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Showing posts from 2020

November 2020

This is a brand new day, ladies and gentlemen.   A brand new day. — Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit   Sell first and sell fast.   Speed is the key to profiting from a simple, short-lived invention.   To increase our chances of quickly licensing our inventions, Stephen Key (inventor, author, speaker, and co‑founder of inventRight, LLC) recommends that we develop and use four selling tools: the point of difference ; perceived ownership; a LinkedIn profile; and a list of companies that love open innovation . The point of difference tells a potential licensee how your invention differs from marketed products and from prior art .   This gives a potential licensee two things: confidence that your invention has unique benefits that customers might want to buy; and the perception that you could own a place in the market for your invention (ie, get a patent).   A search for your invention on Google and in stores will show the difference between your invention and products like it i

October 2020

Would you like to have the government (federal, state, or local) as your customer?    The government awards hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts to small businesses every year.   But not every small business is suited for that role.   Inventors Network KY treated us to an online presentation by Darrall Henderson (director, Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center) that described what it takes to become a government (federal or Kentucky) vendor. Becoming a government contractor involves a complex process that has its own vocabulary and requires a significant investment of time and money.   Educational resources on this process are available from several organizations: Indiana Procurement Technical Assistance Center , Indiana Department of Administration , Indiana Economic Development Corporation , Indiana Small Business Development Center , local governments in Indiana , the federal government , U.S. General Services Administration , Government Marketing & Procu

February 2020

Would you marry someone you never met or dated?   No?   Then why would you start a business without knowing who your customers are and what they really want? No entrepreneur wants to waste time and money on a nonviable company.   If you are thinking about starting a business, the most important question is whether you should start a business. Bill Petrovic ( workshop chair and mentor, SCORE Indianapolis ; past vice president and treasurer, Roche Diagnostics) recommends using the lean startup method to answer that question.   It is an efficient method of approximation for developing a successful business model.   Make your best guess of what a successful business looks like.   Ask people whom you think are your potential customers what they think about your guess.   Adapt your guess to the feedback you get from those people.   Then ask again.   Repeat.   If you should start a business, this process will likely converge on a business model that profitably identifies your

January 2020

Ron Jackson (long-time member of the Indiana Inventors Association; founder, Jackson Systems ; holder of 15 patents) helped us start the year off right by describing his experience as a successful innovator. Marketing is 80% of profitable innovation.  Unmarketed but very useful inventions can fail in the marketplace while heavily marketed but useless inventions can be quite profitable.  Helpful elements of marketing can include: Creating a good looking prototype of your invention.  Whether you show potential buyers a working prototype or a sell sheet/brochure that includes a high quality picture of a nonworking prototype, an image is worth a thousand words.  An image makes people feel that you and your invention are real and credible. Creating good quality videos of your invention and related topics for display on YouTube.  Videos can help to establish your credibility in your technical field and to show the benefits your invention provides.  The Jackson Systems YouTub