For would-be inventors, or aspiring entrepreneurs – Five things worth thinking about before you begin

The following is based not only on my personal observations over 30 years, but also some personal experience with my own ideas for innovative products, or inventions. This list came to light as I find our company dealing more with inventors and entrepreneurs who are pursuing their first attempt at bringing a product to market.

The list was composed from a variety of notes I have taken over time, as we consider a number of inventions and ideas put before us for business development or corporate partnering opportunities. From my notes, please consider the following before you put forth a large outlay of cash, effort, and commitment to your idea:

1. Most would-be inventors are not prepared for the cash outlay that will be needed to take their idea to market,
2. Many would-be inventors know what they want, but have a hard time accepting something different when proposed by others, that may stray from their original vision,
3. Worse than someone consumed by buying yet another pair of shoes, most would-be inventors want far too many iterations of the same idea, rarely coming to closure on any of them,
4. Once the design is accepted, many would-be inventors are cash-strapped to get it into production, e.g., start-up costs in molds, first production run, etc., and
5. Don’t even begin, until you are absolutely sure you are willing to lose every penny invested and write it off to experience – no different than real estate investing.

This is not intended to discourage anyone from pursuing their dreams. Just the opposite. We would like to see everyone be successful in their endeavor. But, I think it’s equally important to take a realistic view of the odds against you – call it measured risk, if you like. Before you begin, please consider these five simple observations. If you have already started, this may help you better understand where you are at, and what lies ahead.

p.s. If you have an invention, idea, or innovation, and seek an outside opinion of its viability in the marketplace, we welcome the chance to talk to you. Drop us an email from the “About” link here in the blog.

Comments

[Peter]

Joe Crisp, President and CEO, at Mountain Mold & Die does a good job of summing this up from his perspective with: "While working in the plastic manufacturing business for the past 30 years, I have seen several potential inventors/marketers waste time and money only to find out they could not achieve their sales goals."

Read his most excellent advice, here:
http://www.mtnmold.com/2010/11/inventions-and-the-contract-plastic-manufacturing-process

[Petermilner99]

I like your encouragement. I am an entrepreneur at heart myself, and it is great to get sound advice from a well meaning guy. Thanks so much for these words, and I look forward to coming to you for more fine tuning in the future. I have something in my mind that I want to bring to market, but, I have several steps that I need to take, and I need to have a conversation with someone before I bring it further down the pipeline. I need a manufacturer of the product as well, but it should be quite easy to manufacture.

Peace,

Peter Milner