Bring it to Market, But HOW ?

[rmteo]

I think the point of this thread is Joe has no concept - at least not that he has disclosed. This is a concept development thread of sorts. At least thats how I read it.

Obviously, I do not possess your mind reading capabilities. My comment is based on this statement that Joe made about selling ideas/designs in his original post:

I know I am not alone here, in having some (a few) Great Ideas for commercial products. Each and every one of you have at least one. I can think them up, I can usually prototype them, and make them work. At some level I could probably manufacture them. How the heck do you sell an Idea / Product ?

[cncmachineguy]

Obviously, I do not possess your mind reading capabilities.

Comes from Years of trying with the wife. As you can see, I still don't have it right. neither with her or on the forum.

As for using my machines? I have been working at it for 22 years, still just make parts per customer drawings.

[Archangel]

Hello ! and Thank Each of You for your comments !
I MUST STATE, I opened this thread to solicit comments and ideas, not to start fights, so please, go easy on one another, I can handle any jabs that come my way.
As for having no concept . . . hmmm that depends upon the context it is stated in.

Ok in 2 of my products, 1 has been prototyped, 1 is in design, I have in mind exactly who I might sell or license them too. Is that concept?
Or does Joe has no concept mean I am clueless ? I have a Mechanical Engineer as a Partner of sorts, I currently do work for him in his business. He agrees with khoog RE: patents. I actually see merit to both arguments.
I have experience in manufacturing, automotive, supervision, and know how to move "projects" along. It is selling where I have no experience. I think this area is where the majority of us here in this forum are lacking, but the thing is, NOT Everyone here lacks that experience. And those of you Who Do Have this knowledge would be doing Me / Others Like Me, a great service, if you chime in here.
"Thank You for Your Support"
JS

[cncmachineguy]

Oh My!! I think I have yet again only said part of what I was thinking. First, I have taken nothing as a jab nor ment any.

Joe, I seem to have left the context for "concept" out of my post. I never ment to imply (although I think I did just that) that you have no concept. I ment to say the way I read this thread is you have started it with the hopes of gaining tips and/or knowledge from folks that have already tried one thing or another. As such, my thought was more you have an open mind to how the path my go, depending on feedback from here and also your own expereinces. Therefore no hardfast preconcivied concept.

At any rate, I DO hope I have made myself more clear. No attempt was made on my part to jab at anyone, other then myself in my last post. Cuz how silly of me when I re-read it.

Sorry all

[Archangel]

Oh My!! I think I have yet again only said part of what I was thinking. First, I have taken nothing as a jab nor ment any.

Joe, I seem to have left the context for "concept" out of my post. I never ment to imply (although I think I did just that) that you have no concept. I ment to say the way I read this thread is you have started it with the hopes of gaining tips and/or knowledge from folks that have already tried one thing or another. As such, my thought was more you have an open mind to how the path my go, depending on feedback from here and also your own expereinces. Therefore no hardfast preconcivied concept.

At any rate, I DO hope I have made myself more clear. No attempt was made on my part to jab at anyone, other then myself in my last post. Cuz how silly of me when I re-read it.

Sorry all

Hey Bert, I never thought you took a jab at me.
You got to shovel a lot of sand, to get that little bit of color in your pan.
I appreciate every post.

[rayzrocket]

Be open with your ideas.

Sharing your ideas will automatically attract good meaningful (and usually free) help by those who have similar passion to see that idea become reality, and furthermore brought to market.

My past personal experiences have taught me that one must be very carefull and secretive(generate trade secrets) once your product begins to flourish, since that is when the bad-guys come lookin' to steal, cheat, and clobber you.

Maybe you should start an 'Idea Farm' or an 'Incubator' in this forum or at your own website. Many collaborative projects exist out there; actually this forum is one of sorts in itself. Once you have working prototypes, there are many large co's, small companies, investment firms, professors, military brass, and the like that welcome presentations. Many will pay for your trip to visit them or webinar to demonstrate. Plenty have hit it big (relatively speaking).
You should always 'push', don't expect to be 'pulled'.

[rmteo]

Another possibility http://www.licensingexpo.com/

[Demon]

Watch a few episodes of Dragon's Den and observe what the pros look out for in new ideas/inventions.

I noticed the first thing they consider is how fast can they get a return on investment, how big is the market, is there competition, is the idea/concept solid, is the "first impression" about the product positive, does the product already have a customer base, what is the potential growth, does the inventor know what he is talking about, etc.

http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/

[rmteo]

Joe, exactly what are you trying to sell? Do you have a product line (something that you already have in production and are looking to expand its market) or are you wanting to sell an idea/product design? Sounds to me like it is the latter. As khoog put it very succintly and I quoted in a prior post.

Unless you have a clear track record of your ideas making other people rich, you're probably better off buying lottery tickets than trying to sell just an idea.

[rmteo]

IOW, if you are a Steve Jobs, then people may be willing to put money into your ideas.

Otherwise, if you want to sell a idea/design/product that you dreamed up, here is what you can do. The option that will give you the best chance of success (as far as selling it) is to develop the idea into an on-going business before attempting to sell it. Not matter how great you think your idea is, the only thing that matters to a buyer (who is going to put money up front to buy it) is how much money you have already made from it. For example, say you have a nett profit before tax (and can prove so) of $200,000 in the previous 12 months. An interested party will value it at a multiplier of perhaps 2-5x annual profits. So you might might be able to negotiate anywhere from about $400,000 to $1M for it.

Another possibility (as I mentioned previously) is to develop a comprehensive business plan for your idea/product and try to sell it that way. You will still have to spend anywhere from 10-30 times (in terms of time/resources) of what you have put into design/development/prototyping phase. You can directly approach a potential buyer (extemely low probability of success) or seek venture capital to develop the business. Again, be prepared for many, many rejections. An associate who is in the venture capital industry said that only 1 in several hundred proposals ever gets funded.

[rmteo]

Ok in 2 of my products, 1 has been prototyped, 1 is in design, I have in mind exactly who I might sell or license them too. Is that concept?

JS

How is this coming along?

[Archangel]

Stagnet right now, working to pay for my CNC machine, trying to get my health on track, trying to put my house in order. Product ideas float through several per month, easy products, I just do not want to be a manufacturer, having worked at one as a teen. All I want is to develope, sell, and repeat. It makes little sense for a near 60 Yo man to invent a Job for himself, too little time left, ask Bill Gates, or the author of Harry Potter how to get rich and they might say residual or royalty rights. I would rather take 2% of a million dollars and do it 50 times than try to earn a million on one idea.

[rmteo]

Keep us posted when you close your first 2% of a million dollars deal.