Posts Tagged ‘invention idea’
Not every invention idea represents an economic opportunity
Friday, January 27th, 2012
The best invention ideas will come from personal experience. Look for products or tasks that annoy you and think about a better solution. Then, imagine more solutions to the same problem. I call this “problem-based inventing” as opposed to “solution-based inventing”. Most inventors come up with a particular solution to some problem and then fall in love with it. It’s their “million-dollar idea”. Consequently, when faced with evidence that their particular invention solution is not actually an economic opportunity, they ignore it out of their zeal rather than adjusting their vision to match the realities of the situation. Not every great idea is going to be a great money-maker, so be ready to adapt as you learn on your journey.
Test your idea in an imaginary scenario to determine if it has legs. Ask yourself: Can I really imagine people buying this invention? Who? At what cost? What stores? Next to what other products? You should be as conservative as you can be in answering these questions to avoid wasting money on a product that isn’t going to be easy to monetize. Niche products that appeal to small slices of the population can still be quite profitable (like my super-premium algae scrapers!) and the markets are usually easier to penetrate than mass-markets.
Think about your invention. If you are going to proceed, you want to work on a project within your means. How complicated is it? Does it require technology that doesn’t exist yet? Is it very expensive? If you haven’t done this before, it may be best to start with something smaller and simpler. Maybe you want to put the solar-powered airplane on hold (unless you’re that guy, in which case you know you are because you can’t NOT do it).
Next, test your idea with a few friends. You are looking for an instant “that’s awesome!” or “I NEED that!” or “Why didn’t I think of that!” “That sounds kinda cool,” is not the same thing. By the way, if it takes a long time to explain and your friends have a confused look on their faces, it might not be a great opportunity.
