The New Inventors: Inventors Who Hit Paydirt Offer Lessons for Success --- Two Brainstormers Show Determination In Bringing Products to Market

• Published in: The Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
• Main Author: By Brent Bowers and John R. Emshwiller
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 27.08.1991
• Edition: Eastern edition
• Subjects: Hardware stores; Inventions; Inventors; Manufacturers; Royalties
• ISSN: 0099-9660

Though their approaches and backgrounds are different, Messrs. Dixon and Dinh share one thing most inventors never achieve: success. Of the tens of thousands of amateur U.S. inventors, well over 90% never see a penny from their ideas. But the experiences of those few who hit paydirt offer hope and a few lessons for those still striving. Mr. Dixon and Mr. Dinh pursued their projects with determination. Their inventions met real needs and could be produced cheaply enough to find buyers. Both men used their imaginations to find useful business alliances and to rebound from setbacks. And both made use of the help to inventors that is now proliferating. Mr. Dixon's inspiration was ignited by a desire to make shoveling snow from his driveway easier. The inventor, who owns a consulting firm in West Bend, Wis., says an image took shape in his mind of an auger -- a tool that resembles a giant corkscrew -- attached to a shovel. And where the Snaug'R -- as he came to name it -- went, snow would be spewed aside.