The Crux of an Idea
There is an old saying that goes, “The world will beat a pathway to your door to buy a better mousetrap.”  The opportunity to cash in on an invention is one of the top dreams an entrepreneur can have.  All it takes is thinking up something useful that no one else has built.  But having an idea is a far cry from earning big bucks from its sale.  There are a number of steps one must follow to reach that goal.

What is a Patent?
A patent is defined as the exclusive right to control an invention.  Once a patent has been issued, the owner can prevent anyone else from using it, manufacturing it, or copying it without permission.  There are three basic patent types - utility patent, design patent, and plant patent - with each covering different methods and lasting for different lengths of time.  A utility patent is usually good for 20 years and covers machinery and processes.  A design patent is usually good for 14 years and covers a particular design that does not fall under the previous description.  A plant patent is usually good for 17 years and refers specifically to an inventor who has developed a new type of vegetation.  Generally speaking, once the period of a patent has expired, the item becomes public property.

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Some people are born with the ability to revolutionize their chosen field in life. Others are born with the ability to make a difference to millions of people, whether that is by helping them to feel more confident in themselves or to give them a different option when they choose a product or service. Dov Charney has effectively done both. He is an entrepreneur with an outstanding passion for one specific area of the market, and it is the specific area of fashion. As such, people from all over the world today wear his clothing. Dov Charney is the creator of American Apparel and is undoubtedly a fantastic example of an inspirational entrepreneur.

A Creative Child

Dov Charney was born in Montreal, Canada on January 31, 1969 into an arty family. His mother was an artist and his father an architect, as was his aunt. As such, he was encouraged to express himself from an early age. The budding entrepreneur often invested him time into creating his own art and enjoyed conversing with his parents about it. He also loved both American and Canadian culture while dreaming of uniting the two via his own creativity. However, during the 1980s spurt of Quebec nationalism, Charney found that he could not reconcile a third value, especially one that he did not necessarily agree with, and thus moved to the United States when old enough.

Dov Charney showed off his entrepreneurial skills at a young age by editing his own newspaper at the tender age of 11. Having proved to himself that he could do anything he liked, the entrepreneur chose to start making his own T-shirts. He would regularly move them across the US-Canadian border to his friends in Quebec and sell them for a profit. Seeing a gap in the market that he could fill, Charney continued to do this even after enrolling at Tufts University in South Carolina during 1987.

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Very few people have the opportunity, vision and drive to influence a whole generation. Those that do have the opportunity very rarely take their opportunity to do just that because it is a major responsibility. This may be why some young entrepreneurs become disillusioned, but there is reassurance out there in the form of one man that grasped his opportunity with both hands. Russell Simmons is that man. The founder of Def Jam Records is undoubtedly a hip-hop pioneer and gave so much to his generation as well as future generations.

Growing Up

Russell Simmons was born on October 4, 1957 in Queens, New York and grew up in one of the roughest areas of the city. As such, he did fall in with a bad crowd and spent some of his formative years as a hustler on the streets. One thing he did have from his childhood though was a love of music and a drive to promote it as best as he could. He did get an education though and actually made the decision to go to City College of New York in Harlem in 1978. He studied sociology by day and promoted hip-hop gigs by night. However, the latter got the better of the former and he dropped out to follow his one true love.

The entrepreneur began promoting local music acts in New York and would wax lyrical about their talent if asked. It was while he was working the music scene that he met a college student by the name of Rick Rubin. Rubin and Simmons began to think that there was a better way to get the music of the likes of Kurtis Blow, Public Enemy, Run DMC and LL Cool J heard, and they founded Def Jam Records together in 1984. They soon found that their music was played on the radio on a regular basis and began to produce the albums of the stars mentioned above.

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Henry Ford is one of the most prolific American entrepreneurs to ever have lived. Not only was he successful in his own right, but he also shaped the modern model of industry by improving his business practices and manufacturing lines. He is officially known as the founder of the assembly line today and made mass production of goods much easier and more cost effective. As a result, he is certainly an entrepreneur that individuals in the modern world can aspire to be. He was innovative, hard working and ambitious, three qualities that are essential to improve your station in the modern world.

Humble Beginnings

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Detroit, Michigan. His parents tended a farm so the entrepreneur grew up working the land alongside his father. However, he did have an interesting hobby that was to act as a sign of things to come even at that age. He was an expert at taking watches to pieces and then reassembling them. Ford was absolutely fascinated by the mechanics of it. He had already resolved that he would not take over the family farm because he absolutely hated working the land. As such, he worked hard to achieve an apprenticeship with a machinist in Detroit.

Henry Ford moved from company to company, forming a great career as a machinist and later as an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company, where he was promoted in 1893 to Chief Engineer. The position was extremely well paid and gave the entrepreneur the money and time he needed to be able to do what he loved – designing engines. He had discovered this passion a little earlier when he worked for a steam engine company but he wanted to experiment with engines that ran on gasoline. He did just that when he created a Ford Quadricycle in 1893. Effectively, the entrepreneur had just made his first car.

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The American public rightly holds American heroes in high regard, and there are very few individuals that should be considered in the same elevated terms for their entrepreneurial skills in addition to their bravery. Fred Smith is a very unique individual that deserves plaudits for his service as well as his business acumen, or more specifically his company’s ability to get a package from one side of the country to the other in 24 hours. Federal Express, or FedEx as it is now known, was the first overnight service in the world and now operates in many countries worldwide. As such, Fred Smith is just as decorated in business as he was in the Armed Forces.

The Young Military Entrepreneur

Frederick Wallace Smith was born in Marks, Mississippi on August 11, 1944. His family was relatively well off as a result of his father’s entrepreneurial skills. Fred Smith Senior founded the Dixie Greyhound Bus Lines as well as the Toddle House restaurant chain. This may be where Smith gets a lot of his business talent from, even though he never really got know his father because he died when the entrepreneur was just 4 years old.

Although Smith did well at school, his first love was flying when he was growing up. He loved the freedom of soaring through the air and this was probably the one element of his life that determined his entry to the military. However, before enlisting, the budding entrepreneur attended Yale University to major in economics. Before he graduated in 1966, Smith wrote a paper for one of his economics classes that was to shape his future and the future of mail delivery. He actually formulated a business plan for an overnight package delivery service. However, for the next three years the entrepreneur was to hardly think about it.

The Military Years

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If you are considering starting a new business in the near future then you either have aspirations to be your own boss or you have viable small business ideas. It may be that you have both. However, without good business ideas that have the potential to fulfill a need your business will struggle to take off. To avoid failure, it is essential that you learn how to evaluate your business ideas honestly and effectively.

Have You Done Your Homework?

In order to evaluate your small business ideas effectively then you will need to put in a lot of time and effort. Research is the key to ensuring that you get off on the best possible foot. However, many individuals fail to do enough research when starting their own business. In an ideal world all business owners would research their business idea fully. They would evaluate them when they have a list of a few possible products or services. However, many wait until they have decided what they want to do before completing cursory research.

In order to evaluate your small business ideas effectively, you need to primarily research the competition in the local area. If there is a lot of competition to an idea and the businesses are well established, then it may be best to move onto another idea. However, if there is only one company to compete with and you have factored improvements upon their service into your business plan then you may decide to continue. You need to create or satisfy a market need so your small business ideas need to pass this stage of the evaluation.

Do You Have A Clear Business Idea?

Another area you will need to research to be able to evaluate your ideas is whether or not your product or service is faddy and will become redundant in a few years.

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