This is the fifth part in a five part series on how you can profit from your invention or idea.

Part 1 described Stage 1, the Invention Stage. There were three steps illustrated in part 1:
1. Find a need and fill it
2. Record the invention in writing
3. Research the invention

Part 2 described the concept of the Business Stage and the first two steps in this stage.
Step 4. Complete a Feasibility Study
Step 5. Complete a Strategic Plan.

Part 3 described the difficult financing step of the Business Stage.
Step 6. Attain Money to Finance the Business

Part 4 described the two production steps of the Business Stage.
Step 7. Produce and Package the Invention for Implementation
Step 8. Promote the Invention to Entice Others to Buy.

Part 5 will describe the sales and collection and overall management steps of the Business stage to share in the rewards to conclusion.
Step 9. Sell, Install, and Collect
Step 10. Manage the whole Business Stage and disseminate the Rewards.
Conclusion

9. Sell, Install, and Collect. Advertising creates contact, but the final sale of the invention is an additional step that requires educating the customer further about the benefits of the invention, the high value to the user, and that the price charged is much less than the value of the invention.

Sales are the consummation of the total process and are not completed until the invention is delivered, installed, and full payment is collected. All of the marketing actions taken previously, Product design, Placement, Price, and Promotion are culminated in the final sale.

Personal Options for you. You will probably feel that you are very qualified to complete the sale step yourself, and in some cases this may be true. However, the sales process creates the probability of rejection by potential customers, and it is hard enough to deal with this rejection when there is no tie with the product, but it can be even more difficult to deal with if you have emotional ties with the product, which you will have as the inventor. Success is most often achieved when this process is left to those who are best suited for sales (and rejection) and can better connect with the customer. Too much effort, time, and money has been invested in creating the possibility for sales to not have the best folks get it done.

Many times the nature of the invention may require that you be closely involved in the installation process, which normally occurs much later in the sale process.

10. Manage the Whole Business Stage and Disseminate the Rewards. Someone has to be in charge to make sure the Business Stage is completed. This person should be responsible AND have the authority to get the job done. They must, at least, have excellent Managerial and People skills, and be very knowledgeable about the game of business. They should lead the successful completion of all of the steps in Stage II.

The final step is to deliver the rewards (normally money) to you and all others who are entitled to receive them. For instance, the investors and anyone compensated through the profits of the business. Because this is a very important step and because it needs to be very accurate with the agreements made, the process should be very well organized.

Personal Options you. Most likely, you do not have the knowledge of the business game, and the skills to play, nor the desire to work at getting them. You should seriously consider having someone who is fully versed in both to complete the business step. The process of inventing is hard enough, requiring free thinking, and creativity to "step out of the box," without having to take on the new game of running the business of implementing the invention for money. This is a big leap. You should seriously consider attaining a Mentor, Godfather, Guru, Advisor, or a Coach to help you through Stage II, if you want to perform this stage yourself. Even the businessperson you might choose to perform this stage should have a Mentor, Godfather, Guru, Advisor, or a Coach to help him. Too many times, a great invention that would have been an excellent candidate to produce considerable rewards has produced no rewards, because the business Stage II was not accomplished.

Conclusion. You attain rewards from your invention from the profits generated from the business of convincing people to pay for it. The business is performed successfully by the completion of all of the steps listed above. The business game is a much different process than the invention process. Whereas the invention process requires free thought that is unconstrained by limits, the business game is a well-defined process that requires discipline to operate within the rules. The perspective, skills, focus, and even the thinking process needed by a person to be a good inventor are much different than the perspective, skills, focus, and thinking process needed by a person to be a good business person.

You do not have to complete or even be a part of the all of the business steps, but you will want to recognize and deal with the fact that the business game must be eventually played for rewards to be achieved. You can learn the rules of football, but you do not have to actually play the game to actually benefit, but you have to know enough about football to be able to pick and back a winning team.

The trick for you is to pick the best time to turn the business game over to others, how to do it, and to whom. It's basically a risk-reward analysis. The greater the involvement by you in the business process, the greater the risk and consequently the greater the rewards should be. The less involvement you have in the business process the lesser the risk with the rewards usually being less. Now you know why rewards for inventions are created and what you can do about it to increase your chances of reaping rewards from your invention.

Good luck and enjoy the journey.