De-Risking Your Project For Everybody

When you watch shows like Shark Tank, you might wonder why some good ideas don't get picked by investors.

The truth is, it's not always about the product itself.

Investors often look at the business model first. They want to know how the idea will make money and continue to grow their investment. It's not always about having a unique or fancy product. Sometimes a simple service can be profitable.

A product or idea doesn't have to be patented to be attractive to investors.

The patent is just a way to protect your competitive advantage.

When thinking about your own idea, focus on the business model and how it solves a problem for customers. Make sure your solution is more effective, cheaper and easy to use than others. If your business model is strong and your idea is elegant, it can be worth a lot. But without a good business model, it might not be worth anything.

So next time you watch Shark Tank, pay attention to the business models presented. Think about how the investors might be evaluating the ideas. Remember, it's not always about the product, it's about the potential for profit.

There are lots of issues you need to consider before you rush to patent. The business model is important, but so is the pricing and costing. You should be proving to yourself you can (a) source the components and skills to build one or many, (2) prove the cost to build this in singles and in volume, and (3) understand how many people will buy it and how much they are likely to pay before considering alternatives.

This is reducing the project risk before you commit any of your (or your prospective investors') savings. Today's example is how this can pay off (to the tune of $500m) before you even commit to anything.

https://youtu.be/tL4XgIN2dOM

Daniel

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