This summer in my spare time I’ve been putting down on paper an idea for a new consumer product that I believe is patentable. I have the beginnings of a business plan, including the product concept, revenue model, marketing, diagrams, a graphic representation, references, etc. It’s still by no means a complete plan but I am quite happy with it as a preliminary means of selling the idea to investors. I’d like to take the next step, but I’m unsure of what exactly that is. Do I need a textbook biz plan, a prototype, market research? Any advice you might offer would be greatly appreciated.
I’d imagine you would want to get a patent on it before you do anything beyond trusted friends. ie Don’t get professional diagrams or market research done on something you could make money on if you don’t own the concept yet.
The patent is a good idea. And then, my advice would be to get a prototype (or prototypes) and have some market research done. In my local town a marketing firm quoted a price of less than 10 grand to do market research on a children’s game that I developed. If the market research goes well, then look for an Angel Investment firm. After that, hire some experienced business people to try to take you to the market. If you get that far, then you can talk to Venture Capital companies.