Fab Academy 2015 - Orlandini Website

Invention, Intellectual Property, and Income

For the final project device, we have to develop a plan for dissemination.

The main idea of the final project for me, is to make something usefull, not just for me, or for may job or projects, but for everyone. So the Hand Excercise, the device of my final project, is open source and open design, and can be reproduced and modified for everyone who need it.

But to prevent someone to take ownership of the idea, and be registered and commercialized, denying the free distribution and use, I have a Creative Commons License, inspired on the General Public License (GPL). Specifically, it's an Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (CC BY-NC-SA) license. This license does not allow commercial use of the original work or any derivative works, whose distribution should be done with the same license that regulates the original work.

This is how the license will appear in the web of the Hand-Excerciser Fab Academy 2015 Final Project:

Hand-Exerciser by Milena Orlandini is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keep in mind that there are areas where CC licenses have not been adopted as almost the entire African continent and areas of Asia, almost to the poorest and most deprived areas of the planet. But the licenses for free distribution of the Hand Excersicer on this areas, is not something to concerned excessively, first because apparently the incidence of the disease is to be lower in sub-Saharan, and second, it is important that aid organizations can distribute it.

Then, I only need to upload all the information the the Final Project website (design files, BOM, process, etc.) and share.

Anyway, if I decided to turn it into a commercial project, first I would decide if I want to register the invent and name only in Spain, at the Oficina Española de Registros y Marcas, or globally, which undoubtedly would be much more expensive, and not just for the register but by the execution of a business plan internationally. The second step would be a market analysis, and depending on the results, I would develop a business plan as follows:

Excecutive Summary: Business Idea; Implementation, Invest Opportunity; Goals
Business Activity:

Vision
Description of the Business Idea: Business Idea; Core related customer needs
Identified market
Unique selling proposition
Description of the product and the use
Research and development
Intellectual property
Market Analysis: The market; The market sectors; The customer; The geographical coverage
Bussines Model: Supply Chain; Suppliers; Production; Distribution
Strategy: The market approach; Marketing strategy; Sales strategy; Pricing strategy
Risk Analysis: SWOT Analysis
Finance: Profit and loss projections (5 years)
Activity proposal: Milestone planning; Task description and related cost; Funding
Management: Project management structure; Quality Assurance; Customer Service

Marketing Plan
Financial Plan

If the numbers are positive, the next step would be to seek funding. As things, in Spain, actually there are these options:

Own equity
Bank funding (in this case you need important guarantees or suretiers, if you don't have, there are some goverment agencies that can aid you guaranteeing up to 70% of a loan)
Business Angels
Family & Friends (and visionaries like you)
Europe Open Call (depending on sector, there are very intereseting open calls)
Business Incubators
City Council entrepreneurship services
Crowdfunding (the system is not yet fully adopted compared to other countries like the US or the rest of Europe, but there are at least one site that works, but especially with the arts sector)
Leasing or renting (depending on the amount, you also need guarantees)

Once you have the money, is important to develop a good marketing plan, which surely will have designed thanks to our market analysis. Then, is really important to be surrounded by a great team, better if multidisciplinary. It's vital, you may have developed the best business plans, but if you don't have a good team to execute the plan, you're lost. So look for the best, those who not only know how to do their job well, but also have other professional skills, such as leadership, organization, management, self-control, and of course, with a great sense of loyalty, responsibility and companionship.

Finally, is really important to set goals, have ambitions and be visionary.