I have an idea for a product that I think it is remarkable it’s not already a thing. It would be easy to make and produce, and I imagine manufacturing would be cheap, but could be sold at a decent price.

I know I’ll need a designer or engineer to help me with a virtual design. I’ll also need a programmer as the product is a “smart” product and would link back to an app. So I’d need an app dev and someone to program the functionality of the device.

So assuming I get all that, then what? How does one get something like this manufactured, assuming it gets that far? I have a potential source from which I could get a business loan, but would at least need a virtual mockup and a plan.

I would love to see this become a reality but it feels daunting and I have no idea how to make it all come together. Any insight from the lemmings is much appreciated.

Edit: I’ve seen some prototyping and invention help companies, but they feel skeevy and Id have no doubt the terms end up with most of the profit going to them.

  • @TheLoneMinon@lemm.eeOP
    5•7 days ago

    Thanks for all the advice and responses. Sounds like anything coming to fruition is pretty unlikely, as I don’t have $100k to work with. The product was a programmable wall/ceiling mounted laser pointer for cats. Could map your space, design patterns, and maybe have some tracking to keep the laser in front of your pets and avoid it shining in their eyes. The controller app would connect via Bluetooth so it’d be local and no personal data like video or mapping would get stored, as I wanted to emphasize privacy.

    Maybe someone more qualified can do something with it. Or Amazon will build it. Idc, it’s just something I’d like and thought it was a pretty good idea. One that, admittedly, I probably won’t do the work required to actually make.

    • @iamanurd@midwest.socialEnglish
      2•5 days ago

      I’d also like to add that even if something isn’t super feasible to build out as a product, this could be an amazing opportunity for you to create something and learn some new skills. There are electronics platforms like arduino that are easy and approachable for you to design your own hobbyist level circuitry. I used it when building out a company more than a decade ago, and it got us through our proof of concept phase.

      Writing apps is also getting more approachable, and you could potentially build something yourself and learn a bunch of new stuff, and you might be a bit more prepared when the next idea strikes. 🙂