Mistakes Inventors Make

Here are suggestions Inventors need to do or understand when it comes to inventing if they want to succeed.

1. Understand that inventing is a business. Treat it like one.

2. Actually research your idea before you send it to a company. Don’t tell them “There’s nothing out there like this!” When spending 2 minutes on the web they find several items exactly like yours.

3. Understand every company has a different method and time range for reviewing submissions. Don’t send a proposal on Monday via snail mail and call them Tuesday at 8:30am wanting to know when they will be sending you a contract. It is a simple task to ask the company you are submitting material for review “What is your normal turnaround for reviewing submissions?”

4. Don’t be married to your product and totally against changes to make it marketable.

5. Put your contact information on every item you send them. Don’t make them guess who sent it.

6. Don’t send prototypes unsolicted. Let them know a prototype is available upon request. You can’t expect a company to pay shipping for every prototype they receive unsolicted.

7. Understand every idea is not a million dollar idea. Yes,there are million dollar ideas, but they are not the majority of ideas. Be realistic in your expectations

8. Realize everyone that rejects your idea is not stupid.

9. Don”t send a 20 page explanantion of your product. Be concise and clear on your sell sheet. If it takes more than two pages to explain your idea you have a problem.

10. Know who you are sending your submission to in the company. Don’t assume they will figure it out for you if you just send it in care of the company.

11. Not having an idea/plan of who you are going to contact about licensing your product before you spend the money for a provisional patent. A large number of Inventors pay for a provisional, knowing they don’t have money for a full patent and have not done any research on who might be interested in licensing it. They spend 6 months of the one year looking for company contacts which means they only have 6 months to try and gain any interest before their time runs out. They didn’t have any intention of paying for a patent and now are forced to let it drop or pay for a patent. If you work it right you have all of your 12 months to find a company.

12. Be patient and do not call every other day asking if they have reviewed your product. They can be on vacation, out sick, or very busy. They are not sitting around and only waiting for your package.

13. Don’t assume the person reading your sell sheet will magically know all the selling points/benefits of your product that you left out. Example: What if your idea revolves around fishing and they don’t fish and know nothing on the topic?

14. Keep a concise log of who you contacted in the company and what you sent them. A number of Inventrs send out packages and two days later couldn’t tell you what they sent or to whom. The person from that company calls and they are floundering trying to remember who this person is while talking to them on the phone.

15. When contacting a company remember they own the company, not you. Write your letter to the company from a realistic perspective, give them actual facts, not what you wish them to be. Don’t write your letter in a threatening tone or from the aspect that they are are nuts if they turn you down. Don’t fill your letter with information they really don’t need, such as how you came up with the idea, how long it took you to build your prototype, etc. They are only interested in will it make them money. DO NOT USE THE PHRASE ” My idea is worth MILLIONS!!!” Let them decide for themselves what it is worth.

16. Don’t send prototypes to companies that don’t work and tell them “I am sure you can work the bugs out of this”.

Source by Roger A Brown