The thought of inventing a new technology can seem like one that should only be entertained in your wildest dreams, but every year it is becoming a more realistic goal for the average person. If you were to try to develop an app or software 20 years ago, you would need to be highly proficient in one or more areas of computer-based design, whether it be graphical or coding-based. Today, there are tools that simplify and streamline everything, so you don’t need to be a major nerd to understand and create new technologies anymore.
In fact, here are ten exact reasons why releasing a tech invention isn’t the far-fetched dream that it used to be:
1. Degree Programs Can Get You Started
Getting a degree to become an entrepreneur or inventor isn’t always on the top of a student’s priorities because it can seem like a gamble. However, academia has come a long way just in the past ten years, creating all sorts of new specializations and courses that accommodate the rapidly changing facts and fields within the broad scope of technology. For example, you can even earn a Master’s in electrical and computer engineering with a specialization in advanced mobility to start working on autonomous vehicle systems.
2. You Don’t Need to Know Programming Languages Anymore
Let’s face it, the requirement of having to learn an incredibly complicated programming language is one of those challenging prerequisites that keeps many otherwise creative individuals away from technological development. With the advent of many visual design tools, it’s possible to drag and drop components as you see fit until you arrive at a design you like and then use buttons to insert certain features within apps, desktop programs, and website pages. You can create almost any kind of interface nowadays without knowing how to program.
3. Manufacturers Make the Prototyping Process Easy
Building a prototype used to be one of those things that you would need a shop and an extensive collection of tools to facilitate. Nowadays, you can collaborate with some of the most advanced manufacturers in the world from the comfort of your email inbox. You can tell them exactly what you want and they’ll make it happen while giving a you a rock-bottom price that provides plenty of room for profit margin.
4. You Can Outsource the Engineering
If you have the funds to invest in outsourced engineering services, all you need to get started is the idea and the willingness to invest your funds and effort into the project. You can consult with a team of engineers to find design solutions that will turn your product idea into a real, functioning idea with a matter of days or weeks.
5. There are Even Apps that Let You Make Apps
Making an app seems like it would be tough, and it also seems like it’s a mandatory thing to have for any serious brand or tech device. With smart devices and app-based platforms being ubiquitous, you feel like you absolutely must have an app. That’s okay, because with a bit of practice, you can design an app using an app or online platform. That’s a simple realization but also one that’s pretty profound if you think about it because it’s a reminder that, if you can use an advanced app, you can also create an app.
6. Many Tech Inventors Aren’t Geniuses
If you’ve ever watched interviews given by certain corporate leaders, inventors, and tech moguls, some of them aren’t exactly the most elegant or advanced individuals. In fact, many of them simply started with a marketable idea for a product and then capitalized on it from a very straightforward entrepreneurial perspective. With the design aspects being outsourced, it doesn’t take a genius to recognize a need for a product and bring it to the market, but it will take plenty of research and persistence.
7. It’s a Pay to Play Game
Like many other industries, the product design and distribution industries have become “pay to play” arenas where anyone who has the money to invest can bring incredibly complex devices to the market without personally having any technological expertise. If you’re looking for a way to invest an inheritance, real estate commission, your savings, or any other moderate sum of money, the eCommerce market provides substantial opportunities to products that are first to market within an emerging tech niche.
8. Marketing is Half the Battle
If you understand how to market a business or even have a vague idea of how it might be done, you already have about 25% of what it takes to become a tech inventor. If you were to take a course or complete a degree program related to marketing, you’d be about 50% of the way there. From there, the other 50% is split between the inherent marketability of your product idea and the manufacturers/suppliers you choose to deal with.
9. Anyone Can Come Up with an Idea
Now that we’ve established that all you need is money to invest and a great idea, can you think of how many interesting thoughts you’ve had about new products or features that would make your own life easier? We have those kinds of revelations all the time – it’s just about finding and running with the one that jumps out at you and says “people will want me.”
10. Technology is Becoming Simpler Every Day
Every time a new technology is invented, it makes the future technologies just a little bit easier for the next generation of consumers. User-friendly technology has made it possible for people to perform advanced tasks and processes that they wouldn’t have been able to do in the past. For example, someone can now trade stocks and invest in diversified financial portfolios form the comfort of their smartphone.
Your Grandkids Will Probably Be Inventing Things the Same Way They’d Play a Game
As the gap between the complexity of industrial tech and consumer technology continues to fade, and services like custom product design and manufacturing become more accessible, the option of coming up with a new tech invention and releasing it to the masses becomes a more practical aspiration year after year.
