Invent Something Useful
Deciding to invent something can come from the desire to change something that doesn't work right, the need to make money or just from boredom. It's important to invent something that is beneficial and will make you money to avoid wasting time and money. Here are a few tips on how to invent something useful.
Steps
- Brainstorm.
- Write down a list of problems you or others have on a regular basis or things you use in your daily life that don't work as efficiently or reliably as you want. This list will help you decide what to focus on to invent something beneficial.
- Get input from family and friends for ideas of things that need improvement or common problems that have no current invented solution.
- Attend invention trade shows.
- Look at what's currently patented and being marketed at trade shows and inventor's conventions. This will ensure that you're not investing time and money in inventing something useful that has already been invented and patented. If you find something at a trade show that's similar to an idea on your list, cross it off and move on.
- Narrow your list by expertise.
- Choose the top 3 ideas from your brainstorm list based on your level of knowledge and areas of expertise. It won't do any good to try to invent something lucrative, like a more efficient laundry detergent, if you have no chemistry background. Choose your best idea according to what you know and can do.
- Design a prototype
- Draft plans for your invention and design a prototype that can be built, tested and marketed. Keep your financial limitations in mind and remember the finished product needs to be able to function and be easily used by a wide variety of consumers.
- Build your prototype.
- Build a prototype or rough draft of your invention once your drafted plans are complete. This prototype doesn't have to be perfect since you won't be marketing this model, but it does have to be fully functional and able to withstand testing.
- Test your model.
- Conduct a series of tests with the prototype model to assess its durability, strength and effectiveness in solving the problem you set out to remedy.
- Have family members and friends test out the prototype so you can get their perspectives on how well it works and areas that need improvement.
- Create a finished model.
- Revise your design plans based on the results of your tests and the feedback from your family and friends. Build an improved, finished model that can be marketed.
- Decide whether to patent.
- Visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office website at http://www.uspto.gov/inventors/index.jsp for information about who should patent inventions, what kind of patents are available and what limitations are placed on inventors when they patent their inventions. This information will help you decide whether to patent your invention before entering it in trade shows and marketing it to buyers.
Tips
- Think of something that people have trouble doing.
- Draw your idea.
- Solve a current or ongoing problem.
