What inventors have to do is not think "invention" but business opportunity and prepare to have a market to aim at with a typical development timescale is 2-3 years - often more and rarely less - plan carefully and never rush into anything, and keep in touch with the market at all times.
The fact sheet lays out a "business opportunity" process for inventors to follow, assuming that all the relevant patent, product and ideas checks have been made to ensure that your product or idea is "new" and meets a need.

Don’t rush to patent

Don’t apply for a patent as soon as you’ve had your idea. In fact, delay applying for as long as you can, because from the day you file your application you have exactly 12 months before incurring substantial patent costs and very few products can be developed to licensing or market launch stage in such a short time.
Use copyright and/or design right and confidentiality agreements to get at least some free protection and proof of origin while you research your idea’s originality and commercial potential. You can then judge whether a patent application is justified.
Biding your time increases the risk that someone else will beat you to it, but that’s far less risky than losing all your money in patent costs before there’s any prospect of getting it back in royalties or trading profits.

Is there a market for it?

Originality on its own means nothing. You must research possible markets for your idea to find out if there is likely to be enough demand at a price that will yield a profit to justify developing it as a product.
A healthy market-price-profit relationship is fundamental to success. If a product can’t be made for less than 20-30 per cent of its retail price, it usually isn’t worth carrying on because the risk of losing rather than winning is too great. When you market your invention to the public, you are at the mercy of their whims. Even large companies with their massive advertising budgets, cannot ram products down consumers' throats.

A good example of the dilemma of perceived market value is the seat belt.
When seat belts were introduced to the marketplace, they failed miserably. Few people voluntarily purchased them. Seat belts did not come of age until the government made their installation and wearing compulsory. It is unlikely the inventor ever received a royalty, considering the time it took to get acceptance in the market. The inventor saw the true value of the seat belt when he invented it; however, the general public did not perceive that value at that time. Bear this in mind when you have developed an invention that you know will help people. The customer may not perceive any value in your invention. Most inventors face this problem of perceived value.

Questions you must attempt to answer include:

Does anyone actually need your product?
People may prefer to stick with existing products - the devil they know - unless your idea promises to be clearly better and no more expensive. Never underestimate the sticking power of a well-established product, even if the shine is long gone from it. An underwhelming ‘So what?’ reaction to your idea means there’s a big tide against you so it might be wiser not to enter the water.

What’s the competition?

Identify the strengths and weaknesses of all competing products, including totally dissimilar ones if they’re used to tackle the problem your idea addresses. Reassess constantly as new or improved products come on stream.

What’s the best market for your product?

Markets are now so fragmented that it’s often a non-obvious one that pays off, so spend plenty of time searching for off-piste gaps in the market.

How healthy is that market?

What’s it worth and is it moving up or down? Are there any technological or other changes looming that might affect its fortunes?

What’s the easiest market to enter?

Crucial if you intend to market your own product. Making easy sales has to be a priority at first, so if your target market is hard or costly to enter, identify a ‘soft’ - perhaps local - market to start with even if it’s less profitable. Experience and a trading record will soon make it easier to crack the tougher nut, and will also help attract backers.

At what price and quantity might your product sell profitably?

Price isn’t everything, but it might as well be. As a general rule your price must fall within the range set by competing products or services, even if your product is likely to be much better. Then estimate potential unit sales per year, and what percentage of the market that represents. (Go low rather than high. In the early stages even one per cent may be wildly optimistic.)

What’s the most marketable aspect of your invention?

It may turn out that only part of your idea is marketable. If this can be incorporated in an existing product or design it may be pointless to develop the whole invention.

Market research strategy

• You’ll probably have to do your own research. Professional research is usually too expensive, and in any case you need your own finger on the pulse of the market, not someone else’s. (Having said that, you may be able to get useful free or low-cost help from libraries or a university needing real-life projects for its marketing students.)

• Make market research a permanent activity. The more you learn about the market as you go along, the better will be your chances.

• Don’t use consumer surveys or questionnaires as the sole basis of major decisions about your project, as consumers often say one thing and do the opposite. Talk primarily to retailers and manufacturers who have to gamble huge sums which they may not recover if a product doesn’t sell.

• Don't trust the opinions of friends, relations, neighbours, work colleagues etc. They will lie to you.

• To limit disclosure, get people to focus on how they perceive and deal with the problem your idea addresses rather than on the idea itself. This also ensures that you’re not just fishing for approval of your idea.

• Treat informed criticism seriously, as it may identify weaknesses in your idea. Some business objections - for example too small a market - may be an early sign that the idea may only succeed if you market it yourself.

• Use only primary sources of information: the horse’s mouth, not a newspaper report of what the horse said.

• Keep records of all your research for use in later stages of your project - for example, to help persuade potential licensees.

Free or cheap market information sources

• Increasingly, the internet.
• Large libraries with commercial or patent departments, and the libraries of universities that run business and marketing courses. A wealth of business and technical information can be found in them.
•The Patent system. Looking at recent applications by companies can tell you a lot about what may be heading for the market.
•Trade fairs and exhibitions. Most industries have their own events, which can be so important that companies gear product launches to them. They can be a wonderful opportunity to poke at rival products and find out who does what.
• Company literature: catalogues, brochures, annual reports etc.
• Anyone ‘in the trade’: the older the better, as they’ve usually seen lots of new ideas come and go.

Does it work?

To stand any chance of raising interest in your idea, you must be able to show either that it works or can be made to work. Which generally means a prototype. And here we run into a problem of exactly how to deal with this, the last of the ‘Big Three’ questions that determine whether you’ve got anything worth taking any further.

Unlike prior art searching and basic market research, both of which require roughly the same effort whatever the idea, the cost, time and effort involved in prototyping can vary enormously depending on the nature of the idea. For many ideas, prototyping and testing - and raising finance for it - is one of the biggest hurdles. It’s quite common for innovators in high technology fields to raise funding and set up an R&D company for the sole purpose of proving that an idea works.

What can you do right now?

Even if your idea falls into the deep development category - correction: especially if it falls into that category - you must do as much as you can at this very early stage to convince yourself, let alone anyone else, that your idea is technically sound enough to be worth pursuing. Conviction on its own is not enough.

Even if your idea falls into the deep development category you must do as much as you can at this very early stage to convince yourself, let alone anyone else, that your idea is technically sound enough to be worth pursuing. Conviction on its own is not enough.
The good news is that you probably won’t have to spend too much on your prototype(s), as the general idea isn’t to show the product working but merely the idea or inventive step working.
Working prototypes (as opposed to models) fall broadly into three categories:

Pre-prototype

This can be a very rough and ready affair made from any cheap or scrap bits and pieces. It can be to any scale and needn’t remotely resemble a finished product. What it must do though is show that the inventive step at the heart of your idea actually works. A pre-prototype is primarily for your own use and is unlikely to impress potential licensees or investors. It may however help you get advice or support from product designers, business or technical advisers etc. Also consider the idea of computer generated models for your prototype which have the advantage of much lower costs,

Presentation prototype

This is the one you show to companies to demonstrate that (a) the inventive step works and (b) the product has the potential to look right. You use it as a bargaining counter to:

1. Demonstrate the effect of your inventive step and back up your claims about its technical and commercial benefits. You should if possible conceal the inventive step itself.

2. Demonstrate to a company or investor that more development is justified. This development should lead to further, more polished prototypes.

The more you can afford to spend on your presentation prototype, the better; but most companies know that lavish spending at this stage is usually unnecessary and will settle for evidence that you’ve done your best with limited resources. In some circumstances it may be sensible to make it resemble an existing successful product; this helps company people ‘see’ your idea better, and also suggests that costs can be reduced by using standard components. If cost is a real problem, a good tactic is to present your pre-prototype alongside a non-working but better-looking model.

Pre-production prototype

Usually only worth attempting later on, when design problems have been sorted out and a finished product is starting to emerge. It’s generally expensive in terms of the technical and design expertise that has gone into it, and is thus unlikely to be affordable by most inventors. It usually takes collaboration with an interested company to reach this stage.

Proving your idea works

To stand any chance of persuading companies, investors or key purchasers to take an interest in your idea, you must be able to show:

1. That it works. 2. That you have done all you reasonably can to perfect it.

You have to go those extra miles because companies much prefer ideas with as few unresolved problems as possible. You may see only a few loose ends that shouldn’t take much tying; an experienced company or investor may instead see a knotty problem that might still be unresolved many costly man-hours later.
There’s also a large gap, which many inventors don’t appreciate, between what it takes simply to make a product and what it takes to manufacture it efficiently and profitably in large numbers. Bridging that gap usually involves at least partial and often total redesign. The greater the redesign requirement, the higher will be the cost to the company and the less certain the outcome. Because of this, companies and investors may turn you down even if they like the product and think it will sell. That’s why you need to create something as close to a finished product as you can manage or afford.

DO THIS FIRST

1. Protect your idea if your inventive step is likely to be disclosed during prototyping or design. That may mean being committed to patent application deadlines earlier than you want, non-disclosure agreements, etc.

2. This stage could seriously strain your pocket. If you involve anyone else to share the cost, you’ll lose total control of your idea but a part-share of something is better than sole ownership of nothing.

3. If for this stage you need investment way beyond your means, think less about spending your own money and more about (a) talking early to suitable companies with a view to licensing or joint venture or (b) business start-up strategies including government grant applications.

Prototyping options

You can test your idea to your own satisfaction using any cheap materials to hand (the first hovercraft was cobbled together using tin cans and a vacuum cleaner). After that, here are your choices:

1. Trial batches of product or near-product

By far the best persuader. You’ve got real product to show, and you’ll gain vital knowledge about manufacturing costs. You can leave samples and not have to worry so much about their return, and companies can do much more realistic testing and assessment. Unless you can make trial batches yourself, get some legal protection or approach designers and manufacturers only if they sign a confidentiality agreement.
If cost is a problem it may be worth teaming up with a suitable (perhaps small and local) design and/or manufacturing company.
Near-product is what you get when compromises are made to make the exercise affordable. For example: the tooling for an injection moulded plastic product normally costs thousands of pounds, but a company may be willing to make a cheaper makeshift mould that lasts long enough to produce a limited number of acceptable samples.

2. Full-size prototype or scale working model

If you can, use the same materials that would be used in manufacture. For cheap and decent-looking components, cannibalize real products or use standard casings, readily available for many types of product.
If your prototype is too large to make at home, a local factory might loan you fabrication space or do the job for you on reasonable terms. It could lead to a useful partnership.

3. Rough working prototype plus non-working model

If money is tight or components are hard to get, use any cheap materials for the prototype as long as it shows how your idea works, and present it alongside a model of what you think the product should look like. Use any cheap workable material for the model - for example, painted wood for plastic.

4. A short video

More a support prop than a substitute for any of the above, but useful if:
Your product has a lengthy operating cycle.
Demonstrating it requires a site visit or a special environment.
You need to show people using it.
Your prototype can’t always be relied on to work!
Your product needs to be seen by personnel not at the initial meeting.
You need to record a one-off demonstration event: for example, trials of your prototype against competing products.

Home video standard will do. Keep it plain and simple and edit it to around 3-4 minutes so it doesn’t over-occupy a typical first meeting of 30-45 minutes. BUT: tapes can be easily copied and count as disclosure so make sure your idea has some legal protection first, and don’t include close-ups of the inventive elements of your idea.

Other support materials

Any of these can help if you can get them done at modest cost:
• Product packaging. Expensive to do well, so only worth considering if you’ve got a finished product.
• An artist’s impression.
• A draft leaflet or brochure. It can impress companies with your market-oriented thinking, and can also spell out what your product does and why it’s so good.

Testing and assessment by companies

Before designing or making your prototype:

• Find out how it’s likely to be tested by companies
... and build a prototype that’s rugged enough to come back to you in one piece. Some products, like anti-theft devices, may have to be tested to destruction, in which case you need either a supply of samples or the test report of a reputable independent organization such as a university. Most universities will test commercial products at reasonable rates, but you may have to hunt around to find a department with suitable test facilities.
• Find out what safety or performance standards your product might have to meet
The British Standards Institution (BSI) or a local trading standards department may be able to advise you what they are. Your prototype may have to demonstrate at least the potential to meet appropriate standards if it is to interest companies.

If you intend to market your own product, BSI or other test fees can be a very large item in your costings. There may also be a lengthy wait before your product can be tested or before approval is granted.

Help with design or redesign

Design is the key to turning a prototype into a marketable product. You must think about design from the very start, as even an excellent prototype may not impress companies if the underlying design is impractical or inappropriate. The true value of your invention may not be spotted if it’s buried inside a poor design.
A good designer can be invaluable in dealing with manufacturers, who need (a) detailed specifications before they can make anything and (b) access to someone who talks their language if problems arise. If you don’t have the right design skills, you have four options:

1. Hire specialist designers. That’s expensive, and before work starts agree in writing on how much of the added intellectual property value they’re entitled to.

2. Bring a designer on board as a partner, for a realistic (that is, large) share of eventual profit rather than direct fees. Again, for both your sakes you MUST get a written agreement sorted out before work starts.

3. You may be able to get low-cost help with prototypes and/or design from a university, many of which need real-life projects for their students. You must accept though that a successful outcome can’t be guaranteed.

4. There may be a DTI or EU-subsidized scheme to help with design. Some schemes involve partnership with a university. Universities these days can be extremely helpful to small businesses, so don’t be afraid to approach them.

Getting quotations from manufacturers

Shop around, as manufacturing costs can vary widely. Small firms may be better for prototypes and trial batches, as large companies with advanced equipment may be cheaper only at very high volume (but for that reason get quotes from them too). Ask for quotes based on the detailed drawings you or your designer have produced and make sure they represent exactly what you want. A late request for what seems like a minor modification can add enormously to the final bill.

Note:

This fact sheet is mainly based on the NESTA Inventors' Handbook, http://www.nesta.org.uk/ which is copyright to © 1999 Peter Bissell and Graham Barker (ex staff member). We highly recommend this site and their book, "The Business of Invention" (ISBN 0951 3856 31) to any inventor, as it is the best we can find relating to turning inventions into a business in the UK. This copyrighted material should not be used for commercial gain without the prior permission of the copyright owners being sought.