Hi Kamala,

I sent you a friend request. Do you already have the sealing established, i.e. will it be able to retain the vacuum when you pull it? I have a 18 micron pump which will give you about 10^-3 Torr of vacuum, which is usually good enough unless you’re doing really scientific stuff. I use mine to create heat pipes.

Slow down cowboy.

I know you are excited about your product, and I know you really want to see it succeed – but this is a perfect example of how inventors get into financial trouble on an idea they think is going to be a home run and make them crazy rich.

I don’t know that you have not done this, but if you have not – PLEASE take some time to do all your homework. Developing a retail product is a complicated process of knowns and unknowns. I don’t want to rain on your parade, but the fact is, even if you solve your vacuum issues with packaging, and whatever other issues you come across in actual development, the math may not work out for cost/sale and you likely have no distribution plan. Without an equation that adds up to profit and a strong plan for distribution of your product the time and money you are spending at this point is simply going down the drain.

PLEASE do your homework – find out what makes a product viable for the retail market and how sales and distribution actually work in the “real world”. Then if you really feel you want to spend your money on the prototype at least you are doing it with your eyes wide open.

Just my thoughts….

Juan, thanks for your feedback, please look for my email.

Mark, i’m not planning on mass marketing to start out. i would file a provisional patent and then sell locally to friends and family, then online and/or local stores. if things go well then i’ll file the complete patent and try licensing based on proven sales and patent protection. The expenses would be minimal, the only big expense would be buying a “chamber” vacuum machine ($4k-$6k). it’s just that i’m not sure it will work, so i was hoping someone would step forward and allow me to experiment on their machine. I think this answers your post, i do appreciate any concerns because as we all know, 200 eyes are better than one. kamala

correction – make that 200 eyes are better than 2 (although it might look a little weird).
also i didn’t make it clear that i have built a prototype for my home (we have 6 cats, help) that works great, i just need to be able to package/ship it. Also i have experimented with the food vacuum savers and “space saver” bags without success.

If you need the vacuum seal just for one or two prototypes, you might find a local company which creates and sells gift baskets: if they include fresh fruit, etc. in the basket, it should be sealed.

If you are looking to purchase, you might check with U-Line.

julie,

thanks for the tips. in addition to here, i posted this under “need help with” as well as the local california inventor’s group on this site (so far no responses). i’ll check out u-line for sure, i just would rather not make a big purchase before i know whether it works. i will definitely keep trying different ideas. kamala

Mark is right. Be sure to do all your homework. Set a budget! Too many inventors just jump right in before they know it they are left with a pile of scrap they can’t sell. Really, I have seen gung ho people go through their savings in a month and then try to sell their parts back to the manufacturers as scrap plastic. Whatever you do, make sure you get honest opinions from focus groups… not your friends and family.

Although there are many places on the web to get information on inventing and product development – one I’ve found to be a good source of professional advice is the Inventor’s Mentor’s Library.

http://theinventorsmentors.forumo.biz/forum.htm

Others are of course EN, Inventerspot, and ID. You can also hook up with the growing number of paid consultants in the industry who can guide you through the development process.

No matter where you turn for help – turn someplace. This is a complicated industry and you can get underwater very quickly if you don’t know what you are doing.

I agree with Mark. I’m taking Louis Foreman’s class at our college. And I’m finding that every step of the process is pretty involved and there are a LOT of steps.

thanks you guys for the responses, i love this site :-)
i believe the idea is patentable (after having an attorney patent search it) and it will sell like crazy. best choice would be to have EN help develop it, but i just missed the last Pet Smart LPS and since then i haven’t seen any applicable companies (i believe it has to be sold thru a retailer due to size/weight). So most likely i’ll go thru an LPS, but if that doesn’t work i would like to still develop it myself and the only stumbling block is the vacuum sealing. until i can create a “ready for retail” prototype i won’t be taking the next step anyway (but when i do i know just where to turn!). thanks again for feedback, i’ll follow up on links, meantime i’ll be trying to figure out cheaper way of vacuum sealing and will keep looking for a good LPS. kamala

Kamala,

You can try submitting to the ASOTV quarterly LPS, they usually have a variety of products they’re searching for. I submitted a pet product to the latest one that recently closed and is currently holding at G5. Marla just mentioned that the next ASOTV LPS is scheduled to launch on April 6, so get cracking on that vacuum seal and get ready to submit the idea!

Hi Kamala:

A great resource to get started would be karlaandjack.com for practical advice on getting your product to market. As everyone here says it can be a very daunting task if you do not have a full understanding of your product and market. Just because an invention is patentable doesn’t make it marketable. There are plenty of “million-dollar ideas” just collecting dust! Take your time and good luck!