Five Things to Avoid When Inventing

As a first-time inventor or startup founder, it can be daunting to identify the best steps to take when figuring out how to invent something to bring your idea to life. It’s even more difficult to avoid the pitfalls inventors commonly encounter that may cost time and money and sometimes even force you to go back to the drawing board.

MAKO is here to help!

In this piece, we will offer a few key invention tips by delving into the top 5 things to avoid when creating a new product. Whether you’re a novice in the product design and development world or a pro, these are a few elements of the process that tons of inventors slip up on, so be sure to take notes!

1. Going All Out on Your First Design

A common mistake many eager and enthusiastic inventors make when inventing something is approaching the initial design phase with the intention of creating the perfect product with all of the features they’ve thought to include in one go.

Trying to create the best version of your product from the get-go is an approach you should definitely avoid. An important step to take when developing a well-made, quality product is creating multiple prototypes of your design. This is an integral phase for a number of reasons beyond testing the product.

Creating an initial prototype that takes into account all extra details and functionalities that are unrelated to its primary function is distracting to the overall design process. Especially in the case that you are working with a team of industrial designers, focusing on perfecting a few details rather than realizing the larger product vision you may have makes for a more difficult and inefficient job.

The best invention tip for designers and inventors is to approach your design with the goal of creating a simple, clean design. The focus of the design should be fulfilling its core function to a high degree. You can focus on adding all of those other great features later on!

2. Hesitate

It’s important to remember that there is more to inventing something than having an idea and creating a design. You need to follow through on getting your product into the hands of consumers. That means it needs to officially enter the market, and a well-known fact about all markets is that they move fast.

In the world of business and product invention, ideas come and go every day. While taking the time to meticulously refine your product design and consider its future in the market is really important, you can’t put off its launch for too long – especially because someone else may have the same idea!

People often feel a bit hesitant or weary about releasing their product to the public, especially if it’s their first time, but don’t let your fear stop you from creating it.

The most powerful thing to possess as a designer or inventor is self-belief. Be determined and relentless with your vision! Don’t allow yourself to give in to any doubts, and trust that as long as you keep your passion alive and commit yourself to your craft, you can create a successful product.

3. Not Researching Your Audience or Market

Inventing a product is always more complicated than it seems. Even if you successfully figure out how to invent something, if you don’t plan for and think about its future, your product could fail.

Before approaching a product development firm with a product design, a great invention tip for designers and inventors is to take some time to sit back and research what market you would ideally like to have your product enter and where it is most likely to turn heads.

In addition to researching information about different markets and product categories, consider which audience you see your product being popular with. Understanding both your ideal and targeted markets will make it easier for you to plan proper business and marketing models that will help gear up the success of your product once it’s ready to be released.

Entering headfirst into an underdeveloped or misaligned market can also demotivate you! You may have a fantastic idea but have just put it in front of the wrong eyes.

4. Not Having a Developed Brand

As an inventor, you need both an innovative product design and the unrelenting drive to realize your great idea. But once you build your product, where do you go from there? Building your product is the first step in what should be an exciting journey where you use your product to achieve bigger goals.

Another important invention tip is to head into the initial product design phase with clear goals for what you plan to do with your product after it is developed. Don’t forget about marketing and branding! Both of those aspects are extremely important in the projection of your final product.

Having a catchy slogan or brand name ready will prepare you to enter your product into the market as soon as possible and ensure it stands out among the competition. There are a number of advantages to creating a strong brand presence, especially if you decide to reinvent or release a second version of your product.

Rather than starting all over again, your reinventing can all be under one brand, and consumers who are interested in your first product will recognize your brand when your second product comes out and will be more likely to purchase it.

5. Not Reflecting on Your Past Design/Inventions

Not every loss is useless. Most people can learn more from what they have lost rather than what they’ve won or gained. In the world of inventing, every single step involved in creating your design is an opportunity to learn and improve upon what you’ve made before.

It’s a bad idea to completely scrap your past design attempts or prototypes because you think they have no worth. In this case, the best tip for designers and inventors is to look back at what they’ve attempted and grow from their failures by using them to inform subsequent product development.

You’ll find that by learning about what not to do, you’ll learn more about what you should be doing, and thus, your future designs and attempts will more likely be successes rather than failures.

Interested in seeing how another industry is changing through innovation? Learn how the beauty industry is being shaped through innovation in one of our past blogs!

If you have a great new invention and you’d like to learn more about this process, get in touch with MAKO today and visit our website to find out more. Or feel free to give us a call at 1-888-806-MAKO, and we can set you up on a call with our product strategist!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!