GETTING HELP WITH YOUR PROTOTYPE
Aren't Ready to Do It Yourself? There's Plenty of Help Out There
By Ken Tarlow
PART TWO
I believe in finding unusual sources for getting products made. There are a lot of people out there who have skills that you can use. For example, there are hobbyists, maybe making model airplanes, trains or doll houses, but in the process of being a hobbyist, they have complete shops with all kinds of equipment in them.
Local high schools have shops. You can go to the Industrial Arts teacher at your local high school, talk to him or her about whether they can help you or whether they know someone who can help you. You'll end up creating a grapevine where you can find sources for getting parts made and built that are less expensive than going to a professional design firm.
The professional design firm is the most expensive. They are going to charge you between $50-$150 an hour for design time and $40-$50 an hour for simpler prototyping time. But if you go to other alternative fabrication sources, you should be able to get the work done for a lot less.
There are many comprehensive catalogs that you can find which sell many, many stock parts that you can use in making prototypes. One of the catalogs I use every week is called McMaster Carr. It has just about everything under the sun that you could possibly need. There are also catalogs for special small pats, small gears, and other precision parts. They are all listed in the Resource Guide.
Before having something made by hand, make sure there isn't something that is already available in stock because that will, of course, be much, much less expensive than having someone fabricate a part by hand. And, of course, always look in department stores, toy stores, wherever you can, to see if there are products out there that have parts that you need for your product. Because the cheapest way to get your prototype built is to find parts that exist in other products and take them out of those products and put them into yours.
Another major resource is the Thomas Register. This is an entire volume of books that has every kind of part that you can possibly imagine listed by name. So if you want to find plastic balls, you look under "Balls--Plastic" and you'll find dozens of companies that make all different kinds of plastic balls. The Thomas Register is in most public libraries because it is such an important resource guide.
So go to your public library, ask for the Thomas Register, and you'll see a whole set of large green books that have a wealth of information. You'll most likely find the parts you are looking for.
The above article was excerpted from Ken Tarlow's MIND TO MONEY, a workbook package that can help you develop a new product from the idea stage to the marketplace. MIND TO MONEY may be ordered from the Dream Merchant at $59.95 plus $4.95 CA sales tax and$5 shipping and handling ($69.90 total). Send orders to the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501.
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