Recently had a lightbulb moment? Come up with a great idea for a new product that you think could be the next best thing, but you haven’t the faintest clue how to turn your idea into an actual real-life product? Here are some tips to help you move from idea to reality:
Protect Your Idea
Before you do anything else, you absolutely must take steps to protect your idea, so that you can prove you thought of it first. In order to do this, you will need to write down every last thing you can think of about your invention, from its appearance to how it works and how you will advertise it. Once you’ve done, this, you can start to think about the process of having it patented, and if you are the first person to come up with the idea and there are no ideas deemed to be very similar already patented, it will be your to do with as you wish for the foreseeable (but not forever). However, you shouldn’t file a patent before also doing the other things in this post.
Research Your Market
Once you’re confident you’ve done what you can to protect your idea at this stage, you’re going to want to really start researching any possible markets for your product. Just because you and your mom think that it’s a good idea, doesn’t mean anyone else will and you’ll be wasting your time and money doing some of the other things in this post if no one is going to be interested in the end product. If you’re really serious about your product, hiring a professional market researcher is probably a good idea as it will give you a real insight into what people and do not want.
Research Product Manufacture
If your market research indicated that there really would be a market for your product, it’s time to start researching the viability of creating your product, more specifically how much it will cost to manufacture and distribute your products. For example, you could contact Proto Plastics to see how much custom molds for your product would set you back, or you could get in touch with Core Fulfilment to see how much distribution and fulfillment of your product would likely cost, to see if you can make your product competitive in your particular niche. If you can’t do this, then it might be difficult to see much success.
Create a Prototype
If your research has convinced you that you have a hit on your hands, it’s time to make an actual model of your invention that will showcase your design and enable you to pitch your product to banks or licensees, so that you can get more of your products made and out on the market. You can find out how to make a successful prototype here. Once your prototype is up and running, you should absolutely use it to work out any design flaws and straighten out any kinks before you do anything else.
File Your Patent
Now, it’s time to file your patent. Although you can file the paperwork for your patent yourself, you should never file a patent application before having a professional patent expert check it over because it only takes one small mistake or one simple part of your design to be overlooked for someone to infringe your patent and steal your product idea.