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Ideas vs Inventions vs Saleable Products
Inventors typically start out with an idea, turn that idea into an invention and then try to figure out how they can sell the product. I think inventors to rethink their process, and once they have an idea, the next step should be, what will make this a saleable, and only after answering that question should they create the invention.
Take as an example William Post and the invention of the Pop Tart. The idea for a Pop Tart was a pastry that could be heated in a toaster for breakfast. These are some of the consideration for turning the idea into a saleable product.
- Need a long shelf life before purchase, for both the outer shell and the inner filling.
- Need the product to product to look inviting as it is taken out of the package.
- Need the filling to survive in a toaster without burning.
- Need two pieces to cost the consumer less than $0.50.
- Need the product to taste good.
- Need the chemicals or preservatives used to promote long shelf life to be tasteless?
- Need a salt content of two pieces to be less than 15% of an adult’s daily requirement of salt.
Companies call this list design criteria and this criteria helps them to know 1) when they should kill an idea because they can’t meet a design criteria, and 2) what criteria they should work on first. In the case of Pop Tarts, the most troubling requirement is a long un-refrigerated shelf life. So that is the issue to address first.
One of the errors I often see from individual inventors is when does an idea they have become an invention. The patent office has a definition of sorts in the rules which states in effect that your definition of the idea is only an invention if someone skilled in the art (or field) has enough information construct or manufacture your invention. My explanation is that idea becomes an invention when you have worked out the details of how to make it.
Ideas are the easiest items to come up with. Inventors often just rush to figure out how to make an invention, by figuring out all the details of how to make a product. Successful inventors start with the design criteria that will make the product saleable, and then create the invention design.
Whenever you have a design think of what has to happen to make it saleable. When you do this you have a good chance of spotting obstacles that will prevent your idea from becoming a product. For example, if Post could only make the product with a two month shelf life, the product will not be saleable. Your goal in moving the saleable criteria up before creating the invention is 1) to take products with a major possible unresolvable problem, off your list early, and 2) to end up inventing a product that will really sell.