First you want to make sure u have the funding for the product!...Do u have that in place? If you don't make sure you start now seperating your personnal credit from your business credit. How much funding are you going to need for your product? Do you have a business plan? Are you registered LLC or INC..These steps are crucial in getting your business up and running.   If you need help with getting business funding or getting business credit let me know I can help you out!

Be aware that there are fraudulent invention promotion companies out there. If they think you have such a good idea, why don't they invest their own money? Here are the steps that I teach to inventors: The Mississippi Method for Inventing The following steps should be completed in order: Inventor's Notebook Lawyer-Approved Non-Disclosure Agreement Prototype -- $10 and 2hours Search online and magazines for something already out there Determine the value of your invention to a companya. Determine Manufacturing Costb. Determine how much someone will pay for it.c. Determine how many you will sell. (Sales Volume) Write your pitch. Make functional prototype. Do a thorough patent search. (prior art search) Get a patent using a patent lawyer PITCH TO COMPANIES! I teach the 'how' for each of these steps to inventors in Mississippi. Here is a good website to help you determine manufacturing cost after you have a good non-disclosure agreement to use. www.thomasnet.com Use it to find a company to get a manufacturing quote for a whole lot of units of your product. Be sure to use a non-disclosure agreement before you describe your product. These are probably the only people in the entire process where a NDA will actually be signed by the people you are talking to. Message Edited by ChristineL on 10-02-2009 09:56 AM

Karandy I also live in Iowa!  Western side.  I'm not an expert by any stretch at all and came here to learn but maybe I can offer you some advice.    I'm not sure I understand your question about 'how to get started on all parts now' whether you are talking about starting the business or actually getting the product produced.  If you are needing help getting the product produced depending on what it is there are many manufacturers in Iowa that will give you a quote to produce it for you.  Get a confidential agreement form for them to sign before you discuss it with them to protect yourself if you do not have patents or trademarks in place.   A really really good resource is Donny Deutsch and his show The Big Idea.  I have his audio book The Big Idea and it is an incredible resource.  Look at his website, lots of info there http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838512/ 

Hello Karandy, I believe you are looking for Patent information. Copyright is a means for protecting written and artistic works, such as music. All About Patents - this site is operated by the U.S. Patent & Trademarke Office to make it easier for individual inventors to understand the patent filing process. When you get to the page, click on the links in the left column. Message Edited by BobK on 03-04-2009 08:05 AM

Hi Karondy: Have you checked out business.gov's resource guide for Patent, Trademarks and Copyrights? The guide explains the difference between the three and links to how-to guides and faqs. Also, view these Steps to Starting a Business to get you started on your company. I hope this help!