I am not Smart Enough to Quit

A Guest Post by Bob Rees, The Innovator -Bubble Bob

It's kind of funny, I was out in my garage working on another idea and that one didn't work the way I wanted it too (not good enough to impress), and the bubble toy (garage built version), sort of just clicked in my brain.  I made one and tested it in my garage..then I waited a few minutes to try it again, to see if the results were the same (making sure the first time wasn't just pure luck)..and it still worked..then I thought to myself, well I have two sons, I better make two of them..  :)

I took them (bubble-worms) into my house (dining room) and placed a towel on my kitchen table, wife and boys didn't know what I was doing.. I let my boys play with them, and I still remember to this day..my oldest boy who was only 8 years old at the time...said "Dad..the grill's ok..but this is going to make you money"..so what did I do..continue making the grill better because that was in my world (camping, outdoors, etc)..  

Note:  The grill was just prototype 1 of the garage built that he was  comparing to.  :)

I finally made an appointment with a patent attorney..to show my portable grill and collapsible charcoal chimney (garage built versions), and for some reason I decided to take one of the bubble-worms with me (garage built)...so after spending about 1 1/2 hours talking about my grill, I finally asked my patent attorney if I could show him another idea (bubble-worm)  So I did..his eyes lit up and he got up from the table and said "That's it"...I didn't know what he meant but it felt great...and it was a Friday also.  :)

There are many more parts to the story..but that is basically how it started.  Once I sell my Bubble-Worm, LLC which owns the patent/idea..I plan on pursuing my other ideas.  I have more. However, the commercialization process is quite hard I am finding out.  I now know why people give up..the "idea" is the easy part..the "follow through" can wear a person out.  But I'm not smart enough to quit.

I just try to imagine different "things" and with a lot of luck and persistence..hopefully I have a marketable idea.  I'm not sure if my main goal is "innovation", I just remember reading a poster that stated "Ideas" are the currency to "Success".  And usually successful ideas will create some jobs.  I am probably a little naive to think that way, but that's just me.

It's fun identifying problems and then seeing if the solution is marketable.

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Bob has worked as President and Chief Invention Officer at ROPED, LLC and as Inventor and President at Bubble-Worm, LLC. Presently Bob stays in Iowa, USA and works with Z Line Fashions.