Did the inventor bug bite you?

The first step with any ailment is proper diagnosis.  The following symptoms have been identified:

Sleep loss

Loss of hunger (yet you continue to gain weight)

  

Traffic has become your favorite place because it offers you quite time to think

You have had your second accident in traffic because you were thinking 

Your close friends have become spies…all of them

Your spouse is your greatest advocate 

Your spouse is your greatest critic

You suddenly read 

Your Google skills have surpassed your teenager (but still have no idea how to text) 

You downloaded the self-recording app to your new smart phone (hey these ideas hit at any given moment)

You have enrolled at the local cell phone stores “Smart Phone 101”

You have learned a second language = rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing, SLA, DMLS, NDA, NC, and many others that only you and your recorder know the meaning (see item 5) 

You have an idea book (it was your daughters’ diary, but she only uses her smart phone now)

So what now?  You have it, what is the next step?   

This is the first installment of the "Inventors Guide" we will

cover the following areas:

The invention process

Research

Life cycle

Patent

Prototype

Funding (traditional, non-traditional, crowd sourced)

Build it or sell it

Manufacturing

Marketing your idea

Rinse and repeat 

(keep adding in the comments below, share with your inventor friend so you can really drive number 5 home )