar97

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I think you should focus on the above two questions first.

Also read One Simple Idea by Stephen Key

Well, I'm kind of afraid of doing market testing because I'm not sure how much I can disclose about my idea without a provisional patent.

If I describe what my product is to potential customers without disclosing specifics can I still lose my ability to patent it? I'm not sure where the line is for how much I can disclose, and I would definitely need to describe it to get market feedback.
 

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Rawseed

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Well, I'm kind of afraid of doing market testing because I'm not sure how much I can disclose about my idea without a provisional patent.

You don't need to tell them what your product is because they don't really care about your product. They only care about their problem.

You need to find out if the problem you're solving is really a problem for them.

And if it really is a problem for them:
  • How big a problem is it?
  • Why is it a problem?
  • What goal are they trying to achieve by solving it?
  • Why is that a goal?
  • What solutions have they used to try to solve it in the past?
  • Why didn't those solutions work?
  • Did those solutions completely fail or just partially fail?
  • How much did those solutions cost?
  • What's the pain of not solving the problem?
  • How much are they willing to pay to have it solved?
 

bbar97

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You don't need to tell them what your product is because they don't really care about your product. They only care about their problem.

You need to find out if the problem you're solving is really a problem for them.

And if it really is a problem for them:
  • How big a problem is it?
  • Why is it a problem?
  • What goal are they trying to achieve by solving it?
  • Why is that a goal?
  • What solutions have they used to try to solve it in the past?
  • Why didn't those solutions work?
  • Did those solutions completely fail or just partially fail?
  • How much did those solutions cost?
  • What's the pain of not solving the problem?
  • How much are they willing to pay to have it solved?

This is perfect, thank you!

I'll update this thread in the future with what I found out if I discover something worth sharing.
 

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