B. Cole
In thine hand is power and might.
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I’m going out on a limb and say nope. I can sum up the invention process for you, you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to have somebody else tell you. You will learn a lot and become much more resilient holding your own hand and walking solo, because you’ll learn a lot of not-to-do’s and discover other entrepreneurial opportunities along the way.
1. Identify the problem you are solving, quite sharply and specifically.
2. Weigh all possible solutions to this problem, make sure your solution is the most efficient, effective way. Do not make a product if you don’t need to, failure will result. Also, look deeply for other solutions to this problem, including patent searching. No sense in moving forward with somebody else’s patented idea. The dominant commandments right now are control and need. How safe is your solution against outside factors (regulation changes, dependency on another product to stay around, etc.)? Do people need this product to solve their problem? Can they solve it another way?
3. Create some prototypes, as finished and professional as feasible. If you can’t do it, find folks that can. Once you’ve tested and feel good about your prototype, research and file a provisional patent. Starting to work on entry.
4. Get your product in front of people that suffer from the problem you’re solving and sell them. If you have a hard time selling them, find out why. Talk to people, take their suggestions. Be direct, ask what they would change and how much they would pay. Do not proceed until you have validated your market by selling prototypes. Family and friends don’t count. Still working on the commandment of need here.
5. Take your customer’s feedback and begin the long, painstaking design/manufacture process. Most of us aren’t engineers or have factories at our disposal, so draft an NDA and start reaching out to manufacturers. Research, research, research with an open mind. Look at other products for ideas on manufacturing techniques. Getting a manufacturer that partakes in product development is hard, but golden when you find them. I contacted over 50 manufacturers trying to have my product made. You’ll likely spend 1-2 years in this stage, depending on your product. Build some users along the way to pitch changes and solicit feedback. Everything from the design to the name should be approved by your customers. Remember - it’s for them, not you. The only thing in this that belongs to you is the money at the end. Your manufacturing processes are the beginning of time and scale. It must be efficient, affordable and scaleable.
6. Land at the point of vetted/tested materials and design - finished product. You’ve likely re-filed your provisional patent several times and hopefully decided whether you want to build a business around your invention, or sell off the idea (license). If you’re going to manufacture and build a business, you don’t need to wait on patents. Get that thing in the market. Once you feel 100 percent comfortable with your finished product and have tested and sold (hopefully many) finished units, move toward a full non-provisional patent. You should also have design drawings, cad/specs if applicable, and manufacturing specifications/instructions by now.
If you choose to build a business around it, you’ve got a lot of work ahead (hopefully done most of this already) to build solid supply, marketing and distribution chains. You’ll know if you want to do this by the time you get there.
Good luck!
1. Identify the problem you are solving, quite sharply and specifically.
2. Weigh all possible solutions to this problem, make sure your solution is the most efficient, effective way. Do not make a product if you don’t need to, failure will result. Also, look deeply for other solutions to this problem, including patent searching. No sense in moving forward with somebody else’s patented idea. The dominant commandments right now are control and need. How safe is your solution against outside factors (regulation changes, dependency on another product to stay around, etc.)? Do people need this product to solve their problem? Can they solve it another way?
3. Create some prototypes, as finished and professional as feasible. If you can’t do it, find folks that can. Once you’ve tested and feel good about your prototype, research and file a provisional patent. Starting to work on entry.
4. Get your product in front of people that suffer from the problem you’re solving and sell them. If you have a hard time selling them, find out why. Talk to people, take their suggestions. Be direct, ask what they would change and how much they would pay. Do not proceed until you have validated your market by selling prototypes. Family and friends don’t count. Still working on the commandment of need here.
5. Take your customer’s feedback and begin the long, painstaking design/manufacture process. Most of us aren’t engineers or have factories at our disposal, so draft an NDA and start reaching out to manufacturers. Research, research, research with an open mind. Look at other products for ideas on manufacturing techniques. Getting a manufacturer that partakes in product development is hard, but golden when you find them. I contacted over 50 manufacturers trying to have my product made. You’ll likely spend 1-2 years in this stage, depending on your product. Build some users along the way to pitch changes and solicit feedback. Everything from the design to the name should be approved by your customers. Remember - it’s for them, not you. The only thing in this that belongs to you is the money at the end. Your manufacturing processes are the beginning of time and scale. It must be efficient, affordable and scaleable.
6. Land at the point of vetted/tested materials and design - finished product. You’ve likely re-filed your provisional patent several times and hopefully decided whether you want to build a business around your invention, or sell off the idea (license). If you’re going to manufacture and build a business, you don’t need to wait on patents. Get that thing in the market. Once you feel 100 percent comfortable with your finished product and have tested and sold (hopefully many) finished units, move toward a full non-provisional patent. You should also have design drawings, cad/specs if applicable, and manufacturing specifications/instructions by now.
If you choose to build a business around it, you’ve got a lot of work ahead (hopefully done most of this already) to build solid supply, marketing and distribution chains. You’ll know if you want to do this by the time you get there.
Good luck!