One of the hardest processes of becoming an entrepreneur with a new product idea is getting that idea all the way from your head into an actual finalized production worthy prototype and then from a prototype through manufacturing, packaging, shipping and into retail. When I tell people about my invention, they get so excited and seem to think that I can just go on Shark tank and my product will magically appear on the shelves of every retailer. I also constantly get the question – is your product available yet? I will NEVER think of this question in a negative light because that means people are thinking of my product! However, its hard trying to explain even a small part of this process and get people to understand it.
Therefore I’m going to blog about it. Here is the journey…
Step 1. You have an idea, make sure no one else thought of it first – So you suddenly (or over time), have this bright idea and you think if this were on the market, it would sell! The first step is to make sure this idea isn’t already available on the market! You wouldn’t want to spend all your time creating something that’s already available for retail sale and use. Turn to your friend Google and search for everything that describes your idea. I once had this idea to make a “knife-pal” product that had a handle with prongs that would go into your fruit and assist with knife cuts and chopping. I thought this would be great for people with arthritis and kids to more safely learn to cut. I couldn’t find anything like my idea on the web but then when I searched for the description (handle with prongs for chopping) Amazon.com returned an onion slicer that looked very much like my great idea. So I purchased one and we love it! We use it for all kinds of chopping, not just for onions. But, someone else made it first so I became a customer.
The second place to search is the patent database on the USPTO website. Someone may have patented this idea already but not put it into retail. In this case if you wanted to use their patent to go to retail you’d have to pay them to license their idea to you. Again, search for description words, not a product title. When looking for SiftEase I searched “sifting litter box”, “sifter”, “litter box”, etc. Within each patent, read the claims and look at the drawings to ensure they don’t cover what you’re trying to invent. Claims in patents are meant to be very broad in language to make sure no one can change one small part of an invention and create a knock off without penalty. Does this prevent people from creating a knock-off? No, but it does allow the inventor to sue them for any profits or losses if they do.
Ok, so you’re pretty sure this is your idea first and you are ready to put it into action. The next rule is to keep your idea a secret. I know you’re so excited about your idea and you want to tell everyone about it. It has nothing to do with whether or not you trust someone to keep your secret, if you disclose your idea to someone before filing a patent application they are free to use your idea however they like. Therefore you need to ensure you only work with people you trust AND they first sign a confidentiality agreement before any discussion ensues. The website IP Watchdog has a great article here about why this is necessary along with some free confidentiality agreement templates.
Step 2: Put your idea on paper – Now is the time to put your idea into action. put your idea on paper. Start sketching out the parts and pieces of your idea. It’s recommended by the patent experts to do this on a bound notebook so you can keep everything together and later prove all of the sketches are your own.

SiftEase early concept sketch
You don’t have to know for sure right now what a part will be made of you just need it to function. Left is an example of my first sketches of SiftEase. You’ll want to draw your invention at many angles and get an idea of the general shapes and functions of each part.
Step 3: Build a prototype – From your sketches you should have a basic idea of the parts of your invention and the shapes of those parts. Now go to the nearest hardware store and look for materials to make those parts. Alternatively, if your invention is electronic or technical you would look online to enlist the assistance of an engineer to help make your design a reality. If you are an engineer you might put all the electric pieces together and enlist the help of a 3D printer to design and print out the outer frames for your electronics. There is an awesome television show on the History channel called Million Dollar Genius which shows inventors going through these processes from start to finish.
When making the first SiftEase prototype, I first found a waste bin for the lower bin in my design. I picked out what turned out to be way too large in the long run, but was great for facilitating my first prototype build.

SiftEase first prototype
I also needed some type of mesh. In the gardening section I found hardware cloth. I then enlisted the help of a store associate and asked how I could attach the hardware cloth to this bin in a removable fashion. I didn’t discuss the utility of what I was making, just that I wanted help with a means to attach this hardware cloth to a frame which fit over this waste bin. We walked through the store together and came up with a wooden frame with some corner brackets, handles, and a snipping tool to cut my cloth. I brought all this home and built what you see here.
Step 4: Refine your prototype – Now you need to refine your prototype to its final version which you will use for injection mold design (more about this later). The process of refining your prototype can be a long one. You need to use it, ensure it works the way you want it to, and if not, change it slightly and try again. When I used my first prototype, I was getting litter everywhere! I needed a way to prevent this. So I went back to my sketches and sketched some sides into my sifting basket. Since I had no means to build solid sides on my own, I enlisted the help of an engineer who could turn my drawings into 3-D printable designs.

SiftEase 3-D print design
This process is called rapid prototyping and you can turn to google and search for “rapid prototyping near me” and find an engineer who can help you in this process. Before discussing your idea with anyone, send them a non-disclosure agreement and have them sign it and send it back to you. You can accomplish this via email and any reputable design or engineering firm will want to do this to prevent any problems. If not, just move on, this is not a reputable agency. It took a few months of re-printing and re-designing before I had a prototype that did everything I imagined and more. I even had amazing animated pictures of my design that come from the 3-D design software.
Step 5: Injection Molding Design – What is that? I’m glad you asked. Most products you see in retail are created using injection molds. Injection molds are giant hunks of steel into which your design is carved. They then insert the materials needed to form your product, for example, SiftEase will require the metal mesh to be inserted into the mold, then the mold will be closed up and plastic material poured in to create the sides of the basket. This is then quickly cooled off and hardened and the product is removed as one unit. Can you imagine me having to manually assemble every single product? This is necessary for some electronics but it is much easier to use a tool for larger plastic pieces. For example, the waste bins you see in the stores are made using injection molds. The plastic is poured into a mold and a final product is almost instantly created. Here’s a youtube video on this process.

3D CAD example