1.Create a Concept Sketch

The first step toward turning your idea into reality is getting it down on paper. Draw your idea to help you visualize your prototype in greater detail. While it is possible to use a digital drawing program for this step, it may be more efficient to start on paper first. For one thing, in the early stages of creating your prototype, you’ll have a lot of ideas running through your mind and competing with each other. You’ll save time by drawing these rapidly on paper instead of investing time perfecting a digital drawing.

Keep a sketch notebook to provide documentation that can be used when submitting your patent. It also may come in handy if you ever need to defend your ownership of your intellectual property. Sketches drawn by hand can carry more weight in court than electronically generated drawings, says intellectual property adviser CreateIP.

2.Develop a Virtual Prototype

At some point it’s going to be invaluable to create a digital sketch of your idea. A standard digital design tool used by engineers and other professionals is AutoCAD, which enables them to make both 2-D and 3-D renderings.

A 3-D rendering lets you rotate and animate your virtual sketch, so you can visualize it from all angles. Tools such as NVIDIA Iray, CATIA Live Rendering and Quadro can further enable you to transform your 3-D drawing into a photorealistic prototype, helping you see approximately how a physical version of your design will look. If you’re not skilled with computer drawing and rendering tools, professional graphic designers or prototype designers can assist you with this step.

3.Build a Physical Prototype

Once you have a virtual prototype, you’re ready to build a physical prototype. If you have the skill, you can build one yourself. If you need help, there are several types of resources you can tap to get this step done. One way is going to a professional prototype designer. An alternative is getting a designer or engineer to build your prototype. If you’re cash-strapped, you might seek out a handyman or advertise at an industrial design college.

Once your first prototype is built, you may find flaws that need to be corrected before you seek a patent. You may need to build several prototypes to get a good one done. Typically, early working prototypes are built of less expensive materials than later versions to save money while fixing design flaws. As you improve your design, you can eventually make a prototype that replicates your actual product as it will be sold to consumers.

4.Locate a Manufacturer

Once you have a working prototype, you’re technically ready to apply for a patent; however, you might want to take the additional step of locating a manufacturer that can produce your product at a profitable price. If your idea is going to be profitable, you need to be able to build it at a cost that is low enough that you can cover expenses without cutting too far into your revenue.

Manufacturers that offer free samples and 3-D printing can help you cut costs both in testing and production phases. For instance, manufacturerApple Rubber provides customized o-ring samples to help you test your prototype and determine how to produce it at a cost-efficient price. Go to multiple suppliers and manufacturers to get estimates, so you can determine the most cost-efficient materials and methods for putting your prototype into production.

5.Prepare Documents for Venture Capitalists

When you manage to get in front of a VC, it's time to close the deal. Here are some of the things you’ll need to remember:

• Elevator pitch: Your first step should be creating a brief elevator pitch to catch their attention. Your summary should be easily understandable by someone with no special industry knowledge. For example, Alibaba was called "The Amazon of China."
• Executive summary: An executive summary is a one to two page summary of your business in case you aren't pitching in person. It should combine elements of your eligible pitch along with an overview of the most important technical details from your business plan.
• Business plan: Your business plan contains full details of how you plan to grow your business, your current financial status, how you will use an investor's money, and how investors will get a return. Be sure to include summaries, headers, and a table of contents as most VCs will only skim the plan unless they're already decided they want to make an investment.
• Presentation/pitch deck: You should create a slideshow that presents the highlights of your business plan in the form of a story and includes visuals such as charts and pictures of your products. Even if you aren't pitching in person, this is still an excellent way to make a compelling case to invest in your company.

Startup accelerators and business incubators

are hard to get into, but for good reason. If you are among the lucky few whose applications are approved, you are most likely going to get access to experienced business mentors, a community of entrepreneurs, private events and workshops, in addition to a slew of perks and discounts for products and services that could help you grow your venture.

1.A mentor at the accelerator knows and recommends you.

It’s fairly easy to find an accelerator’s mentors because they’re typically somewhere on the accelerator’s website. But if you can’t find them there, try searching for the accelerator’s name on LinkedIn, and you’ll likely see that many mentors have listed themselves there. When you reach out, say something like, “I’m interested in going through [name of accelerator] and know you’re a mentor there. Would you be free for a coffee where I can pick your brain on our startup and get your take on whether you think we could be a fit for the accelerator?”
When you do connect, realize that mentors do what they do for a reason—because they love to help. But I think the standard insight, “Ask for advice and you’ll get money, but ask for money and you’ll get advice” comes into play here. Instead of asking about how to get into the accelerator, simply ask for advice and watch how much the mentor will be willing to help you

2.The Financials

Of all the documents that you’re going to be expected to be armed with, the financials are the most ima

The Financials

Of all the documents that you’re going to be expected to be armed with, the financials are the most important. Most venture capital firms are going to expect a reasonable four-year projection of the income and expenses of the business. They’ll want to know how quickly you’ll be able to get the business to break even. They’ll want to know what you’re intend to use their money for.
And, of course, they’ll want to know how you intend to get their investment back to them — with a healthy return.
You should be prepared to provide an income statement, use of proceeds, and breakeven analysis, at the very least.

portant. Most venture capital firms are going to expect a reasonable four-year projection of the income and expenses of the business. They’ll want to know how quickly you’ll be able to get the business to break even. They’ll want to know what you’re intend to use their money for.
And, of course, they’ll want to know how you intend to get their investment back to them — with a healthy return.
You should be prepared to provide an income statement, use of proceeds, and breakeven analysis, at the very least.

3.Due diligence

for startups can seem like a scary process. After all, you want to make the angel investor comfortable enough to follow through and write that check. I’m going to give you my perspective on due diligence and some of the key factors to due diligence for you to focus on so the process will be smooth as possible. Remember, every angel investor has their own process for completing due diligence on a startup, but there are some basics you can focus on the get ready.

When angel investors like me cut checks for entrepreneurs, there’s often a multi-step process involved. First, the entrepreneur and I have to meet. Usually, there’s a presentation and a series of questions between the investor and the entrepreneur. If all that looks good, the next stage of the process is due diligence for the startup.

This step varies between investors as there are no universal criteria for what each investor will want to see. One investor might focus on one aspect of your business, like your IP, while another might want to know more about your growth potential.