Taking inventions from concept to reality can be difficult. In fact, it’s quite confusing. I’ve been down that path several times myself, and without help simple matters become daunting. Twenty years ago I attempted to go it alone and spent tens of thousands with a prototyping house, an engineer and more. Outside of finances, I also faced challenges when deciding who to talk to, how to patent and the path I should take when pursuing my inventions.

Thinking of these subjects, I compiled a list of five things to consider about your inventions.

1. Know the problems your invention will solve
Every invention or great idea aims to solve a problem. Everyday people recognize problems on a regular basis. Inventors choose to solve them.

Before pursuing your idea, clearly understand the problem your invention will solve. Does your solution work? Does your invention need a little help? Is it too complicated? Working with a trusted company that understands design and engineering helps clarify problems and reveal solutions.

2. Your invention’s market
Once you know the problem your idea will solve begin thinking of the market in which you invention would sell. Is it a home product? Maybe it’s an automotive invention? Will it stand alone in its own category.

Understanding your invention’s market, will help you in every step you take. You can now compare it to other products in that category and the companies that make those products. This will help you later when identifying a company you’d like to see license your invention.

3. Invention security
If you choose to disclose your invention idea with someone, whether it be family, an attorney or a company you hope to work with, security should always be on your mind. An inventor’s greatest fear is losing their invention idea to someone else.

The most dangerous times can be when you deal with an outside company to help you with your invention. Always ensure they have security precautions in place to protect you and your invention. Don’t sign anything unless it explicitly states it’s there for your protection.

At Inventionland we protect client inventions with a confidentiality agreement that every employee must sign. As well we make sure our clients sign an Idea Security Agreement with us. This is an extra layer of protection for their invention.

When dealing online, you should ensure it’s a legitimate company. Always look to see if they have established security systems. Some invention companies exist solely on the Web, lacking roots in a community. Before sending your invention information out, make sure you know they use a trusted secure server or security system like VeriSign.

4. Product sales sample - A working invention
I believe that a product sample is vital to the success of an invention. Without a product sample, you won’t truly be able to understand the invention’s function, manufacturability and you’ll have difficulty holding a business conversation.

Building the product sample takes good design work, engineering and prototyping, each of which can become quite expensive on their own. As well, jumping between these entities causes confusion that could damage the value of your invention. It’s much like the telephone game we played in elementary school with our peers. With each additional person speaking for you, your invention’s message gets lost. Keeping all these necessary processes together, keeps your vision aligned.

5. How to patent
Often the first thing on an inventor’s mind when they finish their creation is how to patent. Perhaps a more pertinent question should be “When should I patent?” or “Am I really done inventing?”

There are a lot of companies that push inventors to patent their invention idea immediately. Unfortunately, patenting is a costly and time-consuming process that far too often results in frustration when an inventor discovers they have to change their invention to either interest a buyer or make it manufacturable.

One of the reasons I encourage fellow inventors to prepare a product sample is to identify unique areas of the invention that further protect it in a patent. This also keeps competitors and those who may seek to knock off your invention at bay.

When pursuing your invention, keep these five invention tips in mind and save yourself time, effort and money.

How a focus on market differentiation and cost opens channels in product development, building brand equity with customer value.

Henry Ford didn’t invent the car. He wasn’t even the first manufacturer of the car. In fact, when he jumped into the industry, there were more than 500 manufacturers building automobiles. That’s a heavy market. It’s what some call a red ocean, tainted by the battling competition. So, why is it that we think of Ford when we think of cars? Because he didn’t sail that red ocean. He made a blue ocean strategy that not only built long-term brand equity, but brought the cost of a car down from $1,500 to $250 in a matter of a few years, sending him into uncontested market space.

Not long ago, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne detailed the benefits of a blue ocean strategy in the Harvard Business Review. They define a red ocean as an existing industry where value is lost to cost-cutting warfare. On the other side, a blue ocean strategy is one that creates new markets through differentiating, much like Ford.

This same strategy should be applied to new product development. Of course, innovating product lines to win the competition’s customers and cutting manufacturing costs with better designs is important, but creating entire new markets and categories untouched by competition and keeping costs low paves the way for real success.

Recently, we worked with a Canadian company, Calego, which focuses on matching character licenses with a variety of products, some of which fight in a red ocean. They were seeking new innovations for licensed characters. We could have slapped these images on current products with hopes they would sell by the license alone, but it would have been a waste of the value. Instead, we decided to search for a blue ocean strategy. What’s something new? What’s something no one has done in the market?

We found that consumers with young children were having difficulty keeping the children focused at the dinner table. With toys and technology vying for dinnertime attention, children are often not sitting still, much to the grievance of their parents. So we set forth to open this doorway with a line we call interactive mealtime products. We set a goal to turn otherwise normal mealtime products, such as plates, cups and bowls, into real attention-grabbers for children.

We created the Dinner Spinner, a plate that spins at a touch of a button; the Talking Tumbler, an interactive cup that talks when a child picks it up; and the Slide Show Tumbler, which sends a lighted film strip rotating around the cup when activated.

Taking this blue ocean strategy approach for our client, Calego, has led to an almost endless supply of products for us to experiment with in design — and without the fear of a lot of competition standing in our way.

Build value and brand equity by becoming recognized in markets without a lot of competition. Applying a blue ocean strategy to product development gives you room to grow comfortably and it places you in plain view of your customers. Otherwise, you’ll be forced to bump shoulders, nearly invisible in a crowded sea of competitors, and forced to sacrifice value to make it all work.

For most inventors, invention ideas seemingly fall into their laps - that’s the easy part. Things take a difficult turn when they try to get anyone to talk business about their idea.

Often an inventor’s latest brainstorm results in the greatest idea in the world that’s sure to make millions and solve problems that face everyday people. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work so easily. Most business people won’t talk about ideas on the fly, because they’re understandable busy. So, how do you get through and open a dialogue? With a product sample.

Unfortunately for inventors, there are dozens of companies salivating at the mouth ready to try to convince someone that their ticket to the good life is a poorly-rendered hand-drawn depiction of their invention with a lump of wax and a patent. Sure these organizations are quick to take someone’s money, but do they convey an inventor’s vision and clearly demonstrate it? Will that patent protect an idea that needs to be changed for manufacturing? To answer these questions and have a serious business dialogue, an inventor needs a working product sample that almost looks like it was pulled right off the shelf of a retail store.

Business people deal in the world of reality, so make it easy for them to see you mean business.

A long time ago, I tried to sell ideas from patent drawings, as well as fancy artist renditions of my concepts. It got me nowhere. After a great deal of effort, and in some cases arguments with company executives I wanted to work with, I heard, “I can’t show this to my retail buyer for an order or a commitment for an order.” I then realized that manufacturers produced new product samples complete with engineering and full-color graphics to show potential retail buyers. These buyers want products, not wax models and not pieces of paper with fancy drawings.

Put yourself in a corporate decision-maker’s shoes. You see one person walk into your office with a product idea sketched onto a piece of paper. You review it, but have little information to indicate if your current factories can produce this or if it even works. You’re sure a retailer won’t make a decision on something they can’t interact with. Now, a second person walks in with a new product ready for manufacturing with full-color sample packaging that matches your current line of selling products. In addition, they’ve provided you with engineering drawings that detail the manufacturing requirements of the product.

Well, you’re the decision maker, who’s ready to do business and who came unprepared?

In review, don’t let anyone tell you you’re going to be rich with just an idea. If someone does and they’re trying to sell you services, think twice. Pursuing your invention takes work and it’s risky. Also, you need a product sample that can be manufactured. Show decision makers you mean business and don’t waste their valuable time.