Overview As an experienced inventor, I’ve learned that an idea is not perceived as a viable business opportunity until it can be effectively communicated on paper (or any other readable format). No matter how great your idea is, most people expect that you have it written down. When I was new to inventing, I had no idea what that meant. I searched around but didn’t find any universal format for documenting my ideas.
When submitting my inventions to invention hunts, licensing agents, manufacturers, retailers, engineers, and the patent office, I was asked many different kinds of questions. The questions ranged from basic such as “What problem does it solve?” to questions that required extensive research such is “Who is your target market?”
Fortunately, with my entrepreneurial background I was very familiar with writing business plans. And, many of these questions were very similar to business plan questions. Therefore, to save time, I decided to consolidate all of these questions into a universal Invention Business Plan format that could be used and/or adapted for any audience within the invention process.
In this article, I discuss how to develop an effective versatile invention business plan. I include the importance of an Invention Business Plan, its main elements, how and where to find content, and its many uses. I also provide actual examples of an Invention Business Plan adapted for three common purposes: for filing a provisional patent, for entering into an invention hunt, and for submitting to other key users. Other key users may include retailers, manufacturers, industrial engineers, investors, and licensing agents. By sharing my insights and examples, I hope to help inventors like you, develop your own material in order to effectively communicate and present your invention to the many different users