...what can your success look like?
idea-to-product-to-market...
Unless you buy all of your product yourself, somebody else needs to be a
customer. You cannot, therefore, create success all alone. Others dictate it.
Even if you're selling a single product (eg licensing rights) to a single buyer, you will always need a "somebody else" to succeed. What you want is only
secondary. Success depends upon getting others what they want. Both the buyer and the seller must benefit from each exchange. Products deliver a
value in exchange for a price. Prices are defined by the market, and costs
are defined by suppliers. Profits are what's left over after the bills are paid.
My point... An idea alone will not drive success. It needs a market match.
innovationhighway.com
Innovation
Innovation, on the other hand, originates within the marketplace; products follow. As in invention, products
are designed to solve problems, but unlike invention, problems are first studied/identified in the market as
trends/patterns/opportunities. Market analysis precedes product development. Specifications are then
defined to fill the market problems/gaps. Commercialization is thereby changed to a "pull" process.
Invention
Invention and innovation are often used interchangeably. Rarely is this a problem, but
differences should be noted. Invention is a basically a technical problem solving process.
Emphasis is on functional workings, with only secondary (if any) attention to formal cost
or market analysis. Commercialization is a "push" process, a "build it and they will come"
philosophy. Funded research has made breakthrough discoveries using this approach.
Making money has two requirements: (1) Something is sold, and (2) Income exceeds outgo.
Never lose sight of the big picture: If a patent costs $20,000, a 5% royalty needs sales of
$400,000 -- just to break even! A patent is not necessarily the best strategy in every
situation. (You can buy a lot of market analysis for $20,000!) There's more than one
road to consider! Explore all options. Weigh the risks. It's the match that matters.
It must be noted...
When a successful product-market match is made, the terms "invention" and "innovation" become
nouns (ie, results of process), and synonymous use has little consequence. Product developers,
however, cringe at "loose-use" of these terms, as they see them as verbs (ie, the process itself).
And in that sense, the terms actually refer to processes directly opposite in nature...
Invention: Product first...then market. Innovation: Market first...then product. Of course, once
a match is made, who really cares when it's only the successful match that interests most people.
But there's another reason product developers are uncomfortable using these terms loosely.
The success rates of "invention" (typical inventing approaches) are in the range of 1-3 percent,
while success rates of "innovation" (typical industry approaches) are typically 40-60 percent!
Independent inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs need to reach those same success rates.
And that is our Mission!
