How can I find a way to get my invention manufactured and marketed.?

Question

It is for bicycles.

Answer 1

Its a long and costly process unless you have a rich uncle that is gonna give you at least a million.

First you need a demo of your item that you have created and tweeked as far as you can. Then you need to hire an engineer to draw it up in CAD to true dimensions, etc. Then you need to find a plant that will make the product and have them run a test product for you. Just this stage alone can cost $30,000-100,000.

Once you have a true test product then you need to find a testing board and have them test your product to ensure there is a market for it. Otherwise manufacturers won't want to deal with you as it will be a waste of their time.

Once you get past all those stages, normally at least a year if this is all you are working on full time, you move onto manufacturers and distributors. Normally a manufacturer will want to start with at least 100,000 pieces if not more. They won't do 50 pieces or what not.

Plus during all this you need an attorney to have the item patented, copyright, trademarked or any of them that may apply to it. Since it is an item that be rode, bike, I am sure a government safety board will have to put their seal on it as well.

The only way around all of this is to find a local custom fabricator that will make the item for you. It will cost you more per item this way and you will be able to produce far less items. A custom guy cannot keep up with a store's inventory let alone going all over the USA. Plus going this route doesn't stop anyone else from stealing your idea and patenting it themselves blocking you from your very creation.

The last resort is to get at least a copyright or trademark on the idea/item and have a test demo of the item. Then approach large companies that are already mass producing bikes and try to sell them on the idea. Normally this route they will buy your idea from you for a flat fee of like $100,000 to 1/4 million, not much more. While they make the millions in profit from the idea.

Being an inventor is just about impossible anymore unless you work for a large company that just takes the ideas you create.

Answer 2

If its real clever try and sell the idea. Let someone else take the strain of manufacturing, testing etc. Speak to your "competitors", get them to sign non-disclosure agreements.

OR try the target market - see if you can orders in principle and fund the costs that way (difficult if you have no history of succesful start-ups, venture capital etc).

Im am curious - what could it be?