When they first get started many Inventors have a lack of Focus and Direction due to everything being new and unknown. This is why things can take a turn for the good or bad depending on their next steps and how they proceed. Unfortunately below is how it happens for a large portion of new Inventors. I am writing this so you can avoid these pitfalls and not learn the hard way.
The Inventor gets an idea and then doesn’t seriously consider their options before they run head first towards any goal. They see a contact for an infomercial company and throw their idea that way. They don’t consider whether their idea fits that market, It is just somewhere to go. They don’t understand why they get a rejection from the infomercial company.
Then they see a contact for a toy company and send them a bicycle idea never looking to see they don’t deal in bicycles. They find a website online that says we look at outside ideas. They slap any unorganized information they can gather in an envelope or email and send it to whatever address they can find for the company, assuming once it gets there a kind hearted person will open their package/email and direct it to the right person in the company. Oh, and by the way they didn’t finish reading the boring section on rules for submitting that state they only look at patented ideas or finished products.
Many Inventors don’t do the due diligence homework required and don’t realize they need to stay focused and pick a direction they want to target. Direction such as do you want to license, manufacture, start a business around it, give it to a company to distribute it for you, sell online only, sell through retailers; the list goes on and on. You need to know what you want the end goal to be so you have a goal line to move towards.
If you have a toy idea you need to study the toy industry, not the auto industry, you need to know what they sell, who sells the most of a particular type product line that your idea fits into. Do they have requirements for submitting? Do they even look at ideas/products? You are wasting your energy and money not doing research before contacting the first company. Don’t randomly pick something, make an informed decision.
You don’t go through the gas tank to change your car tire. Take the time to get the right information and use it wisely. It may take a little longer to do it this way, but it will increase your chances of success.