By Rai Chowdhary
Over the last 30 years, I have been involved with several new products and inventions – from Baked DoritosTM / corn and potato chips to making medical implants, silicon chips in space, and everything in between. Interestingly enough, the challenges, the fears, rejections, euphoric days, and, despair days were all a part of the collage. Here are some experiences, feelings, and thoughts from that journey – which is ongoing.
1 – Will it be accepted in the market place?
This self doubt can be healthy but in extremes it will stall progress and the idea may get completely abandoned for lack of confidence. Fear not – try it out with a confidential group to get an early read…. however beware of the politeness effect. The feed back you get must be honest and straight forward
2 – What if someone copies it?
It is a given that successful products will get copied, and let’s not sweat that. People do illegal and unethical things to make money – nothing new there, expect it. The more important question is whether you can stop them, and how strong the other party is if they decide to fight it out.
3 – What will it take to commercialize it?
In my view – invention and producing the product is the easier part. The harder work is “promoting and selling.” Some products sell like hot cakes right from the beginning, however that is rare. Identifying potential customers and winning their trust so they will buy is key. Then there is the question of managing through the scale up, dealing with suppliers, etc.
4 – Where will I get the money, and what will I have to part with?
Right from the concept to prototype – you need money. Then to build market samples for customer feedback – you need money. For tooling and initial inventory – you need money… get the idea? Where will it come from? How do I determine how much is needed? Those are important considerations. Last but not the least – how much of ownership in the venture will I have to give up? These are not data driven decisions since there is no data yet… so if you start small, you can recover from your mistakes and keep trying until you get it. There will always be some trial and error involved.
5 – This is the greatest thing since…
Every inventor I know thinks “their” invention is the greatest and will fly off the shelves.”
Nothing wrong with liking your own idea, but to believe that the world will come knocking at your door is more of an illusion. Like seeds of different kinds, some sprout quick, some take time.
Do you have an idea you would like to pursue? If so – what is holding you back? How passionate are you to move it forward? Being an inventor is quite a rewarding and fulfilling experience and I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing numerous products / technologies to the service of mankind. Financial rewards? That is a discussion for another day…
If you wish to start your journey and are unsure… don’t hesitate to reach out.
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