There are many costs to develop your invention including packaging, engineering and design (CAD design), prototypes, patent filings, and don’t forget the actual costs for a factory to make hundreds or even thousands of pieces of your product! The fact is more than 90% of inventors I have worked with raised this money by borrowing from friends and family. When you read articles in Forbes or Fortune about a wealthy billionaire or very successful entrepreneur, these people will tell you they did the same – they borrowed money from friends, colleagues or family to get their business off the ground. It might be tough to do this and even uncomfortable, but if you really believe in your invention it is the right step to take. The preferred method is to borrow money from people you know so that you may not have to give away a percentage of your company. When you borrow this money, you need to create a repayment schedule that allows you to make everyone feel comfortable – a plan that offers a 5 year repayment plan with a generous interest rate is one I see quite often. Telling people you will pay them back during the first year or two is one of the biggest mistakes I see inventors make. It will take you time to get your business going no matter how enthusiastic you are and may not be in the position to start making payments in the early going!

 Raising money from venture capitalists (which is an organized group of professional investors) or angels (which is often an individual with personal wealth who is willing to invest in a product or service) requires a solid business plan and a compelling product that has vast profit potential. A lot of people email me and ask me how to raise money from angels or venture capitalists but unfortunately these seasoned investors won't usually invests in a product that has no sales revenue. In other words, you have not proven your concept so there is too much risk for them to take. They will want to see that you have some sales behind you. In addition, you would need an investment grade business plan for their review before they will invest.

Bottom Line – 

• Get a quote for all the services you will need to develop your product and then you can begin to learn just how much money you will need to develop your product idea.  
• Begin to write your own business plan and then seek out the advice of professionals to polish your plan. 
• Borrowing money from friends and family is often much easier than approaching angels or venture capitalists so look to people you know who believe in you and your product. 
• Raising money takes a lot of time and patience!!

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