Bringing Your Product to Market...in Less Than a Year: Fast-Track Approaches to Cashing in on Your Great Idea

I knew if I wanted to get serious about creating and selling my product idea and come across as being professional and knowledgeable while doing so, I was going to need to find a resource. This book was/is that resource. I read it from cover to cover and plan on reading it a second time with a pen and notebook at my side. I used the knowledge I gained from the chapters within this book to write a business plan outline. I sought a professional's advice as to whether I was on the right track and his first question was "Are you sure you need my help?" and later said "you are better at this than most of the people I speak with." The book is written in a way that is conducive to retention - Each chapter begins with an introductory paragraph (or paragraphs) explaining some of the concepts that will be gone over, an outline of the concepts covered, and a real-life example of how various entrepreneurs have put the strategy into action. Then the rest of the chapter goes over the concepts highlighted in the outline. The book is also broken up into four sections. The first section provides information vital to anyone considering bringing a product to market. The remaining three sections detail the three ways you can go about bringing the product to market quickly - Licensing, turbo-outsourcing, and starting your own company. If you read the book from front to back you will find that some of the information is repeated across the three methods of bringing a product to market, but (for me at least) it only helps to reinforce the concepts. Even if you don't want to take "the fast track approach to cashing in on your great idea," there is still a lot of invaluable information that will help anyone with a great idea for the next big thing.

I bought Don Debelak's book, "Bringing Your Product To Market In Less Than A Year" because that is just what I wanted to do. I applied for a patent on my new and better method of doing something that was long overdue for improvement. I read the book and made a list of questions to ask Don, or one of his staff. Before approaching him, I visited his website, dondebelak.com and viewed everything clickable. At his site, I was glad to see that he offered three different methods through which he, or a staff member could assist me. I chose the most reasonable, by e-mail, as that way I have all the good info at my fingertips. The other options are by phone, where I'd have to remember everything they explained to me. The third choice is having one of his staff members visit my place of business, which is my home. I phoned and asked for Don. I explained what I was trying to do, and told him I had just finished his most recent book, and that I needed help, preferably by e-mail. He said "fine", and asked a few questions. Then he stepped me through what he saw as the best way to describe the invention, and we talked about the business plan, and what category of venture capitalists would be most interested in this type of invention. The next day an e-mail laying out the next steps that needed to be taken and how to go about it was in my email box. I found what I was looking for, the person with all the knowledge that I was lacking, and he took me by the hand and led me through it. If you'd like to contact Don by e-mail, you can reach him here, [email protected] . (...)

Getting a product to market in a year may (note MAY) be possible if a bunch of things go right. This makes several presumptions that have to fall in line exactly right. For instance some products (like in the medical field) take longer than a year to go through the approval cycle. Electronics have to have FCC testing, perhaps CSA (Canada), all of which takes time. Plastic parts may have to have a mold made, that takes time, and if it isn't right the first time, well you get the idea. What Mr. Debelak says is that if you start from day one with the right product, use some of the new techniques he talks about (outsourcing the production to a contract manufacturer for instance), then if all the gods are smiling at you, maybe you can do it in a year. Ignoring his one year time frame, his book is right on the money in a lot of areas. His practical advice on patents is dead right, they may or may not be of value to your particular venture. His comments on financing are excellent, but here you're going to need a good bit of luck. There are a lot of people looking for financing. In fact, everything about starting a new product require a good bit of luck. Just remember it's been done before, and it will be done again. Here are a good set of guidelines to get you started.