Invent, Innovate, and Prosper: A Step-By-Step Guide to Successful Inventing (Creative Success Series)

You don't need to be lucky, or a genius, to create a successful invention. You just need a clear process to spark ideas and bring them to market.
Michael Colburn is an inventor. He wasn't always, but he made himself into one and realized a powerful truth: inventing is a skill anyone can master. Over the last four decades, he has created inventions and built businesses and partnerships worth millions of dollars based on his inventions.Michael's success was not an accident. With every invention, he followed a clear process for finding an idea, researching, testing, and bringing it to market. Along the way, Michael studied history's great creators and realized their processes were not very different from his. Artists, writers, inventors, entrepreneurs-they all follow a similar method for bringing ideas to life. We just so rarely get to see it. Invent, Innovate, and Prosper is a practical handbook for inventing based on Michael's decades of work as a successful inventor. He shares his step-by-step system for launching profitable inventions, along with the surprising real-life lessons that helped him thrive. You'll learn how to: * Adopt a detective's mindset to find invention ideas in everyday life* Research your idea's viability and troubleshoot glitches* Design, engineer, and build prototypes with minimal financial investment* Prepare and test your products for the marketMichael also profiles some of the world's most prolific inventors, from Alexander Graham Bell to Lori Greiner, and offers legal templates to help you navigate red tape. Whether you're already a maker or are just starting to brainstorm new products, you'll discover how to turn the kernel of an idea into a lucrative invention.

Michael G. Colburn has spent more than 45 years founding and running businesses based on creativity and design. In 2005, he and his wife, Mary Esther Treat, launched Ideas Well Done, a firm that focuses exclusively on inventing new products and bringing them to the marketplace. Since then, Mike has created over 25 inventions and has patents issued in multiple countries. Mike and Mary Esther live in Vermont.