Patent Attorney and Founder
Hi, I’m J.D. Houvener and welcome to the Bold Today show, where you, the entrepreneur, business owner, or inventor, get your daily inspiration on how to make the world a better place.
Alright, we’re doing a three-part session, a three-part challenge for you. In the next three days, we’re gonna go over business planning. This first step is pretty straightforward, but listen up. If you already have a business plan, you need to think about where you’re gonna be in the next five years. And if you don’t have a business plan yet, you need to get one together. And if you’re in a job, you’re in a job, you need to put a plan together to first see what it takes, what it’s gonna take to get you out the door.
This first step of the process and your first challenge is to do a simple thing: describe clearly what it is you’re gonna sell and who is gonna buy it. Report back tomorrow for more.
Alright, and taking that first bold step right and putting a business plan together does take a lot. It’s probably more psychological than it is physical, right? What does it take? Picking up a pen, grinding down on what your product is, what you’re gonna sell, what your service is, and who’s gonna buy it. Making that move and that decision to put a plan in place and get the wheels in motion is a big deal.
It reminds me of the first step in the patent process, and I want to make sure everyone here and all you listeners understand that we’re in the U.S. filing system, and we just had a big change after the American Invents Act that we’re now in a first-to-file system as opposed to first-to-invent.
Gonna give you a brief breakdown on what that means. Before 2013, what it meant to get to have a first in line to have priority preference is if you could prove that you truly invented the product or system first, you could get the patent. And after 2013, it actually doesn’t matter who invented it first. It’s actually the first person to get in line and file their patent with the USPTO.
So today, make it a real effort to think about people that you might know. Are you gonna be venturing this business on your own? Likely not. You know, think about all those big companies that have made it big. They didn’t do it by themselves. And see if you’ve got a potential business partner. I want you to give them a call or send this podcast to them. Make sure they understand how serious you are about making that first bold step in writing your plan. If you don’t have someone else you’re going to talk to yet, how about a mentor or someone who’s written a plan before? Ask them what they put down and see how they described their product and services and who they’re gonna be serving.
So again, thanks for listening and being a part of the Bold Today show. I’m your host, J.D. Houvener. Be bold today.