Would You Be Interested in a Series of Webinars on Taking Your Prototype To Production?

Hey that's interesting! Thanks Douglas, that looks really promising. I've bookmarked that page and will revisit after I've worked out the details of the product

Thanks,

-Nico

ntewinkel You could always partner up with an organization that handles the business side....

An example is the program at Sparkfun. They actually have different business models to choose from.

I'm very interested in this topic, it definitely would be very useful to me!

Reality versus imagination. Two ends of a spectrum.

Thanks Nico

Clem

Thanks for pointing this out Clem!

I did watch this video in the winter, and while I enjoyed the advice they gave for the making of the product, I found it didn't address the liability worries that I have.

I've since spoken with several very well respected business and innovation advisors, and the results are always the same - unless you buy expensive ongoing insurance, there's quite a risk in selling a product. Even incorporation doesn't provide a whole lot of protection, especially for small one or two people maker startups.

I've also discussed this directly, in person, with our province's innovation commissioner, in the hopes that it might help government become aware of this issue.

The only advice that might work was to get a provisional patent (small investment) and then become a sales person to sell the patent and the ready-for-market designs to a bigger company. When/if I do get an easy to manufacture and reliable prototype finished, I'll likely take that approach. Or I might release the ideas and designs open source under MIT license.

And yes, sadly, this is probably holding a back a lot of innovators with a lot of great products to share with the world.

Just to be clear, my advice is not "don't do it", it's "be aware of the risks"

-Nico

Wow 71 signed up for this inspire of the comments. What do you think station240?

ntewinkel do you think this merits a watching?

Thanks all

Clem

Just a reminder that this Webinar is set to take place on Friday at 7pm GMT / 1pm CST

Got a working prototype? Here are your next steps...

Hope to see you all there!

that separation will often mean creating a Corporation or LTD company (Different names for every country and district im sure) and you literally become an employee of the company, you may be the only employee and you may own the company but now you can be protected "Mostly"

down sides to being the owner of your own corporation

No Un-Employment when your not working, no sick pay, no free benefits like medical coverage etc, all these things are a cost to the company and therefor you. (Its your company after all).

I Live in Canada and I do have my own company, as an independent consultant most of my clients required it for their own protection. I created it myself, did all my own paperwork and did not involve a Lawyer, just careful research and a quick amendment after registration as I missed an important share detail.

There were many times over the years were I did not have a contract for a few months but as I owned my company I was still employed (Its the company that does not have a contract... not you) so I did not qualify for any government benefits.

You need to be diligent at not consuming all the money out of the company, you need to plan for non working days, Sick, Vacation, no contract etc, remember that all these things may mean your company is not earning, especially if it is just you.

Yes Liability is a thing, my company was mainly involved in designing software for government and other large corporations and I needed to carry a liability insurance as if I as a representative of my company made a mistake and derailed the project, they could come after me for reparations that could cost millions. the insurance was not terribly expensive, perhaps a few hundred $$$ a month but necessary of you want to keep your company.

Anyway, if you want to ask questions on my experiences, please feel free to do so

My daughter is literally going through this right now, she has gained some grants to help her on the way but one big thing always weighing on her is the fear of loosing the ability to be creative and becoming what she hates... "A pencil pushing "Fill in your blank here " so she is looking arround to see if there is a way she can be creative and have someone else deal will mass production were she would receive royalties etc or be able to focus on the fun custom stuff.

There is one thing that was not in the poll, but not yet discussed that I have seen

On observing many "Kickstarter" projects were people are trying to take ideas / prototypes to a production level.

while going to production is often viewed as actual success, you can be too successful. there is a point between making a few of something (This may be dozens or hundreds) to suddenly having to make thousands or 10's of thousands. believe it or not, this can kill the project due to the massive tooling costs and supply logistics to be able to effectively manufacture on the new scale and you have to do it or you will never supply the demand

The price of getting an assembly company to dedicate an assembly line or getting quality injection die molds made can break the bank and loads of projects have failed on kickstarter just because the campaign was too successful. So you need to plan ahead for your product, can you actually get 10,000 qty of an item in a timely fashion, do you have a quote for the higher throughput, can your suppliers even ramp up to that level.

Things to think about