Find the Value of an Invention

 

Not all Entrepreneurs are Inventors but nearly every Inventor needs to be an Entrepreneur.

While no entrepreneurial challenge can be said to be easy,  It uniformly accepted that bringing inventions to market is among the toughest business challenges one can undertake.  The path is complicated, uncertain, and unless one gets lucky will likely be long and costly.

A few of the business challenges the inventor faces:

1.        Finding the balance between sharing enough information so that others can assist in moving forward while keeping quiet and protecting the idea from competitors.

2.       Trying to get others to see the benefits of your innovation.  Most of us cope with problems and prefer not to change and we certainly don’t want to be the first ones to try a new thing.  Makes getting those first sales a real challenge.

3.       Having enough cash to bring the product to market so that sales can happen allowing the skeptics to see the value of the idea.

Why do the business issues matter?  Because in the end, the value of an idea is determined by the idea’s ability of make cash for the owner.  Novel inventions that don’t solve immediate problems, while interesting, won’t generate immediate sales thus have little immediate value.  On the other hand inventions that solve today’s understood challenges can generate immediate sales.  With immediate sales, the invention’s real value can be calculated.

So while it may be comfortable and interesting to imagine, design, improve, fine tune, prototype, and test the idea.  The real and true test of the invention is simple.  Have real people paid their real money to own the product?  If you cannot answer yes to this question the value of the invention is minimal.  That is the cold hard truth of the matter.  For a invention to have real value it must have real sales.

If you wish to be a successful independent inventor you need to be a business person!   That does not mean having all the skills, it does mean understanding the skills that are needed.  Then gathering the right skills in sufficient quantity that real business results can be achieved.  Quickly being able to demonstrate the market value of your invention gives the inventor the opportunity to earn a fair a wage and invent again.  When this happens, it is a thing of beauty.  When it does not, well let’s not go there.

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Trip to Lake Michigan

Had the opportunity to spend Sunday AM on Lake Michigan.

It was beautiful!  Fishing was very slow.  But who says the point of fishing is catching fish?  The company was great and the weather was tremendous.

Some observations,

Two Rivers is the home of NESCO!  A Wisconsin Treasure!

There were over 50 boats on the water and another 50 ready to go in the slips.  Campfires, Families, Tents, you could see up close and personal the standard of living that we are working to maintain.

Coming home there were people in every used car lot from Two Rivers to Appleton.  In Wisconsin car lots are closed on Sunday.  Looks to me like people are getting ready to replace a car.  This is good news for all of us.

It’s days like Sunday, that remind me why I love living in Wisconsin.

Oh yes, Asian Carp, what will they do to this Treasure?  This threat has to be understood and managed!  Please act quickly!

Preston O'Connor

The Knight Group, Inc.

Profitable Balancing People, Business, and Systems.

101 W. Edison Ave.

Edison Center

Appleton, WI 54915

office:  920-968-5333

fax:     920-968-5308

www.knightgroupcorp.com

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New Ad Campaign

Started a new ad campaign on WHBY.  Radio ad with Cindy Viet from New Flag www.mynewflag.com

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Supporting Your Community

Contrary to most of our radio talk show hosts, our economy and country is driven by sales of consumer products.  Consumer products include tissues, diapers, clothing, food, fuel, transportation, and thousands of other items we use every day.  What consumers buy and who they buy it from is the real driver of our society.  The consumers decision creates sales and gives cash to one company and does not give it to another.  Who you choose to buy your products from determines who has power and who sets the direction of our economy and our country.

Yes it is just that simple, your dollars are the same as votes in our economy.  Choosing to buy products from a large multi-national company allowing that company to remain large and multi-national.  They remain influential and because Washington works like it does, those large companies influence decisions that set the course for our future.  One certain thing, big businesses are predictable, they do what it takes to maintain and improve profits.  That means they continue to make sales.  Bottom line rattle snakes bite, it is their nature.  If you live with rattle snakes you are going to get bit.  No complaints allowed, same is true if you buy your products from large companies.  You personally are agreeing with their tactics, when you get bit, no complaining allowed.

So it’s simple buy products from companies and organizations that act in a fashion consistent with what is best for our country / society.  What does that mean?  Time to really consider your values and select how you want to vote with your money.  Rest assured, if in the end you make your decision on lowest cost at the cash register or on best advertizing campaign you are telling everyone, “I want more low quality, low pay, poor environmental control, and big marketing budgets.”  You are probably also saying, “I don’t really care where the product is made and who gets the jobs.”  If that is not what you believe then spend your dollars differently!

Please stop preaching, yelling, and blaming, spend your dollars differently.  Consider the total cost of the decisions you make.  If we continue to buy foreign products, we will continue with 10% + unemployment and our taxes will continue to rise to cover the cost of helping the unemployed try and survive.  Dunno, not an economist but it stands to reason that the real cost of buying foreign products are ultimately just about 10% higher than the sticker price.  Somehow we have to pay for the unemployment the decision generates.  If I’m wrong please show me why.

Better yet, one could choose to spend 10% more to buy local.  I know it would not make a change immediately but over time we can turn this thing around.  The local businesses would become larger more efficient and have a chance to reduce their costs, while immediately improving the standard of living for an entire community.

Think I’m kidding, this was just on the news.  Now, people won’t eat Gulf Seafood cuz they think it’s damaged.  So the restaurants won’t buy it, so the fishermen cannot sell it.  So sadly, even if the oil spill didn’t put the fishermen out of business.  Doesn’t matter cuz the customer won’t buy and the fishermen are out of business anyway.  The power of capitalism!  You vote with your dollars……   

Preston O'Connor

The Knight Group, Inc.

Technical People with Excellent Business Skills

101 W. Edison Ave.

Edison Center

Appleton, WI 54915

office:  920-968-5333

fax:     920-968-5308

www.knightgroupcorp.com

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