Find a problem… find a solution.
Are you having difficulty coming up with new ideas? If you think you’ve exhausted all your creative resources and you’re anxious, don’t be. More often than not, what you need to do to invent a new product is simply identify a problem.
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PrintAre you having difficulty coming up with new ideas? If you think you’ve exhausted all your creative resources and you’re anxious, don’t be. More often than not, what you need to do to invent a new product is simply identify a problem.
Look around you. What are the problems you see? Do any of the people you encounter appear as if they’re struggling to complete a task? What inconveniences you? What would make your life more efficient, more enjoyable, or less stressful? What about the lives of other people? Think about your spouse, your parents, your children, your friends… Be aware. Creating a new idea is less about sitting down and deciding to turn your creative juices on, and more about taking in the world around you.
Confused about what I mean? I recently read an article about a man who developed a solution to a problem he observed. That solution is his invention! After watching farm workers toil in the Central Valley heat without relief, Garth Patterson was inspired to get them relief. He designed a towable trailer with a canopy that provides relief and first aid, if necessary. Temperatures in the Central Valley easily rise above 100 degrees in the summertime, well above a safe working temperature. There have been numerous documented cases of workers suffering from heat stroke and other temperature related ailments, including one death. The problem is legitimate. And Patterson’s solution is highly needed.
This is an excellent example of putting into practice what I’ve written. One of my most successful ideas, the Spin label, was invented in response to a problem I read about in the news: the fact that there simply isn’t enough label space to list all the information that is needed on drug containers.
Stephen Key is a successful award-winning inventor who has licensed over 20 products in the past 30 years. Along with business partner Andrew Krauss, Stephen runs inventRight, a company dedicated to educating inventors about selling their ideas and the skills needed to succeed. You can listen to the weekly radio show on inventing. Get In The News, list your invention to have media outlets find you for news stories.
Look around you. What are the problems you see? Do any of the people you encounter appear as if they’re struggling to complete a task? What inconveniences you? What would make your life more efficient, more enjoyable, or less stressful? What about the lives of other people? Think about your spouse, your parents, your children, your friends… Be aware. Creating a new idea is less about sitting down and deciding to turn your creative juices on, and more about taking in the world around you.
Confused about what I mean? I recently read an article about a man who developed a solution to a problem he observed. That solution is his invention! After watching farm workers toil in the Central Valley heat without relief, Garth Patterson was inspired to get them relief. He designed a towable trailer with a canopy that provides relief and first aid, if necessary. Temperatures in the Central Valley easily rise above 100 degrees in the summertime, well above a safe working temperature. There have been numerous documented cases of workers suffering from heat stroke and other temperature related ailments, including one death. The problem is legitimate. And Patterson’s solution is highly needed.
This is an excellent example of putting into practice what I’ve written. One of my most successful ideas, the Spin label, was invented in response to a problem I read about in the news: the fact that there simply isn’t enough label space to list all the information that is needed on drug containers.
Stephen Key is a successful award-winning inventor who has licensed over 20 products in the past 30 years. Along with business partner Andrew Krauss, Stephen runs inventRight, a company dedicated to educating inventors about selling their ideas and the skills needed to succeed. You can listen to the weekly radio show on inventing. Get In The News, list your invention to have media outlets find you for news stories.
