Money for nothing

[Squirrel]

If you have a good idea, something no one has thought of before, and you think, 'Hey, that's a good idea ' I should be making money out of it!' what do you do next? Supposing someone made up a crazy TV show or new sandwich filling that people would really like, who do they give (or sell) the idea to to make it happen, and how do you know no one else has already done it? Sometimes I feel so ignorant when I post things'

[gazzawazza]

There is a company that occasionally advertises on our local radio (Teesside) offering a service to people who have had good ideas. They will then work with you to develop the idea. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of this company but I'm sure there will be others like them.

I don't buy the News of The World every week but Alan Sugar used to have a column offering advice to people on the same subject. It may be worth buying to see if he still does it.

[xyzzy@bok]

BBC 1 primetime tv just started a series on inventors, inventions and what to do about them. Your just in time squirrel to win a guaranteed market. :-)

[Lennon]

I've also seen a company advertising on TV - the advert starts with asking who invented the vacuum cleaner giving the options of professor, scientist or caretaker. The answer is the caretaker and then they tell you all about how so many things were invented by the 'ordinary' public. Be careful though, as one of my friends had an invention and wrote off to one of these companies who wrote back saying his idea was brilliant, they'd never heard anything like it and wanted to pursue it. Then they ask you for lots of money to support promotion sales in supermarkets etc, then there's the patents. I don't want to dampen your spirits, but just tread carefully. There's a show on cable called Whats the Big Idea which moves around the country doing shows where people can show ideas to experts, they'll check if there's another invention like it and you can get the chance for a company to back you and invest in your idea. Try looking it up on the net. Hope that helps! :)

[lisaj]

You might find local government offer these kinds of services - I know Universities do have internal IPR and commerical development departments, so I imagine it quite likely that along with the barrage of evening classes and other personal development activities provided by local gov., they might also have a department to deal with these kinds of lucrative situations. Just a guess, but I'm constantly amazed by what the local council provide if you look for it.

[Nelli]

WORD OF WARNING! I remember watching a WatchDog programme on these TV adverts regarding companies who help you develop ideas and inventions, it's a bit of a con!

[Squirrel]

Thanks, everyone, for your answers. I'm starting to wish that I actually had something in mind when I posted. Also, thanks to Nelli for the warning.