Inventor’s Skill Set

Avoiding the Major Pitfalls of Tinkering

Many people are attracted to tinkering and possibly inventing the next million-dollar idea, but besides a strong desire to tinker, one needs the proper skill set, yet many people don’t have all the aptitudes.

Watch product testing segments on America’s Test Kitchen, and from time to time you’ll see some laugh out loud poorly designed products. For instance, a commuter coffee mug with an unmovable lid that covered most of the user’s face while drinking, not so good while driving. Some people don’t have all the skills necessary to think through, tinker, design, invent, and market products, and that may well explain some of the useless products in the marketplace.

Know what business skills you may be lacking or have little interest in performing. Be aware of what it is about tinkering or inventing that appeal to you. Necessary skills and tasks will vary depending on the kind of product and industry involved.

How will you compensate for those areas in which you lack? Find a good partner with the missing skills, hire a competent freelancer or small businessperson to perform the tasks, or rethink the original idea?

Tip:  A lot of time can be saved in advance by having answers, such as checklists, for the questions in the last two paragraphs.

Reference:
http://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment-reviews/index.php




Tinkering

History and Modern Trends for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Tinkering means figuring out solutions to problems in different ways whether it’s a physical thing or an idea, says author Alec Foege of The Tinkerers, The Amateurs, The DIY’ers, And Inventors Make America Great.

Foegs talks about several topics, including the phenomenon of tinkering, the history behind successful and modern day inventions.

He discusses successful ideas, new products, tinkering trends, patents, crowd fund financing, the dark side of tinkering, such as Wall Street, and he has the audience snickering as he describes flop inventions. Talk includes interesting Q&A.

Tinkering is now such a phenomenon that there is a major space and a three-dimensional printer at the Westport Public Library for aspiring inventors to develop their ideas.

References

C-SPAN/Book TV
1 hour 15 minutes
http://tinyurl.com/aaap54r

Lecture
2-Minute summary
http://archive.org/details/CSPAN2_20130316_193000_Book_TV

Amazon Book
http://tinyurl.com/cko6azd

Westport Library
http://www.westportlibrary.org/

http://www.instructables.com/




Culture, Money & Business Practices

Quiz This
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True or False?

The Bahamas has a paternalistic culture that values
American individualism and a casual
laid-back style.  It’s a Caribbean culture that would be a good fit for
aspiring entrepreneurs seeking a partnership agreement in the
Bahamian business community.

If you traveled to the Caribbean, island of St. Kitts
and *handed out $100 bills to strangers at the airport
A. You would be considered a hero and welcomed into the homes of islanders
B. The money would be returned
C. You would be arrested

*Based on a real incident

ANSWERS

The Bahamas is a matriarchal society and a collectivistic culture.
In direct contrast to the individualism valued in America.
All the members of a particular business
enterprise would have to agree to the joint venture
and without 100% agreement, the joint venture would not
move forward.  Although American culture is popular in the Bahamas,
Bahamian business society adheres more to British etiquette,
practices and formality.

And when a well-known entertainer’s husband visited St Kitts
and handed out $100 bills at the airport, recipients returned the money.**

Lesson: Customs and culture differ greatly in other English language countries.
Regardless of race, color or creed. Not learning what those customs
are ahead of time can be costly and sometimes embarrassing for aspiring
entrepreneurs.*

How much do you know about African American
entrepreneurs in the 21st century?
This iconic musician heads the first African American Company
to have their product sold at Wal-Mart? Who is he?

How many African-American Fortune 500 CEOs are there,
and how many are women?

Answers
Lloyd Price, founder of Lawdy Miss Clawdy, which he named after his hit song, supplies a sweet potato cookie.

In late 2012, there were 13 African American CEO’s, 6 active, and 1 woman.

References
PBS Tavis Smiley Interview Feb. 19, 2013

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/singer-lloyd-price/

Lloyd Price Bio
http://rockhall.com/inductees/lloyd-price/bio/

YouTube Song
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQZVufJfcG0

Infographic  Sept. 2012
Economy Watch
How CEO’S Are Made

African American Woman CEO
http://www.forbes.com/profile/ursula-burns/
*Research paper written for my small business class several years ago.

**C-Span      Feb.3 2013
In-depth with Randall Robinson
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/310247-1




The Lobster Chronicles

Linda Greenlaw
Living on a small New England Island, Greenlaw became captain of her own lobster boat and later a bestselling author.
She appeared on  C-Span more than a decade ago.
Her inside account about issues such as, the environment and government regulations
and how the topics challenge self-employed people is still relevant.


References
C-Span Linda Greenlaw  57 Min
http://tinyurl.com/b3jv2gl

Powell’s Books Blog
Greenlaw Interview
http://tinyurl.com/akdycxf

http://www.lindagreenlawbooks.com/




Music Industry Pitfalls

Database Catalogs Legal Conflicts
As I mentioned in an earlier post about the startling 60 Minutes segment on Rodriguez, nothing was mentioned about who took the musician’s royalties. Apparently, that information is still a well-kept secret. However, the bootstrap documentary about the musical icon recently won an Oscar. Musicians are notoriously bad at business issues.

That is a fact that anyone entering the field should remember and plan accordingly. For beginners, entering the music industry, it would be a good idea to study the unique database supported by CERL (Center for Empirical Research in the Law). The database contains a description of the legal conflicts that musicians and recording artists have been embroiled in within the industry.

References

Los Angeles Times
Searching for Sugarman wins best documentary Oscar
http://tinyurl.com/bkm5evk

Earlier blog post about Rodriguez
http://tinyurl.com/bkuszo4

Discography Database
http://thediscography.org/discoAboutDb.php

Sample database listing Teena Marie/The Brockert Initiativehttp://thediscography.org/discoDbResults.php

Center for Empirical Research in the Law http://cerl.wustl.edu/




Government Programs for Career-Changers Considering Self-Employment

White House Resources 

If you wrote to the White House asking about current resources and programs available to aspiring entrepreneurs, you might get a response that would include the following information:

The Small Business Jobs Act
http://www.sba.gov/content/small-business-jobs-act-2010

Business Startup America
http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/business/startup-America

New government site on small business information and services within a single platform
http://business.usa.gov/
http://business.usa.gov/sitemap


Additional References

*Entrepreneurial Training Sharpens Veterans’ Business Skills
April Dudash, Feb 17,  2013.
http://fayobserver.com/articles/2013/02/17/1236708?sac=fo.military

SBA article: Operation Boots to Business Introduces Returning Veterans to Entrepreneurship
Rhett Jeppson, July  12, 2012.
http://tinyurl.com/cqjdjlp

*Note: Each year the SBA  teaches 10,000 veterans the basics of business ownership.




Native American Cartoonist Ricardo Cate’

Artist and humorist Ricardo Cate’ grew up on a reservation
in New Mexico. Today he uses his talent and subtle biting
wit to offer a cartoon series titled Without Reservations.
Cate’s work reflects political and cultural insights
using his heritage as a point of view.

The artist recounts what inspired his style as a cartoonist.
Learn how he refused to take no for an answer
and got his cartons into his local newspaper,
and learn about the response from a major syndicate.

Colored pencils arranged as a star

 

Sources

C-SpanVideo for Cate’ – Approx. 13 + min.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?310677-1/without-reservations-cartoons-ricardo-cate

Ricardo Caté Offers Political Cartoons Without Reservations At The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
Lois Alter Mark, April 18, 2018, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/loisaltermark/2018/04/18/ricardo-cate-offers-political-cartoons-without-reservations-at-the-indian-pueblo-cultural-center/?sh=256c1cc847fa
https://www.forbes.com/sites/loisaltermark/2018/04/18/ricardo-cate-offers-political-cartoons-without-reservations-at-the-indian-pueblo-cultural-center/?sh=256c1cc847fa

Shumakolowa.com/Ricardo Cate’
http://shumakolowa.com/pages/ricardo-cate

Indian Country Today Media Network.com
https://indiancountrytoday.com/search?query=ricardo+cate%27

Without Reservations at  Amazon.com
http://tinyurl.com/gm75l2c