What's the big idea?

Know what Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have in common? They all have the multi-million dollar idea. What is that multi-million dollar idea? This is that bright idea that just flashed over your head. Suddenly that idea became an invention, an innovation, something of enormous scope that left the people stunned and got you that multi-million dollars! Steve Jobs' Apple was his idea. Microsoft was Bill Gates'. See what I mean? Now multi-million dollar idea doesn't arrive everyday of your life and when it does, sometimes you are not aware of it. But the moment this idea pops in your head while lazying around the house or enjoying some coffee, do something about it. Don't just smile and say "hey that's a multi million dollar idea right there!" So what to do if you chance upon that once-in-a-lifetime idea? Suppose it's an invention that you came up with out of nowhere. What are you going to do about it? Remember that the idea is just the iceberg's tip as a lot of things are about to roll on like the time needed, energy that has to be exerted and the commercial cost. The funding does not just stem from the idea - it has to cover everything. The preconceived notion that you will never spend a cent once you sell your idea to bigtime companies has to be abolished. Companies will start to be interested once they are already patented. They will even have you sign this agreement that your idea is no secret at all and the company doesn't have any obligation to you. What if you fund the product idea yourself? It won't be so bad. Have it patented, prototyped, packaged and promoted and you'd see good results. Brace yourself for development costs that can be quite a headache, budgets for advertising, production, ad placement fees and distribution costs. It's not that you are being discouraged. It's just that your multi-million dollar idea is so precocious it needs extensive care and prudence. Here are the procedures on how you can get on and shape that idea into a reality! You have to rely on the following tasks, steps and phases so your idea will see its completion. 1. Make an extensive business plan. This plan will predict sales, market size, return of investments and payback schedules. Investors are going to ask for huge share and find themselves participating in the financial part of your business. 2. Remember this important fact: a new idea is not just an addition to a pre-existing idea. It is a concept of your own that has never been considered before. 3. The patent search is highly important. It will pinpoint if there are already rival ideas that have been patented before. It will cost you around $300 - $800 for the patent. 4. Make a design criteria, product specifications and components list. This list is all about the features and characteristics of the idea. Components must be rattled off. 5. After that is the design development program that will be eventually used for the actual production. 6. You can now proceed with the tooling and package design. Packaging entails retail packaging and even shipping containers. There has to be POP (Point of Purchase) displays for those who will merchandise your product. 7. Now it's ready for assembly and distribution. Imagine the joy after finally translating that idea into a product that can now be assembled and packaged! 8. Never underestimate advertising. After getting that product sales sheet, the product is now ready to roll. Promote it widely and actively! Go for photography, copy, art work and other means of advertising. Display the product in trade shows and of course, put in mind that the patent is applied already! Have a website designed for this and establish a good sales and marketing team that will promote your multi million dollar idea across the country. Your multi million dollar idea will go a long way if you just put your heart into it. It might cost you around $300,000 for the completion and it would take around 126 weeks for everything to aspire. It might sound expensive but hey, when the money starts coming in, that's when you know everything is worth it.