This month marks seven years since I founded Lilly Brush. In that time, I’ve invented six new products with a seventh launching this fall. Every single day since has been plump with work, and seemingly endless amounts of interaction with my incredible team and of all kinds of wonderful people, but when I happen to run into my old friends, they almost invariably ask me about my previous career as if I were still alone at my easel each day turning out landscapes and still life paintings.  What I’ve come to understand is that outside of my own family and a handful of very close friends, none of the people I spent decades sitting next to on soccer bleachers, at school plays and on charitable boards has any idea of what I’ve been up to these last seven years. It’s as if, at 50, I took off swimming straight out into the blue ocean and disappeared over the horizon.

The Food That Built America…

There’s been a series on the History Channel lately called The Food That Built America. I recommend it highly, but whenever I do, people throw their hands up to block the thought and say, “No, no, nooo, I want to eat; I don’t want to knoooow!”  So, fear not, this will not put you off your hotdogs like Upton Sinclair’s 1906 expose of the meatpacking industry, The Jungle.  This instead follows the not-so-charmed lives of the men and women who created the food brands we know and love today, among them, Kelloggs, Post, Birdseye, and Heinz. It is by no means a three part version of the dry, but endlessly entertaining, How It’s Made. No, here among the often grimy founders of our current multi-billion dollar American food empires, we find enough human intrigue and drama to forever enhance our previously bland trips down the cereal or frozen food aisles. Ahh, C.W. Post, you were a sly devil!

Oddly enough, the most extraordinary part about the series is how unremarkable each of the founders was. None of them seemed to be particularly brilliant, wealthy or educated, but that is where the seductive appeal of each of their stories lies. To see reenactments of the awful trials and tribulations of these sweaty, beaten down, nearly, but not quite defeated inventors who somehow made it all happen, well, that’s the stuff small business owners like me eat up with a ladle, because that, in essence, is the American Dream. 

Heartbreak and Hardship

After watching the final episode of the series, and imagining with some horror the future squabbling of generations of entitled heirs, I lay in bed wondering what exactly the secret ingredient was that these guys had over everyone else? Yes, they had the recipe for Coca-Cola, or savory catsup, but multitudes of small companies with similarly great products have failed to thrive. Why did these food-centric American titans of industry, despite having teetered on the brink of failure at least a half dozen times, survive? More specifically, what made them keep going towards a goal that they could not see despite the obstacles of heartbreak and hardship and the implicit understanding that there was absolutely no guarantee of a good outcome at the end of their journey?

Angela Duckworth will tell you, it’s grit. Yep, grit makes perfect sense. Given the unremarkable status of many founders, their level of grit would very likely be the defining predictive element of success or failure, whether or not they possess inordinate talent, or extreme intellectual giftedness. Certainly, those are nice assets, but if intellectual facility has made the road through a person’s life a reliably rewarding jaunt from their first constellation of shiny gold stars achieved in kindergarten to the schwag stole of the Summa Cum Laude society at graduation, it may actually become something of a liability. In fact, if you’re used to that kind of tidy success, and then suddenly encounter the constant barrage of random destruction that is entirely outside of your control and perpetually happening to start-ups, believe me, you will be rattled out of your mind. 

Land Will Come

I won’t go on much more about a subject that I am only just beginning to come to understand, but if you’re as curious as I was after you finish The Food That Built America series, look up Angela Duckworth. You might even take the Grit Scale Quiz to see if you have an aptitude for the founder’s way. I scored high. Of course that doesn’t predict whether or not Lilly Brush will flourish in its next seven years, but if I had to place a bet, I’d tell you that I’m strong enough to swim until it does. Land will come.

Sincerely,

Elsie Hamilton, Founder and CEO

Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

The post True Grit appeared first on Lilly Brush.

First things first, if this is going to be the best-selling product you think it might be, you’ll want to begin protecting your idea right from the start. Imagine going through the excitement and excruciatingly hard work of creating a product only to have another entity steal your idea and take it to market first! Yes, of course, you can seek a patent for protection, but often you will first need time to explore a lot of important decisions before you write that first retainer check to a patent attorney. Settling on which materials you’ll use and which features you should focus on will likely involve consulting experts, surveying friends and perhaps chatting with consumer groups. Not to worry, there are a few things you can do to protect your initial idea during this early stage of development.

Let’s start with a good old NDA.

Back when I started work on my first Lilly Brush product, I asked a dear friend, one of the smartest business women I know, for her thoughts. “Hold on,” she said, looking away from the product I held before her. “Do you have a Non-Disclosure Agreement for me to sign?”  I was stunned as I consider her a 100% trustworthy pal, but she also happens to work as a lawyer for one of the “Sharks” on ABC’s top-rated series Shark Tank, and as she explained, an NDA is a simple way of protecting us both should someone else in her orbit come up with a similar product before my patent is filed.

Hopefully, this helps you to think of your NDA as a courtesy rather than a trust issue, so you won’t ever be shy about asking those you seek counsel from to sign it. Believe me, knowing you have it on file will help you and your patent attorney sleep at night! Click here for a very simple NDA from Rocket Lawyer.

Your very, very important new friend, the Inventor’s Notebook.

This is critical. I’ll explain why in a minute, but if you have not been keeping a carefully formatted inventor’s notebook from the moment you started to develop your product idea, stop everything (seriously) and get yourself one here.

I like these particular notebooks because they supply everything you need to keep a proper log of your inventing activities, and yes indeed, there is a right way, and a wrong way, to do it!

Why (and how) to keep an Inventor’s Notebook.

The United States recognizes new ideas on a first-to-invent basis rather than the first-to-file basis utilized by most other countries. All this means is that, in the event that two very similar inventions are filed at or near the same time, the USPTO will have to decide who has priority, or proof of novelty, based on who can convince them that they conceived of the idea first. A properly kept Inventor’s Notebook acts as a time stamp for a period up to, but not exceeding, one year before date of filing. For thorough instructions on how to keep your own Inventor’s Notebook, please take a moment to read this fantastic article written by the folks at Maday Patent Law, PLLC.

Maday Patent Law: Documenting Your Invention

Next Month: How to Make a Prototype, Bootstrap Style!

Founder, Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

The post How to Protect Your Idea Prior to Filing For a Patent appeared first on Lilly Brush.

Just nine years ago, that was the question foremost on my mind as I eyed the crazy looking cleaning hack I had built to deal with the huge volume of pet hair my Australian Shepherd, Lilly, shed each day. Right there on my kitchen counter sat what I believed to be the most effective pet hair remover I had ever used. It was just the thing to help me beat my sticky roller refill habit, and wouldn’t it be a great thing to share with others? But, how?

Follow the footsteps of others who have been there.

The answer, I soon learned, could be found in books. Every question that came up as I worked my way toward the goal of getting my first product to market could be answered by others who had done this before me.

If you are looking for some of the most outstanding books available to help you advance from a homegrown inventor to a successful consumer product manufacturer, I have compiled below a list of my favorites.

Prepare to become a book-reading workaholic!

As a complete beginner, I could not have made it through the first year of the prototyping and patenting process without the incredibly comprehensive and useful tips found in:

The Mom Inventor’s Handbook: How to Turn Your Great Idea Into the Next Big Thing by Tamara Monosoff

If you have a sensational product idea, but not the time, stamina, or financial resources to go the distance on your own, I recommend reading about product licensing in:

One Simple Idea: How to Turn Your dreams Into a Licensing Goldmine While Letting Others Do the Work by Stephen Key

Before you build a website, be sure to read:

Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug

One book that asked the questions that I did not yet have the knowledge and experience to consider also gave me the info and insight to answer them. Do read:

The Art of the Start: Time-Tested Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki

Last but not least, because being an entrepreneur is sometimes lonely and terrifying, read this for inspiration to stay calm and carry on. Greatness awaits! Enjoy:

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight

If you have found other books that you think might help others on the same path, be sure to share them in the comments below.

Founder Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

Elsie Hamilton

old.lillybrush.com

The post The Five Best Books to Help New Inventors Bring Products to Market appeared first on Lilly Brush.