Accidental inventors: A search for solutions

Serendipity and frustration can be the mothers of invention; but marketing makes them a success

"There was a moment when the belts arrived in the mail, and I looked at this belt which was literally just a piece of elastic with a snap on the end and Velcro and I couldn't believe that no one had thought of this before because it is very, very simple," says Talia Goldfarb, co-inventor of Myself Belts.

Goldfarb is a former social worker and mother of three. It was when her first child was potty training that she accidentally became an inventor. After searching for a belt her son could manage independently, she became frustrated and complained to her sister about the problem.

"My sister said we should do something about this and for some crazy reason we decided to and we invented Myself Belts," she explained. "We cut up belts and figured out how to make a closure that would be easy for a child to use. The Myself Belt is an easy, one-handed closure that uses Velcro so the child can't mess up."

After becoming the victim of a pickpocket while vacationing in Prague, Linda Sosna set out on a quest to develop a solution to protect others from having to experience such a devastating situation.

"When I got home I started thinking about what I could do--what I could make to solve this problem. And because I was in the electronics business, my mind kind of traveled to an electronic device," Sosna explains. "I wanted something that would be about the size of my car key with some sort of personal code that would activate it."

The TagAlarm attaches to almost any type bag with a zipper such as a purse, briefcase or backpack. You activate it with a personal code. If a pickpocket tries to open your bag, the alarm goes off alerting you and ideally scaring the thief away.

A successful invention always begins with an idea. But to be successful, an inventor needs a lot of highly skilled advice and assistance. For every one invention that makes it successfully to market, there are thousands of failures. So it's imperative an inventor utilize a seasoned patent professional to file for his or her patent in order to adequately protect the idea and launch the product. A mistake along the way could cost you dearly.

But in addition to the technical requirements of launching a new product, you might be surprised to learn that 90% of an invention's success depends on marketing, according to the experts. That's something both Goldfarb and Sosna did extremely well. Goldfarb sent samples to magazine editors and celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Cindy Crawford. As the word got out, the orders started rolling in. Because of their marketing efforts, both women have won spots on QVC for their products.

While neither woman ever pictured herself as being an inventor, they regard the journey as exciting and rewarding.

"If you really feel like you have something, move forward and talk to experts. Don't think just because you don't have the background that you can't succeed because we truly have gone on our instincts and it has really paid off," Goldfarb says.

"Don't let the no's get you discouraged. You'll probably hear 100 no's before you even get a maybe. But if you have faith in you product just keep on plugging," Sosna adds.

So the next time you face an everyday challenge, put your creative hat on. You may find there is an inventor inside of you.

(Image source: popculturemonster.com)