What's the Big Idea?

It's finally Friday! I know we're all ready for the weekend but maybe you've just recently had a major "light bulb" moment for a brilliant business idea and it's time to get the ball rolling.

 

 

Today, I want to take a moment to share a few ways to brainstorm and protect your new idea. Here are a few tips that were recently published by Forbes:

 

 

 

1. Identify a niche.

You may have already done this step, but identifying what the market needs is key. Spending time and effort on something you think consumers will love, only to find out otherwise can be pretty discouraging. You can avoid this by studying your best-selling products and checking your sales results compared to industry standards. From here you may be able to come up with an offshoot that no one else is selling.

 

2.  Do market research on your new business idea.
Expand your initial market research by focusing on your new idea. Take a closer look at your customer base to see where your thought stands, or if it's even a customer focus yet. You can learn even more by viewing census data, and trade magazines or websites. Additionally, there's a free patent search available on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website.

 

3. Protect your idea.
Depending on what you've come up with, your idea may require a patent or copyright. I learned that there are two different types of patents: design and utility. A design patent is intended to protect "a new, nonobvious ornamental design of products, and is mostly used for designs that are a slight variation or improvement on an existing product." On the other hand, a utility patent protects "the functionality of an invention."

 

You can find other tips and routes to all of the necessary websites in the article linked above. I hope this write-up inspires you to brainstorm over the weekend or take the next steps in producing your new product or service. Good luck!