Hi, I’m Doug Patt. This is the How to Architect Anything series, Part four, the steps of taking a product to market.
As an architect I'm fascinated with the key more of this internet connection. The connection is ancient and appears through our architecture even today, I’ve created a few things using this handy way to lock in parts together. A few years ago I’ve been sitting around thinking about how to use the same connection but for a smaller product. Something to be shipped anywhere easily and required no tools or fasteners to be put together. What I came up with was this bird feeder, sounds a little goofy but it’s actually quite unique.
My first step when getting started was to do a lot of sketching. Eventually I came up with a design that was ready to prototype then I tool my sketches and create a digital dimensioned drawings then I had my business partner make a prototype. Following that, I made some more prototypes since it slightly change configurations and modeled them in three dimensions. When I knew I was ready to start showing the product around I wrote a provisional patent application to protect the idea, that good for one year. I then set the drawings to manufacturer I have worked with who is making one of our company’s products in Asia. I went overseas because the molds I was using cost at least one-fifth of what it would have cost in the United States. A certified factory agent is a no-brainer for a small company stripped for cash. Our manufacturer got a price for making the product and packaging as well as some tips on the materials. Eventually, I set up on the material and approved the tooling.
Well prototyping was going on in Asia. I was tweaking the product as they’d sent back samples. I went ahead and set up a company as well as continued working on the branding and website and all the while worked with the web person that implement the design. I also hired a great 3D animation studio to put together the animation on my website. I went live with the website. Once, I was convinced like to go to market with the product that was ready for the consumer. I then made sure I had enough inventory to cover a small number of orders I was hoping would come in. I contacted lots of blogs that it covered other product ventures for our company and ask that they feature my new bird feeder. The product had been selling for about three months online and my provisional application was just about to expire. So it’s time to file the non-provisional application that’s the application that cost real money to file.
By then I had gotten pretty good at writing provisional applications. So I was able to write a lot of the patent with my lawyer’s helps and do all the technical drawings. The whole process to go to market took about nine months. That’s not bad but I had a lot of help and some previous experience with other products. So coming up to the next video, I’ll talk about patenting your idea. See you next time.
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