"How do I develop and market my invention with no money?"

Steps for Getting a Licensing Deal and Making Money From an Invention Idea When You Have No Capital.

One of the biggest falsehoods and excuses inventors give for not moving forward with their invention ideas is lack of money. You don't need money. You need a fantastic idea, smarts, hard work and... luck. Here are the steps for taking your idea forward when your pockets are (nearly) empty.

1. Research competitive products, alternative solutions and patent records.
2. Create a rough working prototype to validate the concept.
3. Write a detailed description with drawings.
4. File a provisional patent application.
5. Create a short presentation - ideally a 1 minute video.
6. Contact prospective licencees with the presentation.
7. Negotiate a licensing deal.
8. Collect royalties.

That’s the process when things go easily (they almost never ever do). If you do it all yourself (it’s possible), depending on the invention, you might be able to do it all for less than $100. Assuming no bumps in the road (a bad assumption), you start to see money in about two years.

Much, much, much more can be said about the process. If you want to take a deeper dive start reading here.

If you want someone else to do the work I highly recommend Invention City. There are two ways we consider invention ideas for possible licensing deals and both ways give you valuable feedback that will help you better understand the opportunities and challenges of your invention:

• Free Benchmark Submission
• Brutally Honest Review ($95)

If we offer a rev-share deal, then you spend nothing more.

- Mike