Looking back, like many inventors trying to find themselves, I had trouble deciding on a career. Planning a successful inventing career is nearly impossible until that idea, that "flash of genius" pops into your head. Most inventors stumble into a career to pay the bills waiting for that moment to happen. At least that’s how it was in my case. While still in high school a buddy of mine said "hey let's go get jobs selling stereos, that would be cool" and so began my 30 year consumer electronics career. Being around the latest and greatest  electronic gadgets was fun. I was a good salesperson and a halfway decent manager, but I found myself yearning for something more. I never felt like I reached my full potential, except for the 2 years when I was at the corporate office project managing all of the new retail initiatives. I really enjoyed that job and learned some of the most important business skills I would need later on. It was a great company and for most of my career I worked for and with great people, but when the company started loosing money things changed and the employees were about to get squeezed.
 

15 years of hard work and dedication with the same company was about to pay off, not because I was going to be promoted, but because I was about to get laid off. Most people face a mid life crisis at some point in their life and this was mine. There are so many inspirational quotes appropriate to describe a life changing event like this its hard to pick just one. The first one that comes to mind is one my mother taught me at a young age, "every cloud has a silver lining". As an inventor I should probably use the old adage "necessity is the mother of all invention", but all I can tell you is actually going through this life changing event it feels more appropriate to say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". 

Sensing a career change was coming my way, I started examining different business models. Why is it that some companies like Apple or Google are known for being so good to their employees that every time there's a single job opening thousands of people apply, while companies like Circuit City struggle  to keep their employee turnover below 100% per year. The answer is profitability. Apple and Google are very profitable companies because they create high quality unique products or services that consumers can't get anywhere else. That allows them to pay higher wages and provide their employees with enviable perks. Most retailers aren't very profitable because they resell other company's products which consumers can find anywhere, including online. If a company doesn't create a unique product it may find it impossible to maintain profitability in a competitive environment and if it can't maintain its profitability the standard of living its employees enjoy will decline. Inventors create new unique products by definition. 

For inventors the first step in creating a unique new product begins with a basic patent search, after all if someone else has already patented your idea its game over. If your idea doesn't infringe on an existing patent its time to make a prototype. If that works well and people need it you may have step three covered. If you can manufacture it for a low price compared to its retail value you may have the profitability thing licked and be able to move on to step five. If you can develop a marketing strategy or an effective IP (intellectual property) strategy you are coming up on the point where you can contemplate trying to bring your product to market, all you'll need is $50k to $100k to get started. Keep in mind that there are still a couple of dozen more steps that you will have to successfully complete before approaching the break even point, actually making money is still a pipe dream away.