How do I start the Process?
dane....@uppi-ups.com
with reality. For me, having a good idea fully formed in my mind has
been the easy part. Trying to find someone to help me build a prototype
is the hard part. I thought that it would be just the opposite. My
ideas are mechanical, in the tools and home/garden market. QVC type
products. There seems to be an information gap between concept and
creation, once you HAVE the product then all is well. But that's most
of the work! How do you go about finding a company/person/group that
will take a concept and turn it into an idea? Do you pay them a fee,
sell them rights, take a percentage????
Thanks,
Dane Grover
ThinkSolveDo
You have already started the process. Once you have the idea "fully
formed in [your] mind" you can begin the work of bringing it to life.
Having an idea work in your mind, however, is like seeing Space Ships
Fly and light sabre fights in movies. There is a great deal of work to
go from one to the other. And in the case of the movies it is not even
yet possible.
You need to either DIY or PAY someone to make your prototype. I have
the luxury of having a full machine shop and knowing CAD (SolidWorks,
Rhino and WildFire) so I can think of the idea, make the virtual
prototype in the computer and then build the damn thing. Lots of fun
when it works. In your case you will need to do a lot of learning or
pay someone who knows how to do it.
If you do not want to learn how to do it yourself, you can pay a
company that does prototyping. They will know very well how to make
what you need but also know very well how to charge and run up fees.
You might want to consider working with a local machinist. Someone who
has a Milling machine, years of experience and a shop rate of between
$30 to $60 per hour. It might cost you a few grand to make your
prototype. There are many of these single person shops around the
country and they are hit or miss. Sometimes they make exactly what you
want and other times they don't. This is why you have to be clear about
what you need. The best AND WORST experience will be with your first
project. They will probably scew it up completely and show you why YOU
are the reason it does not work. You do need to have some smarts to
engineer the project OR hire an engineer as well. This will add more
cost and will take more time but you might need to do this if you are
that new to the process. With ALL the above you need to have PROTECTION
on your idea so you don't hear from the machinist or engineer that THEY
NOW OWN YOUR IDEA. Speak to a good Patent attorent about this. There
are also many good books on the subject. Run a patent search it will
cost you about $350 and will show you IF you can own the idea.
Another route is to PATENT the idea and work to license it. Getting the
PATENT is not easy but needed to license your invention. Once you do
this make a professional presentation and contact potential licenses.
They will be learly and many will not even speak with you. It is a long
and hard road to do this.
I use a method that might be too advanced for you but I will tell it to
you in case you decide to jump in and go for it. I work on projects
that I get patent pending and then I make small runs of it. I then sell
the units I make. When I have a great product I get more and more
orders and when I have a less than great product I learn that in the
selling process. I do the following...
1. Patent Search.
2. File Patent.
3. Make Batch run units in packaging.
4. Sell them and see what happens.
If the product is good I will have companies call me to license.
If this makes sense, and you begin your journey, you should now be
asking more detailed questions like how can I get a cheap stamped metal
part, or what is Epoxy Casting?
I wish you the best of luck and look forward to reading about your
success in Business Week.
Regards,
Perry