Book: From Concept to Consumer: How to turn ideas into money
Author: Phil Baker

This author comes in the been there/done that category. He has actually done what he writes about. Baker is an expert on product and market development and Far East manufacturing. He has had a role in developing products for Apple, Seiko, Polaroid and many others. I won't spoil it for you; however you will be pleasantly surprised to see what helped to develop. He warns the reader that creating a successful product is more than just coming up with a great idea. If you are working on your idea and do NOT have a huge company behind you, then this is perfect for you.

Baker tells you the basics of what you need on your team: a person in Finance, Engineering, Industrial Design, Marketing and Manufacturing. You cannot create the dream without a team. I like that he just doesn't tell you to grab 5 other people who don't think like you do. He explains product development with segments on Concept Design, Pre-production and Product and a few more elements that are needed.

Baker' segment on marketing is a little light and asks you to estimate if you can capture 5% or 30% of the market with a caveat that it takes time to capture a market. You get someone on your team that does marketing, and then they should be able to handle that for you. Baker shares why you should outsource and answers manufacturing questions that left unanswered would sink your entire project. I love that he covers PR for your product. So few business books ever do, unless of course they are about PR.

I recommend this book for the person at home or in his office inventing something new. If you learn from someone who has been successful at it, you can duplicate their success. This book is full of meat and I rate it an L.A. 8!