3 Inventor Mistakes to Avoid

Choosing the right path to successful inventing means avoiding the pitfalls.

“Do make mistakes, just make them cheap and make them fast.” – Fred Durham

Being a successful inventor is a lot like starting your own business. Like an entrepreneur wanting to start a small business, lots of people talk about doing it, but many let the time and opportunity pass them by. In many cases, being a financially successful inventor means actually going into business in one form or another. And no matter whether you are an inventor, an entrepreneur or an entre-inventor, you will gain experience and wisdom from making mistakes. This is what they mean when they say you’ve been to the school of hard-knocks. While painful, earning a degree from Hard-Knocks U. can be an essential part of a successful inventor’s journey.

It is much less painful, however, to learn from the mistakes of others who have gone on before us and have blazed the trail already. With this in mind, here are a few common inventor mistakes and how to avoid and/or overcome them.

1. The “Castaway” Inventor Syndrome

Inventors and entrepreneurs are typically what you would call independent spirits. Most of us started with an idea ourselves, have developed it on our own, and we tend to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. And while that is the natural tendency of inventors, there is a downside that can pull you into the ditch if you let it. Do you remember the movie where Tom Hanks is stranded on the deserted island? Too many times inventors end up identifying with Tom. We feel like we’re in this all by ourselves. But truly, no successful inventor works in isolation. When you look at inventors who are successful, they are always connected to people. People matter and your connections to them are important to both you and your invention’s well being. The more connections you have and continue to make, the more opportunities you will have to learn, to stay motivated, and when the time is right, ultimately connect to the right buyer or licensor for your invention.

2. Inventor Paralysis

Too many inventors have been stuck and are right now still stuck in this place. Typically there are two reasons for this: One is that we just don’t know what to do next (a lack of education or wisdom), and two: that we let fear take over and paralyze us. Fear that we’ll make a mistake or fail. While a small amount of fear is healthy and makes us stop and think before making decisions, letting it hold us in one place in our invention’s process can be a huge problem. We end up feeling like the needle on a record that’s stuck, playing the same part over and over again. But how do we overcome being afraid? First, step back and look at the reasons you are afraid. Yes, a wrong decision could end up costing you time and money, but you can’t let that possibility drive you to do nothing. The best way to deal with fear is to come up with a system to deal with it. Gather all your facts and options, work out the worst-case scenario and develop a plan on how you will deal with it if it happens. Then set a deadline to make a decision and move on to the next step of your invention’s development. These are just some of the ways you can face and overcome the fear that holds you back.

3. Where Fools Rush In

As I mentioned earlier, a small amount of fear is a good thing. Healthy fear, that doesn’t permanently stop us in our tracks, helps to keep us safe. This is the kind of fear that keeps you from touching the hot stove or crossing the street without looking both ways. On this end of the scale, with paralysis on the other end, we see the inventor with the great idea that wants to rush in without giving any thought to the path they are on or the direction they are going in. This is where we see so many inventors fall prey to inventor scam companies, who promise they’ll get rich quick without having to do anything but send them their idea and a lot of money. These inventors are usually in a really big hurry, and have convinced themselves that they have to do something, usually spend a lot of money, right now before learning anything about where or why they’re spending it. If you find yourself wanting to rush in, stop and take a breath. Stop and learn what you need to know first. You put 3 things you’re your invention: your wisdom, your time and you money. But if you don’t stop and learn, putting the wisdom in first, you won’t spend the time or money correctly, and will likely pour it down a hole never to be seen again. Successful inventing is not a microwave oven, it’s a slow-cooker. Do you ever notice how food tastes better from a slow-cooker than a microwave? So will the end result of your invention process if you take the proper time to learn all the facts and then decide what you need to do in the right order.

As painful as learning from your own mistakes are, when they happen (and they will), when you learn from them you will be able to look back and call it experiential wisdom. Learning from the mistakes of others, however, is called learned wisdom and is much less painful. When possible, however, I think both you and I would much prefer to avoid a lot of the pain with the learned kind.

Why Are You An Inventor?

The motivation of why you do what you do can have a big impact on the outcome of what you do.

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” – Simon Sinek

As we go through our life as an inventor, if we’re honest with ourselves every once and a while we need to stop and ask ourselves what our motivation is. In other words, if I stopped you right now and asked why you were pursuing your current invention, project or business opportunity, you might give me any of a number of answers. Many inventors may blurt out, “to make money”, or the popular “I want to make a million dollars”. But this being the primary focus of why you want to be an inventor can be a big mistake for a number of reasons.

Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not one of those who have jumped on the bandwagon of thinking that making money is evil. On the contrary, I believe that there is both a great dignity and morality to business when it is done with integrity. In his book Thou Shall Prosper, Rabbi Daniel Lapin says that making a living is much harder if, deep down, you suspect it to be morally reprehensible activity. I firmly believe that the ability to make money is an important tool that provides for yourself, your family, and additionally gives you the opportunity to give and help others. And while making money is important for the aforementioned reasons, alone it is just not enough reason to keep you motivated enough in order to truly win at inventing. There has to also be the reason that it is something that you love doing, something you truly have found a passion for, and/or a vehicle to help others in some way. This passion will give you the fight and fire on those tough days and give you that reason to fight on another day.

Many people make the “money only” mistake when choosing any career, whether it involves inventing or not. Seth Godin said it best, “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” Business, and particularly the business of inventing, is way too hard to work at just for the reward of money. You won’t work at it and keep that high energy level that is sometimes required to get to the desired payoff if the payoff is only money, because working only for the money ends up being an empty goal. No matter how much money you could make, the work becomes a prison cell if it has no meaning. A good example of this is observing certain people in a business where you are the customer. You can’t miss this comparison, and see it in almost any industry. The first “employee” we see is just there for the money, and you can see it on their face, their body language and in their actions. You can almost smell it on them. The second example is not what you’d want to call an employee but would think of more as a member of team. They believe that they’re there for a reason, believe in what they are doing and it also shows on their face, body language, and in how they perform, which usually results in a great experience for the customer. Both of these people are being paid the same amount of money to perform the same tasks. The difference is the WHY of what they’re doing. And that is the same difference that can make or break a successful invention, business venture or both.

The WHY of inventing is also truly a balancing act, and I’ve personally seen failures caused by extremes on both ends. On the one hand, if you are only inventing for the love of tinkering and coming up with new ideas, that is great, unless you have an expectation of making money at it without doing the things necessary that cause money to be made with an invention. On the other, if you’re focusing only on the money without any of the passion or fire of the “why”, you will most likely fizzle out when the going gets tough. The trick is to have both, tempered with wisdom, to truly win at inventing and/or business.

How to Play Nice with Others: Your Relationships with Inventor Service Providers

Finding Mr. Right is just as important as avoiding Mr. Wrong

“The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” – Anthony Robbins

I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you. I can’t keep you from hiring bad inventor service providers. No one can, except for one person: you. If I were to go out and haphazardly spend my hard-earned dollars on a bad service provider and end up with nothing to show for it, ultimately there is only one person to blame: the guy staring back at me in the mirror. This is true about so much of an inventor’s success and/or failure. Sure you can blame that bad service provider (and there are a lot of hucksters out there!), that bad partnership, the bad economy or a lack of opportunity, but ultimately, it will always all boil down to you. That’s the thing about inventors and entrepreneurs; they are ultimately the one in control. The steering wheel is in your hand and the gas pedal is under your foot. Where you take the vehicle is where you take the vehicle!

So how do you take the vehicle where you want it to end up? Well, for one it’s up to you to get a map or stop and ask for directions! So many inventors have asked us those “directions” questions over the years. Ones like, “how do I know who to trust?”.

Let me make this crystal clear: yes, there are some heavily advertised, very bad companies out there that are looking to take your money, give you false hope and leave you with nothing but just that. There have been court rulings, charges by the Federal Trade Commission, and laws passed to try to keep these snakes from taking your money. Some people have even dedicated websites to pointing at the biggest offenders. But the problem is that the scam companies that don’t have any integrity to begin with are hard to point at and identify. It’s like trying to nail Jello to a tree! The bad guys aren’t going to just lie down and say, “well, I guess you’ve got me”. If you turn over a rock and find a snake, it’s going to just slither under another rock! Bad companies with no integrity will simply shut down, reorganize, and go across the street, advertising themselves as the “new and improved” inventor scam company.

So what do you do? How do you acquire the wisdom to know the difference between the really bad and the really good companies out there? If you can’t necessarily figure out who the bad guys are by looking at their name, then you’re going to have to identify them another way. There’s an old saying, “by their fruits you shall know them”, and I think it definitely applies here. If they walk like a duck, quack like a duck and swim like a duck, they’re probably a duck, especially when they tell you they’re an eagle. And if any company uses greed or fear to motivate you, or applies pressure for you to send them money, they are not a company with integrity. Basically, run!

That said, there are many good service providers out there that do have integrity. They can be found, but it takes time and patience. Ask the right questions. What exactly am I paying for? How are the results measured and quantified? Are there any fees prior to the work being done? Do they have references that you can verify with people you know and/or are involved in a good inventors organization like the CKIC?

I’m also a big believer in getting 3 quotes for everything. Once you have know what the quantifiable results will be, you can shop around, apples for apples. And never, ever, ever, ever, ever (did I say never?) purchase invention services that you don’t completely understand. Define the deliverables (exactly what they’re providing for the money).

Be totally immersed in the inventing step you’re purchasing services for. Understand your needs. If you don’t know what you need, you’ll pay more for what you want. You also have to be able to properly communicate exactly what it is you’re wanting done. I can guarantee you that even with good companies, any venture where the 2 people involved have different definitions for the same word will end badly with both parties feeling like they got the shaft.

In our microwave culture, some inventors have the idea that they can hire a service provider, add water and instantly have a successful patent, prototype, or whatever. Take the time to know and understand a potential service provider before you trust them with your money. And take the time necessary to find and work with good companies that have integrity and then refer them to others!

The Reason Why Most New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work

Hint: It’s the same reason why many Inventors’ ideas don’t become reality.

“I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren’t enough who will move ahead and begin to take the concrete steps to actualize their vision.” – W. Clement Stone

Can you remember the resolutions you made last year? Were you able to keep them? If most people were to be honest, they would say probably not. How about that idea you resolved to make happen at the beginning of this year? Where are you now compared to where you’d thought you’d be last year?

As we look over our shoulder as we near the end of this year, looking back at it like an old crumpled piece of paper, and turn our heads to look to the next one and see a fresh new sheet, we start to think about all the things we wished we had done in the past year, and all the things we really want to do in the next. If you’re an inventor, you have that idea, that drawing, prototype or project that you really want to start getting some traction on. You’ll say to yourself, “ this year it will be different. I can really see the potential in this idea and this is the year I’m going to do something. I’m going to change my career, my income and the course of my life with this invention!” All these sentiments are great, and needed. They are the fuel and lifeblood of any inventor that wants to see momentum. You need that motivation, that vision, that fire in your belly to implement the intensity and tenacity necessary to be successful. However, there is a danger here. The “want-to”, that desire to have your dream, idea or project become a money-generating reality will not take place with simply the promise to yourself that you’re going to do it. All you have at this point is a dream. What you need is a plan.

In his book EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey talks about the fact that the difference between a dream (or what we can call our idea) and a goal is a plan. And for these goals to really be tangible goals, they must have certain components that make them real and give you traction that you can both see and feel.

First off, your goal must be specific and measureable. You can’t just say “I want to make money with my invention”. That’s just a naked dream of an idea. You have to put work clothes on it by making it specific with something like “I want to make $”x” with my invention”, or “I want to license my invention with a company”, or “I want to outsource a manufacturer and sell “x” units. When you give it specifics, something important changes for the inventor. It blows some of those clouds of abstraction away and makes you begin to see and think about how it can be done.

Secondly, they must have a time limit. Time limits can be used as a powerful tool for the inventor who needs traction to move forward. You can now take those specific measureable activities and break them down into smaller, more digestible goals with specific deadlines that you can see yourself achieving. And nothing motivates like a deadline. These time constraints also evoke discipline. We tell our inventors: you set an appointment with your invention, just like it’s an appointment with a doctor or an attorney. You tell yourself, “Thursday between 6 an 9 PM, I’m turning off the TV, getting off the couch and working on my invention”!

Also, you need to put your goals in writing. Just like documenting your invention, it is important that you write your specific plans, goals and timed milestones down. This helps you on a number of levels. When you verbalize your thoughts, you force them through one layer of understanding, and yet another layer when you write them down. This gives you an even clearer understanding of your invention and how to go about bringing it to market. Even with documenting your invention, you shouldn’t do it just for the legal record. You need to do it for you; to help you better understand what it is that you are doing and how you are going to do it. Successful inventor Rob Vorhees says “ you have to know where you are, where you want to be, and how you’re going to get there”. A written plan is the map to do just that.

If you can do these things, it will help you to make your invention something a lot more attainable than it was when it was just a dream. But remember, if you don’t do the things necessary to hit the goals within the time allotted, that goal will condemn you and call you just a dreamer.

Nobody Wants to Dance with the Wallflowers

You have to create the right product and the right perception to market your invention effectively.

“It is said that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. But you can put some salt in his oats.” – George Godfrey.

After the last 20-plus years of living on both sides of the fence between product development and marketing, I had some validation recently from Malcolm Gladwell’s book “What the Dog Saw”. In it, he described his interview with Ron Popiel, an inventor and marketer who by himself conceived, created, and sold, among other things, the Showtime rotisserie oven to millions on TV. Now if you think Ron Popiel and only envision a campy pitchman on late-night infomercials, you may want to think again. In the last 40 years his products have pulled in over $2 Billion in sales (Yes, B as in Billion). One of the things that struck me in Gladwell’s book was the statement that the Popiel family believed it was a mistake to separate product development from marketing. “Developing and marketing a product are like left and right feet,” says Popeil. “They both have to work for the product to succeed.” In his mind, the product that sold best was the one that sold itself. And in his infomercials, his marketing effort completed the walk all the way into the consumers’ kitchens.

So much of bringing an invention to market successfully is building on the right foundation, a solid foundation that you can hold firmly to when you go to market. And so many of the important steps successful inventors take early on are an integral part of the later ones. What I’m saying here is that you need to have done your homework before you go to market. And by homework I mean researching and making sure the invention you’re about to invest your time and money into has a good chance of success. You need to pick the lowest hanging fruit of both an invention that has a high degree of success and one that you are able to execute. You must have a clear understanding of your marketplace and an even clearer, concise plan about how you’re going to enter that marketplace. You must remember that the inventor serves the consumer. And you do that by proving to yourself that you know what they really want – not just what you think they might want – and be able to deliver it in a way that they’ll want to buy into. And sometimes that means modifying or even completely changing your idea along the way.

I believe that one of the best ways to get kick started into a market, even if your ultimate goal is licensing or selling to a large company, is to be able to cheaply produce a small number of the product and get it into that market, especially if you can find a niche market to start with (this is why first choosing the right invention that you can tackle and bring to market is so important). This is your foothold, your Normandy, your beachhead. Once you can gain that foothold, something amazing begins to happen. When you actually begin to sell products and money begins to change hands, you have made your invention a real product that is selling. This can have a powerful effect on you, your invention and even the market itself. Potential distributors or licensees that would not give you the time of day back when you had an idea on a napkin or in a frankentype are now suddenly sitting up and taking notice.

Even if marketing is not what you have done before, you can learn to do it, just like any skill, and I believe it is a great skill to acquire. Everyone is bad at something until they learn how to do it, and then practice it enough. If, on the other hand you absolutely do not want to go there, I highly urge you to do two things: learn everything about marketing that you can anyway, and then hire or partner with someone who is good at marketing. But remember, you can’t communicate with the natives until you learn their language. So unless you learn everything you can about marketing, any hired or partnered relationship can and will typically end badly due to miscommunication.

So the auditorium is full, and the band is beginning to play. Now it’s time to decide if you’re going to stand along the wall or get out there and dance.

Invent Like a Marine

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

As I’m writing this during the holidays, I am 3-fold reminded of what I found written on a fire department t-shirt a few weeks ago. I was later reminded that the quote “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome” is actually an unofficial mantra of the Marine Corps, based on the fact that the Corps was used to receiving Army hand-me-downs and traditionally the troops were poorly equipped. In spite of this perceived disadvantage, the Marine Corps has been successful mostly because of the creativity of it’s people and their success-based attitude. I believe this amazing capacity for creative thinking stems from a Marine’s utter drive and dedication towards accomplishing the mission, even when faced with what appear to be impossible odds.

I mentioned that this reminder was 3-fold. After seeing this on the t-shirt, I remembered that the motto was made famous by Clint Eastwood in the movie “Heartbreak Ridge” (though it’s been around since well before the movie). Now that it’s the holidays, the thoughts of many of us are directed toward those serving our country in the all the branches of the armed forces around the globe, some in remote and hostile areas far away from their families. This convergence of reminders has got me to thinking about how we as inventors can take a cue from these military innovators, those that have a lot more on the line as they are thinking literally on their feet.

Like the marines, inventors and entrepreneurs have a mission, a battle plan that hits the ground on an ever-changing landscape. For instance, this year we have watched a major change in the economic landscape. And as I have said before in other blogs and in meetings over the last year, this is not the time to go hide and stick our heads in the sand. Many have been forced to do more with less, while some of us have had limited resources to work with from the get-go. Marines, likewise, have historically had to do without. They are the smallest branch of the service and get an even smaller share of the DOD budget. But this has forced them to actually achieve more with less. It is so strongly infused into their being that they just expect to get short changed and still come out on top. They just develop an attitude of never letting a little adversity get in their way.

Perhaps one or more fronts of your invention landscape has changed. Perhaps it’s your market: the people who would buy your invention now would not or wouldn’t buy for the same reasons they would last year. Perhaps it’s your resources and you have to find another way to get your prototype developed. Or perhaps you now have to find a new and different way to protect your IP (Intellectual Property). This is the part where you need to improvise. It may not be as pretty a route as you originally imagined, but sometimes it doesn’t matter how you got there, just that you did.

When things look impossible, the marines get more creative. This is also a mantra we hear a lot here at the CKIC. Inventors are the innovators, and we are the people everyone looks to for creativity. While we nearly have this creativity in our blood, we sometimes get so focused on being creative on the front inventing end, we fail to realize that we can “adapt” this creativity to other areas of the inventing process. When faced with a shortage of materials, information or even time, what do you do? Do you give up? Just sit there and let everything come to a standstill? Or do you try to get more information and attempt to come up with a viable solution?

Maybe the most important part of this mantra is to Overcome. This is part that describes our actions when we surmount an unexpected obstacle. The marines call this “accomplishing the mission”. This is that tenacity I see in inventors, many who have diminished resources, who become successful; and this is what I see missing in the inventors who have more resources that end up being unsuccessful. If there was one secret ingredient to successful inventing, this may be it.

So when faced with a changing situation or one that seems nearly too big to tackle, just remember that you have a weapon at your disposal that many do not: your creativity.

Here’s hoping you have a Merry Christmas and an innovative, prosperous 2010!