• Google it to see if someone else has beaten you to the punch.
  
• Search for other products by any means.
  
• Google it some more. Check out Alibaba too.
  
• Do a Patent Search on-line. www.uspto.gov Is someone already ahead of you?
  
• If it shows up in a Patent Search, someone is at least 1-1/2 years ahead of you. This doesn’t have to stop you though, but you need to know sooner than later.
  

• Get a laboratory notebook & start recording everything you learn along the way? Keep it chronological. Use a separate notebook for each separate invention.
  
• Think some more about it.
  
• Put another hat on & be critical of your idea.
  
• Ask yourself why would I pay for this?
  
• Get opinions from friends & family.
  
• What other products are similar to your idea?
  
• What are the weaknesses of existing products that may be similar?
  
• What is your competition? Who & how many? What’s close, but different?
  
• What does it do exactly? Define that in writing. What are its features?
  
• What are the materials.? What is it made of?
  
• What does it look like? Sketch it. Get some foam or wood and carve it.
  
• What makes your idea unique or different? What need does it satisfy?
  
• What are your advantages over existing products.?
  
• Who will buy it? Who will use it?
  
• List the positives(+) & the negatives(-).  Literally, make a positive & a negative column in your notebook. Get a colleague or close friend & list every (+) & (-) thing you can think of. Think of it now because if your idea becomes a product, others will generate that list for you. Finding out now is better that finding out at a later date. This list is for you to help make future decisions about what to do next. Usually, your (+) list should be longer than the (-) list. If it isn’t, Why?
  

IDEA REFINEMENT / SCREENING

I don’t mean to sound negative, there is an upside to the inventing game as well. I just don’t want you to waste your money following your dream with illusions of how “easy” it’s going to be. So, if having considered these points of wisdom, you are still set on proceeding with your idea, here are the some steps you should take to bring your product closer to reality;

5. Slow down & do your homework. Self-explanatory 

4. Most ideas, even the good ones, don’t make money. Often for reasons having nothing to do with the quality of the idea. Obviously, a well-considered execution can improve your chances of success, but there are so many factors at play. Even the best executions can fail to make a return, so never risk more than you can afford to lose financially, or more importantly, emotionally. The world may not be ready for your idea. 

1. There’s no such thing as a “million dollar idea”. That implies that the idea itself is so valuable that it can magically turn into money, without any work being done, if you could only find the right person to tell it to! That’s a lovely idea, but the reality is that there are only million dollar executions of ideas. Making money from inventing is hard work! As a kid in the bay area, CA, one of my friend’s dad was one of the inventors of the Pet Rock. Remember that? Even that low tech product required an incredible amount of work & some really good luck as well. 

• Do you want to start a company or do you just want to sell your idea?
  
• What involvement do you want to have in the product?
  
• Licensing is usually the best option for the independent inventor. Since the independent inventor does not have the horsepower in the form of $$ & / or resources to refine prototypes, engineer & manufacture the design, purchase production tooling, meet testing & approval agency requirements.
  
• Sometimes an inventor can only develop the idea, prototype to prove functionality & protect via the Patenting process. This can be a huge amount of work in itself.
  
• Once you get that far, you can now go talk to a larger company that may have the horsepower to finish off your product. Keep in mind, most companies won’t even talk to you unless you have patent protection first. It’s a conflict of interest, if they talk to you and discover what you are presenting happens to be something that they are already working on.
  
• If they are interested, that licensing agreement could result in many different outcomes, Including, but not limited to; an upfront reward /  a reward with royalty /  or just a royalty or any imaginable combination there of. This is the dream that many inventors want to achieve. This may unleash your confidence, time & fund your next idea.
  
• Other ideas may not be patent protectable. Once you come out with your product, everyone & their grandmother may copy you & take away your market share. This kind of idea requires that you saturate the market with your idea. This is where the marketing of your product is more important that the product itself. You create product recognition & win that way. Ebay wasn’t the first auction site, but they took it by pure horsepower. The Pet Rock, Facebook are good examples of product saturation.
  

• The first consultation should be free.
  
• They will advise you as to the patentability of your product & what your options are for protecting your idea.
  
• They will not usually tell you if it is worth patenting your idea or not. That is a decision you will have to make. This consultation will give you valuable information as you consider your next steps, where you will begin spending money if you choose to proceed: a professional patent search & analysis & potentially a provisional patent application.
  
• To Patent or not to Patent? Patents generally cost at least $8K per country.
  

• Find out what developing your idea would take, financially & effort-wise.
  
• How realistic is your idea?
  
• Get their opinion of the market-feasibility of your product.
  
• Listen with an open mind.
  
• Talk to several people / firms of different sizes to get a range of options.
  
• Do not ignore good advice. If someone says something you don’t want to hear, instead of dismissing it, first say to yourself: “Maybe they are right, “& give an honest appraisal of their feedback. You should be able to get this feedback for free.
  

• Not all great ideas are economic opportunities. Sometimes the costs to develop an idea, combined with the risk outweigh the potential reward. Other times the market is just too small. Should you choose to proceed, there are several ways to monetize your idea, falling into two main categories: Licensing & Manufacturing. The details of these are topics in themselves, but the path you choose dramatically affects your costs & therefore the economic equation.
  
• Estimate costs, revenue, profit, consider using the 5X rule. Having worked with Specialized Bicycle Company on a project, I know that they use the 5X rule. If you can’t sell the product for 5X your cost to manufacture & package, then forget it. 5X leaves room for profit. Wholesalers, retailers & job shoppers will eat up some of your profit.
  
• Do market research.
  
• How will it be marketed?
  
• How many can be sold? You can rely on the 2% rule. Only 2% of the people you advertise to who could use your product will buy.
  
• Price? Don’t forget the 5X rule.
  
• Do focus groups. That’s where ideas/prototypes are presented to a group, often in the form of concept board presentations (i.e., storyboards) & not in actual working form. For instance, customers may be shown a concept board displaying drawings of a product idea or even an advertisement featuring the product. In some cases, focus groups are exposed to a mock-up of the ideas, which is a physical but generally non-functional version of product idea. Focus groups can identify likes & dislikes of the concept; level of interest in purchasing the product; frequency of purchase (used to help forecast demand); & price points to determine how much customers are willing to spend to acquire the product.
  

EVALUATION & MARKET ANALYSIS

CONSULT WITH A PATENT ATTORNEY

• Physically design & manufacture the product.
  
• Estimate likely selling price based upon competition & customer feedback. 5X rule.
  
• Estimate sales volume based upon size of market. 2% rule.
  
• Produce physical prototypes or mock-ups.
  
• Test the product (& its packaging) in typical usage situations.
  
• This is a short list but a large % of the process.