Inventors are often struggling with little or no money to bring their invention to market. This often leaves inventors broke looking for anyone to pay them anything for their idea. When someone else takes their idea and makes millions of dollars, this often leaves those inventors heart broken. Does it need to be like this? Absolutely not. There are many ways for inventors to make money from their idea, even if they have no money to invest.

Inventors need to develop a plan. You need to realize you will need money to make and market your product, not necessarily your own money, but you will need money and probably a fair amount of it. Patents alone can cost well over $10,000 and prototypes can easily cost you as much or more. Then depending on how you want to bring your product to market, there may be untold other costs, but if you develop your plan and have an idea what you will need, you can succeed by using one of the five methods we will discuss in this series.

Kiril Alexandrov did not like wallets; he thought they were too bulky. He was searching for a thin wallet when he finally decided that he had to be able to create a better one.

Alexandrov spent two years testing and perfecting his perfect wallet and in this process he was also consulting SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), a group that offers help to small businesses. He began to realize what kind of market he was trying to crack: wallet manufacturers in China crank out the wallets and department stores by them by the box and no one seems to care about it. How can you make a product that people will care about? How can you convince stores that people will care about your product? Alexandrov needed a good strategy.

I'd like you to take a moment to reflect on the past year from a packaging perspective. There were lots of stories in the news both good and bad about the role packaging has to play in our society. One thing that most consumers will think of is the "spinach crisis and plastic clamshells."

But let's think about how we can positively promote our industry in the minds of the consumer for 07. Set your sites on a few resolutions to create a more lasting impression with the ultimate market for your products: the customer.

Read an article about making your business grow which features quotes from Don.

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