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EmilyCowan
EmilyCowan
July 9, 2018

QUESTION: Is Your Business Based on Something You Invented?

  • July 9, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

All successful businesses meet a market need by solving a problem ("Gee, it's really hard to clip this new phone to my old bike handlebars!"). When necessity begets invention, a new business may be born as well. Is your business based on a new invention? If so, how did you approach patenting or trademarking your new discovery? Did anything surprise you about the process? Any advice for would-be inventors?

 

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    1 reply

    WillowOlder
    WillowOlder
    July 17, 2018

    Great question @EmilyCowan! I'll bet @cruberti, @witdesign, @Jennie11_2 and @trashamps have some insights to share on this topic ... QB Community members, what does it take to create something from scratch? 

      cruberti
      cruberti
      July 17, 2018

      Hi @EmilyCowan and @WillowOlder! I guess you could say I invented my product, but the line is a little blurry. I created my hair air-dry cream from scratch, through lots of fun and frustrating trial-and-error at home. I did invent it, but I definitely am not the first person to make an air-dry cream. The upshot is that I don’t have to do a lot of testing to figure out my target market as L’oreal and Bumble and Bumble have already paved the road for me while proving that the market exists in the first place. The downside is that I’m small and I have big name competition.

        EmilyCowan
        EmilyCowanAuthor
        July 18, 2018

        That's awesome, @cruberti! Creating your own formulation of a niche product with a proven market totally counts. You've also got some great client outreach and personalized customer service going for you in a way that giant companies like L'Oreal and Bumble and Bumble simply can't match at scale. So, in a way, that's kind of an upside :smileyhappy:

         

        What's next for your air-dry cream? We've spoken about sustainable packaging before. What's still on your to-do list before you bring your product to market (besides sending us a sample - haha!). 

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