The Complete Guide to Inexpensive Ideaing

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© 2011 Mark A. McKitrick. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 2/10/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9861-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9860-9 (dj)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011900796

Printed in the United States of America

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Forward…You have an idea!

Quick Start Guide

STEP 1- The Facts

Synopsis

Search the internet with terms that are associated with your idea

The first question… Is your idea unique?

Searching the internet

Sample internet search

Advanced search - there were no results found.

Search results

The second question…Can you sell your product idea, and what will be its price?

Understanding the findings of your searches

How to determine the selling price for a product and why you should do this now

How to determine manufacturing cost

Manufacturing drawings

International sourcing

Packaging

Logistics / transport / import

Making a decision…

Haworth vs. Steelcase article

Step 2- The Preliminary… design and feasibility study

Synopsis

Concept generation and written specification

Preliminary 3D CAD design

Concept generation

The manufacturing processes will drive the design

Design specification worksheet

Sample preliminary design specification for garbage toter

Preliminary 3D design – functional evaluation and artwork

Sample preliminary 3D design – functional

Sample preliminary 3D design – artwork

Renderings for marketing purposes

What is the cost for a rendering?

Back attack ball – dimpled, rubber ball – 8 hours

Garbage toter – 16 hours

Waste oil recovery system – 24 hours

Formal product development

Preliminary engineering study

Cost analysis

Formal engineering

Design validation

Production release

Preliminary engineering study

Check shear stress

Using cosmos express

Cost analysis

Formal engineering

Design validation

Production release

STEP 3- The Patent Search

Synopsis

What is a patent?

How to conduct a patent search

Documenting the Search

The patent attorney

Why pay for a patent attorney?

Reviewing the patent attorney’s work

Risks vs. rewards. Should you apply for a patent?

What are the different types of patents?

Foreign patents

What is a provisional patent application?

Why consider a provisional patent?

Credibility

Cheap investment

Time stamp

Changing laws

7 reasons to file a provisional patent application

Trademarks

Advantages of registering a trademark

How to file a trademark

Copyrights

Securing copyright protection

How long does copyright protection last?

Works originally created on or after January 1, 1978

Works originally created before January 1, 1978, but not published or registered by that date

Works originally created and published or registered before January 1, 1978

Will my copyright protect me overseas?

When to use NDAs and CDAs

STEP 4 - The Hunch – Do I Proceed?

Synopsis

Margins (manufacturing costs vs. sales price)

Distribution

Determine distribution channels that may work for your product

Maximize your profit potential by circumventing current distribution costs

Step 5- The Fluff – Marketing

Synopsis

Marketing your product

Marketing venues

Three avenues for marketing your product

Through a distributor

Advantages

Disadvantages

Directly to retailers

Advantages

Disadvantages

Directly to consumers

Advantages

Disadvantages

Developing messages

Presenting the product

Getting to the right person

Name dropping

Marketing program allowance

Naming your product

Pricing

Idea for promotion.com

Do I spend money or not?

Step 6- The Start-up – Launch Time

Synopsis

Launching your idea

Step 7- The Venture

Synopsis

Finding money for your invention

You will want to compile the following information before meeting with venture capitalists or other type of investor

Business plan

About venture capitalists (or other investor research)

Different sources of available funding

You, family, and friends

Angel investors

Venture capital

Searching for venture capital

Criteria for venture capital investors

What should you expect from the due diligence process?

The venture capitalist ROI (return on investment)

Other sources of capital investment

Appendix

Preliminary design Submittal Form

Confidential Disclosure Agreement

Marketing brochure

Provisional patent template

Business plan outline template

Forward…You have an idea!

Chances are you are a lot like me. You have dreams. You love the American way. You believe in taking whatever steps you can to provide for the future. You have an idea that gives you a feeling in the gut that it is a good one. The obstacle is that you are scared. Inventing can often be intimidating. So many possible paths, so much available advice, so much needed money…it can strip you of every ounce of your dream and reduce you to inevitable failure if you are not honest with yourself.

While this guide cannot assure your success, it can assist you with methods that originated from standard resources (attorneys, publications, trade professionals, etc.) and have been modified and enhanced due to years of real-life experience. It has been said; feed a man a fish and he will want more, but teach a man to fish and he will be happy and self-sufficient. This is my dream - to teach you how to fish. Over the years, I have been blessed to appear on CNBC and QVC. I’ve been featured in newspaper and magazine articles and TV news stories, and am a regular news contributor, having won numerous awards for my inventions and creations. With my appearances on these venues, my goal is always to tell everybody who is watching that they can do it too; they can take their dream idea and realize its potential! People have asked me to help them, and I have tried my best to do that, but there is only so much time available. With this guide, my hope is that everyone who uses it will shorten their learning curve. And will have the experience and knowledge to succeed at ideaing, and watch that concept bouncing around in their head become a reality.

There is no question; inventing is a risky business. But, then again, so is the stock market. Question: would you rather invest in a company that you know little about, or in yourself? What if you could invest in yourself without risking your stock portfolio? To master ideaing, you must be extremely resilient, resourceful, and solution-oriented. With some hard work on your part and a strong desire to learn, and with this guide in hand, you should be able to get the ball rolling quickly by:

• Conducting your own research

• Completing your own provisional patent with our template

• Constructing your own marketing brochure with our template

• Writing your own business plan with our template

• Sourcing your renderings, shop drawings, and patent drawings

• Presenting your idea to venture capital for funding

• Procuring your tooling through resources domestically or internationally

• Contract manufacturing your product and sourcing it domestically or internationally

• Generating a web presence where distribution sources will come to you

Using the Ideaing Guide, you will be able to have a patent search conducted by yourself and an attorney, receive a letter of determination from an attorney, have drawings made, have your provisional patent written and filed, specifications generated, manufacturing cost and selling price determined, distribution channels determined, and general marketing plan devised. In the real world this process can be an expensive venture. This guide will give you the skill and resources to bring your idea to market for a substantially lower cost, and allows you to seize the day!

This guide was put together for a large demographic of people. You may or may not need to read all of these sections. However, you will need to provide the answers for the Step questions. For example, if you already have a patent, you may wish to skip Steps related to patenting. In order to present your plan to venture capital, it is strongly recommended that you complete the entire checklist and have all the requested information in requested format.

If you follow these simple Steps, you will save time, money, and perhaps your sanity. The guide will help you to avoid pitfalls where others have stumbled. I haven’t seen it all, but I’ve seen a lot; from people who have spent $80,000 on tooling before filing for a patent (or before conducting even a patent search) to people who have spent $8,000 on a patent, only to subsequently find that there was absolutely no market for their product. Knowledge is power. When you are knowledgeable in the invention business, it is not easy for you to be taken advantage of by lawyers, invention companies, suppliers, and other businesses that make a living by possibly compromising yours.

Before you act on any Step, make sure you first read all of the Steps. After reviewing this entire guide, you may then proceed with Step one, Step two, etc. and make the decisions those Steps require. If you don’t follow this procedure, you may find yourself applying for a patent for your idea before you have determined if there is actually a market for your idea, or before you find that your idea already exists in some other form or fashion. Also, the Step questions are designed to stimulate your thought process. The answers you provide will be beneficial later when you fill out the provisional patent template and the business plan template.

Your idea may be very simple to very complex. Therefore, this guide will be as simple or as complex as your idea makes it. Don’t worry too much about the complexity. By using this guide, processing a complex idea is not more difficult; it simply takes more time. Since you are ideaing your own idea, it is likely that you have some knowledge in the concept that you are ideaing about, and are therefore within your core competence level. Trust your gut and dig as deeply as you want or can, but don’t become intimidated by the process. If you get hung up at a Step, skip it and move on to the following Step. You can go back to that previous Step later.

The following Quickstart section will give you an overview of the ideaing process, and get you started right away. After you complete this guide, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Search the Internet for similar ideas

a) Read at least the Synopsis at the beginning of the chapter and familiarize yourself with the Step questions.

Step 2: The Preliminary… design and feasibility study

a) Read at least the Synopsis at the beginning of the chapter.

b) Fill out a request for quotation form for engineering services and shop, line, and/or 3D renderings. Indicate if you would like us to quote contract manufacturing domestically and/or internationally.

c) Make a simple drawing.

Note: Before you order professional drawings, you may want to conduct a professional search and obtain a letter of opinion from your attorney, depending upon your confidence level with your