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Inventing A New Tool
Is failure a good thing? I believe it is, if you learn from it.
Since 2001, I have tried to start many businesses. The past 16 years of my life have been littered with failures. But, each failure has taught me something that has moved me closer and closer to success.
In this thread, I’m going to discuss the businesses I’ve tried to start but failed. What is in this post for you? Lessons from failure that you don’t have to make yourself. So, let’s begin.
I graduated from high school in 2001. At the time, I believed that going too college was beyond my financial means. Going to college was a dream of mine. I longed to be the first person in my family to get a college degree. But, I was broke. So, I got a job instead.
During this time I remember learning about green energy production. In particular, I became fascinated with windmills. The idea that a windmill can stand in a field all day, and produce electricity got me thinking. “It must be great to own one,” I thought. “It produces electricity that you sell back to the grid. It works for you, just like an employee, accept you don’t have to hire anyone.”
Oh, I was fascinated by engineering. As a child I was a BIG Star Trek fan. And, I loved dreaming about ideas for new inventions. So, when I was 18 years old I thought the best way to make money, and not have to work for a living, was to invent something. So, I started on my very first idea.
My father was a carpenter and a locksmith. I had helped him on many remodeling jobs in the past. So, I started tinkering with different ideas for tools. I bought a welding machine and started welding together different ideas. The only thing I had to cut the metal with was a hack-saw and an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel.
It was hard cutting metal pieces with an angle grinder. But, on my minimum wage pay, I couldn’t afford additional tools. Then it hit me. Why not make an attachment to the angle grinder. That way I can cut metal pieces far more easily. So, I built a completely new attachment. One that wasn’t even available in stores.
It worked so well, my father still uses the prototype for some of his jobs. So, I began looking into patenting the idea and getting it to a tool manufacturer to license the idea. Maybe a tool company could manufacture the tool under their name, and I would get a small royalty.
I began learning how to patent the idea. Getting a patent was too expensive for me, at the time. But, the patent office did have what was called a provisional patent application.
This was far cheaper than a full application and would offer my invention limited protection, as long as I filed for a full patent within one year.
With the provisional application in hand, I began submitting my idea to large hand tool manufacturers. None of them returned my submissions except for two. These two companies gave me the same response. “We do not currently have a use for your invention at this time. There will be no further action taken.”
Um, just a random question for you folks. Does anyone here like spiral ham? You know, the ham that has the spiral cuts in it? The person who invented the machine that cuts those spirals submitted his idea to EVERY ham company in the United States. They all sent him letters like the ones I received.
So, he decided to manufacture the machine himself. He made a lot of money. When his patent expired, EVERY ham company in the United States started using his machine!
If I had to do it all over again, I would have made a more professional looking prototype. Then, I would have called local contracting companies to validate the idea. If people bought them, I would have had money to pursue the idea further. Then I could have made and sold it myself, just like the spiral cut ham guy.
But, I didn’t have a manufacturing plant to make my tool. Since I thought the idea didn’t have any legs, I never followed up on the full patent. That was my first mistake. Why?
Because, it would turn out that my tool was, and is, a multi-million dollar invention.
But, I wouldn’t realize it for another 15 years, when it was far too late.
More to come in future posts…
First Mistakes: Not validating the product on my own. And, not Getting a Patent (True in my case, but not always true)
Is failure a good thing? I believe it is, if you learn from it.
Since 2001, I have tried to start many businesses. The past 16 years of my life have been littered with failures. But, each failure has taught me something that has moved me closer and closer to success.
In this thread, I’m going to discuss the businesses I’ve tried to start but failed. What is in this post for you? Lessons from failure that you don’t have to make yourself. So, let’s begin.
I graduated from high school in 2001. At the time, I believed that going too college was beyond my financial means. Going to college was a dream of mine. I longed to be the first person in my family to get a college degree. But, I was broke. So, I got a job instead.
During this time I remember learning about green energy production. In particular, I became fascinated with windmills. The idea that a windmill can stand in a field all day, and produce electricity got me thinking. “It must be great to own one,” I thought. “It produces electricity that you sell back to the grid. It works for you, just like an employee, accept you don’t have to hire anyone.”
Oh, I was fascinated by engineering. As a child I was a BIG Star Trek fan. And, I loved dreaming about ideas for new inventions. So, when I was 18 years old I thought the best way to make money, and not have to work for a living, was to invent something. So, I started on my very first idea.
My father was a carpenter and a locksmith. I had helped him on many remodeling jobs in the past. So, I started tinkering with different ideas for tools. I bought a welding machine and started welding together different ideas. The only thing I had to cut the metal with was a hack-saw and an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel.
It was hard cutting metal pieces with an angle grinder. But, on my minimum wage pay, I couldn’t afford additional tools. Then it hit me. Why not make an attachment to the angle grinder. That way I can cut metal pieces far more easily. So, I built a completely new attachment. One that wasn’t even available in stores.
It worked so well, my father still uses the prototype for some of his jobs. So, I began looking into patenting the idea and getting it to a tool manufacturer to license the idea. Maybe a tool company could manufacture the tool under their name, and I would get a small royalty.
I began learning how to patent the idea. Getting a patent was too expensive for me, at the time. But, the patent office did have what was called a provisional patent application.
This was far cheaper than a full application and would offer my invention limited protection, as long as I filed for a full patent within one year.
With the provisional application in hand, I began submitting my idea to large hand tool manufacturers. None of them returned my submissions except for two. These two companies gave me the same response. “We do not currently have a use for your invention at this time. There will be no further action taken.”
Um, just a random question for you folks. Does anyone here like spiral ham? You know, the ham that has the spiral cuts in it? The person who invented the machine that cuts those spirals submitted his idea to EVERY ham company in the United States. They all sent him letters like the ones I received.
So, he decided to manufacture the machine himself. He made a lot of money. When his patent expired, EVERY ham company in the United States started using his machine!
If I had to do it all over again, I would have made a more professional looking prototype. Then, I would have called local contracting companies to validate the idea. If people bought them, I would have had money to pursue the idea further. Then I could have made and sold it myself, just like the spiral cut ham guy.
But, I didn’t have a manufacturing plant to make my tool. Since I thought the idea didn’t have any legs, I never followed up on the full patent. That was my first mistake. Why?
Because, it would turn out that my tool was, and is, a multi-million dollar invention.
But, I wouldn’t realize it for another 15 years, when it was far too late.
More to come in future posts…
First Mistakes: Not validating the product on my own. And, not Getting a Patent (True in my case, but not always true)
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