The Complete Guide to Inexpensive Ideaing
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About this ebook
was created to inspire
and guide inventors in their creative
journey from idea conception (and capital
procurement) to product production. Included
are exclusive, valuable patent, business plan, and
brochure templates that will facilitate the completion of
critical steps along the way. You will also be provided your
own web site for no additional charge. This guide will take
you step by step through the development process, and
will help you avoid the obstacles and pitfalls that hamper
(or destroy) most inventors. In the real world, the in-
vention business can be a very expensive and time
consuming venture. In these pages, you will
be given the knowledge and resources that
will enable you to bring your product to
market at a substantially lower cost.
Th e key is to not cut corners; but
avoid dead ends. Spend money,
but dont waste it. By reading
this guide, you can conceive,
develop, fund, and produce
your product in a sensible,
aff ordable, and enjoyable
way. If youve read this
far, youve probably got
an idea in your head.
Go for it!
Mark A. McKitrick
Mark McKitrick is an entrepreneur who has been involved in many start-up ventures, one of which was a manufacturing company that began in his basement with $1,000 in capital. He designed, built, and sold environmentally-friendly office furniture, which he eventually sold worldwide (to the tune of $8MM per year). He is an active contributor to news media and has appeared on CNBC, QVC, Fox News, and in many written publications. Currently, Mark designs and sources products for various companies and individuals, and owns a service business involved with green technology.
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The Complete Guide to Inexpensive Ideaing - Mark A. McKitrick
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 1-800-839-8640
© 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 askus@ideaing.us.
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