From idea to market: the Inventors Council of Mid-Michigan

With few exceptions, there is no way to get rich quick. Perhaps the only ones who do so are those who take your money and promise you the moon. These are called scams.

 

The Inventors Council of Mid-Michigan is the real McCoy for those trying to legitimately launch a new product into the marketplace.

 

"Our goal is to help clear up all the fog that inventors go through," says Mike Ball, council president. "Very few ads are legit," he points out, about those that try to ensnare would-be inventors. "Our goal is to protect the inventor."

 

Ball and his team of volunteers, which consists of a score of business people, inventors, and attorneys, meet monthly at Walli's on Center Road in Burton. The meetings normally consist of a guest speaker, discussion, and training related to getting an invention into the marketplace.

 

"We don't care about the idea, we care about the process," says Ball. The retired GM engineer and inventor says to get a product from idea to conception involves jumping through a number of hoops. He also adds it is very unlikely that the "great idea" you have has not been thought up already. The difference might be that someone else simply hasn't taken the steps to get it patented and into the marketplace.

 

That's where the council and its volunteers come in. They can coach an inventor through the legal and financial hurdles that lie ahead. Would-be inventors attend monthly meetings and can network with other business professionals. Inventors can also present their idea to a panel of judges. Non-disclosure agreements are signed before hand to prevent anyone from scurrying off with your idea; Ball says they haven't had a problem with this since they started this policy in 2000.

 

The Inventors Council is more like a club, says Ball (recall, Steve Jobs was in a club when the Apple PC was launched). They're patterned after a club in Detroit but are actually the oldest such club in Michigan. "We're just tinkerers," he says.

 

It doesn't sound like anyone from the Council has gotten rich; however, club members have patented products for the market, including Ball's "EZ Jig Tools" and Marty Sovis' "Break-in Blocker." The important thing is they've probably prevented many people from getting scammed. Ball says there are many ads out there that claim they'll do it all for you, only to take anywhere from $1,500 upward and leave you crying in the corner.

 

"We're not making any money," assures Ball. 

 

The Inventors Council of Mid-Michigan is the brainchild of the late Bob Ross. He was with the Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE) at the time when he pitched the idea to Larry Ford, then president of the Flint Area Chamber of Commerce. The year was 1997. The first meeting, held that year, had to be moved three times in order to accommodate the 150-plus people who attended the meeting to learn more about inventions and patents. 

 

They say small business is the backbone of the economy and this club does a lot to further the aims and goals of entrepreneurial-minded men and women. They meet every second Thursday of each month at 1341 S. Center Rd, in Burton. The cost to attend each meeting is $10 for members, or $25 for non-members. The Inventors Council of Mid-Michigan is a 501c entity.