[.ca] Stand Alone, Inventor!: And Make Money with Your New ... (ISBN 0964383209)

You will save the cost of this book in your new business:
I have a background of inventing and running a business. I am now retired, after manufacturing and selling a louver roof system. I did it the hard way and borrowed money against my house, my bank manager and I were on intimate terms and a few times I thought I was a goner. Although the product was sound I made a number of bad judgments. I have now sold my business and tinker in the back shed with new ideas and run a newsletter for our local Inventors Association. I am convinced that had I read Bobs book, which unfortunately had not been written 20 years ago, my groping in the dark for guidance would have been far less painful. Bob speaks about starting small, financing it yourself and creeping up on the market. There are plenty of people willing to take your money and promise you the world; I met a few of them. Bob suggests taking control of the situation and spending the minimum for the greatest return. He talks of evaluating, patenting, financing, and finally marketing and distributing your product, pointing to a number of resources that can help you at no cost or at least offering value for money. I live in South Australia so a number of resources were of limited value, but did give valuable guidance in what to look for here in Australia. Even with the additional cost of freight and currency exchange, Bobs commonsense approach will save me heaps in mistakes I won't make in my new product launch. The book is entertaining, inspirational and very easy to read. Wherever you are from, Commonsense is Commonsense.

This book is Excellent:
The wealth of information, resources and plain common sense found in this book is staggering, yet it is presented in manageable chunks and will, I believe, allow anyone with a good idea and determination to succeed. The resource section is extensive and presents a stand alone inventor with marketing information that probably could not be found elsewhere. In all my book travels on this subject, I have not found a better book for individual inventors. Well done, Mr. Merrick!

Great Book !!!!:
Personally I believe licensing your invention is the best way to go. However,if you decide to manufacture and sell your invention yourself......this is absolutley the best book I've ever read. Bob's book explains just how to do it. Bob has spoken to my inventors assoiciation ......InventorsAlliance.org.......he has a strait forward style and doesn't hold back on all the critial information you need to know. I highly recomend this book if you decide to manufacture and sell your invention. Andrew Krauss

Good book - recommended:
The author illustrates how truly mundane products can generate substantial returns if they are marketed vigorously. Merrick makes a career out of the most uninteresting products: military salary slide rules, transparent calendars for wrist watches, and his big kahoona, a rolodex style business card punch. Merrick gets into the details of each invention covering every step from product conception, prototyping, protecting, packaging, and marketing. It's a good read with lots of solid invention information.

A Must for a Novice Inventor:
I have bought this book few years ago and I still refer to it even today. I have several other inventing books but this one is the one I have used to develop my own invention, "BuckleBabies". Following one of the ten rules from the book certainly helped me to launch our product to the market. I practically used the example forms from the book in the manufacturing phase of our product. I highly recommend this book for any novice inventor who needs inspiration. The resource section at the end of the book itself is worth the price!Believe me.