hey, i officially opened my business in september and it's doing well... i had an investor give me 30g and that's what i used to get eagle disc golf to where it is now(a baby with super growth) ...the potential is seemingly limitless. The sport/business i am in is experiencing huge growth(11-15% per year) and i seem to be manuvering myself to be in the middle of this growth. I only started the business because i love the sport and i really like managing the sites i have, it's great fun. I built and desiged my own sites and i have a bunch of domain names related to my business that i use as mirrors for now.

question: should i even look for investors if i think i can do it on my own?

__________________
"cookin mc's like a pound of bacon" ~vanilla ice
eagle disc golf disc golf forum

If you can do it on your own, do it on your own...!

Goodluck,

Sam Burnette

i've been brainstorming with a chemist, an aerospace engineer, and soon i'm hopefully going to have a quantum mechanic on my design team. Disc golf discs are physically inadequate and i think i may need to acquire pattents for some of our ideas. Does anyone know how much it costs to have prototypes made at a plastics company? lol Any good patent lawyers around who want to work on percentages?

__________________
"cookin mc's like a pound of bacon" ~vanilla ice
eagle disc golf disc golf forum

Plastics mold costs are a function of complexity, size, and projected life span. A high volume multiup tool for a complex part can exceed $200K, an an aluminum single cavity tool for a small simple part can be as low as $1000.

Prototypes can be molded, cut via CNC, or even manufactured via stereolithography or a related process SLS. FIgure on $100-$800/part depending on complexity and size.

A decent outfit to work with is protomold. http://www.protomold.com/ they are fast and fairly inexpensive.

A good rule of thumb for patents is a $12 million dollar projected revenue stream. Less than that, and in most cases its not financially a good idea, but there are other longer term reasons to pursue a patent. Your attorny will go over them with you.

BE VERY WARY of any patent attorney that advertises working on contingency. Be sure to have your own lawyer review the contracts. Lots of people get done in this way. Also be aware that a patent attorney who is working on contingency is investing many thousands of dollars into your operation. If they are not a real pita concerning your business plan and financial projections, walk away.

Otoh, you will find that many attorneys will work on contingency after they have thoroughly reviewed your patent, and business plan if they are sold on your idea, just like any other investor. Too easy a sale should throw up warning flags.

Good luck to you
Ron

__________________
Inventors Garage Forum
Inventors Blog

i agree and i do not want the easy way, i want the right way.

longer term reasons... like all the other ideas i have that i'm literally afraid to talk about because of intellectual property issues.

__________________
"cookin mc's like a pound of bacon" ~vanilla ice
eagle disc golf disc golf forum

for if you're interested... http://www.trainingdisc.com that site will be ripped apart, with some real drawings added too. I'm no engineer.

__________________
"cookin mc's like a pound of bacon" ~vanilla ice
eagle disc golf disc golf forum