What should I do with my product idea.
You need to dramatically increase your knowledge in a wide range of subjects and confirm your conclusions with a wide range of people. The kind of questions you ask will affect the kind of answers you get. You need to learn what is normal for your type of product and your industry. What expectations will the pros have of you and your business and what should you expect of them is very important to be taken seriously and get the best deals.
Get on the web and find all of the websites that relate to the industry you are going to be in.
• Subscribe to the trade magazines and blogs for your industry. (there are often ones from the manufacturer, distributor and end user perspective & many are free)
• Attend any local trade association meetings for your product category,
• Plan to go to at least one major the trade show for the industry where your product(s) would be shown and talked about
Get a 3 ring binder and create pages for the questions, issues, resources, connections, recommendations etc that relate to relevant subject areas, such as:
• Intellectual Property and contracts – patents, trademarks, copyrights, non-disclosure agreements, IP insurance, patent monitoring , legal costs for patent infringement defense and challenge, legal costs for contract writing and review licensing agreements AND…
• Packaging - labeling, bar coding, cartons, packaging options, what the distributors require AND…
• Distribution – warehousing, fulfillment, tracking, liability insurance, sales rep. firms, wholesale and retail distributors
transportation companies, freight costs AND…
• Marketing - trade show attendance and exhibiting, literature development and printing, advertising, web sites, blogs,
social networking, trade Association memberships and participation, travel expense to meetings and events,
replacement and updating materials due to changes and typos, identifying prospective distributors, AND…
• Business Administration – Book keeping, sales tax collection, reporting and paying in each jurisdiction, HR if hiring workers, credit card acceptance, bar codes, QR codes, prospect credit checks, business licenses, incorporation, prospect credit checks, slow pay collection services, creating a business plan AND… Who is going to know about and do all of these things before there are profits to pay for them?
• Product – design & redesign, many prototypes in graphic, model and working versions, trips to see factories and prospective suppliers, scrap costs of units that don’t meet standards, return and credit procedures for customers who return products for real defects or abuse and want credit or replacements, sample and trial unit cost for most distributors that require them, replacements for products lost or damaged in shipment, repair costs, replacement parts inventory and cataloging, Are the companies providing you services financially sound and dependable? AND…
As you learn something, or learn of another question or issue, add it to the appropriate list.
The answers become a part of your business plan.
Attend as many industry and entrepreneur related meetings and events as possible, with your binder in hand.
Be prepared to ask the right questions when you meet experts and experienced people. Know enough to understand what they are not sharing and have you response ready.
You need to learn who are the thought leaders and bloggers of the most current information in the industry your product is in.
Find names and titles, and sometimes profiles in LinkedIn.
If you can, add the photos of the key people you want to meet in your walking around binder at a trade event.
They just might be sitting by themselves in the lunch area or walking next to you.
Read all of the Library articles in the website of the Inventors Education Forum and ask Dave for more.
Written and Shared by Dave Bruce Savage dave@davesavage.com 404 323-8686
Dave is the founder and advisor at the Inventor’s Education Forum in Jacksonville Florida
Learning and Confirming gatherings and website for independent product developers.