Producing a Product - Where to start?

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hattrick_12a

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Hi folks
I have this idea of a product that I would like to produce and I would appreciate any advice. Obviously I cannot go into too much detatils, but it is a fairly simple enough product. I'd imagine it is just a case of getting someone to produce/manufacture it. Maybe some samples first and then on a larger scale, but how would I go about this? Then I would have to find shops to buy it? I am not even sure if it is a type of product that you would patent. Anyone know what can and can't be patented?
I know I am vague about the actual product but any advice/experiences is welcome. I haven't even looked at figures yet but I hope to after some advice.
Thanks
 
Which comes first the chicken or the egg. Some one once told me that they do some research on the web by posting false ads for new services. Perhaps you could try something like that, see what feed back you get. Before you start investing too much you need to do your research. Demand research first, pricing too, you need to know will the product be required and at what price. Then your supply research, how much will it cost to produce. And don't forget the business plan, can you match one side with the other and make some money!!!

Identify the market gap, which you have already done is only the first step.
 
Before rushing off to have a product manufactured you should be very confident that the product will sell. Be sure and evaluate the opportunity fully to reduce your risk. Establish why people will buy the product and how you will get it to the customer. Will you need to go through a distributor, sell directly to outlets or use a web site etc, what will your selling price be. Its cheaper to do a good paper study first to establish what it will cost to bring the idea to market and what likely return you will get.

interms of patenting you should be able to find information on the web (the irish patent office and the EU patent office). Esentially you would need to prove novelty. Having a patent can also reduce your tax bill. Patenting can be costly and you would need the services of a good patent agent.

WWW.enterprise-ireland.com or you local county enterprise board would be a good source of information.
 
Bear in mind I haven't a clue what you have in mind so some of this may be irrelevant. I have gone down the tortuous route of producing a product my self though so I have some experience of this.

Patenting:
For a product to be patented it must be unique, i.e. there is nothing out there that does the same thing; or if there is, your new product accomplishes this in a different way. To my knowledge, there are tax exemptions for profits derived from a patented product. I don't know if these exemptions are applicable to company profits, or the inventors income from the company. A good accountant could tell you that. To see if it has already been patented (just because this product is not on the market does not mean it has already been patented) you need to search patent databases.

http://www.uspto.gov/patft/ is the US patent database web address.

http://www.patentsoffice.ie is Irish one.

Patents may be confined to one country, several countries, or worldwide. (cost increases with territory).

Most patents have finite life, eg 10 years, after this anyone else can copy your design.

I'd say it's a long tortuous process to be honest. Try the searching yourself, it's easy enough, and it'll save you a chunk in patent attorney fees. But if in doubt get good advice.

Manufacturing:
Obviously you need to decide what costs are involved in producing the product and what you can sell it for. And remember if you sell to a shop the price you receive will be well below the retail price, when the shops margin and VAT are taken into account. alternatively you could sell direct to customers on the web but this means you've to spend a bit on advertising.

Also, the product may be simple enough but it may need to be safety approved before you could sell it on the market, e.g. CE mark (conformite europeene). Not all products require this though.

This reply is taking way too long and not sure how relevant it is so i'll cut it short. best of luck.
Ger
 
I have some experience in manufacturing parts from concept and prototype that others have designed and that my company has designed.
The costs will vary massively depending on that the product is and what it does.
One company that I worked with did their own design and marketing and only used up for prototyping and to design for manufacture (make it as easy and cheap as possible to produce). We also made small production runs for them as samples. They spent about €20’000 with us but it may not cost that much for you, depending on the product.
A product range that we developed ourselves for a high-tech industry required worldwide patents and about three years of development. We spend about a million Euros on that.
If the product has an export potential then get a business plan together and talk to Enterprise Ireland about setting you up as a HPSU (High Potential Start Up). This will enable you to get up to 60% of your projected expenditure for the first year or two up front. It’s an excellent fund but the EI people will monitor you closely. They can also offer mentoring and marketing support, things that they are very, very good at.
As for the intellectual property, your first step should be to document your concept and designs and post them to yourself by registered post. You should then give the unopened envelope to your solicitor. This will establish that you came up with the idea on a particular date. If the concept gets into the public domain you cannot patent it, even if no one disputes that you came up with it. The way to get around this is to get any individuals or companies to sign non-disclosure agreements with you before you show them any details. If you do this you will avoid the necessity of costly patents until you are more confident that your idea can be commercialised.
If you have any more specific questions you can PM me.
 
Depending on where you are located there are enterprise platform programs running that help individuals establish the viability of starting up a business. Some of the topics covered include financial, business planing, legal issues, intellectual property management, sales and marketing etc.

If you need more information contact incubation centres attached to colleges, County enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland. GMIT are about to start one
 
hatrick,

I have extensive experience in the whole area of production transfer, product design, design for manufacture. I'd be confident that I can help with prototyping at a very competiive rate. PM if you wish to discuss further.

D
 
Nice offer from Irldigi but do talk to as many people as you can about this. Once you start down a particular road it can be very costly to go back.
 
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