Sometimes, the key to entrepreneurial success is as simple as altering your perspective.
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What to Ask
Am I focused on the right thing?
“Many companies fall into the trap of building the whole envisioned solution in order to prove a need,” says Edward Caner, executive director of the Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program at Case Western Reserve University. Instead, concentrate on the key component of the invention that could find a market on its own.
Am I seeking a patent too early?
Caner says one of the biggest wastes of time and money in new businesses is to go through a patent process, which can cost $10,000 in fees, without knowing if there is an expected solid market for the product. “Many inventors go blindly into the process,” he says. Hire people who can determine if there is a demand in the market before go through the process.
Is my competitor a potential customer?
Caner says a common mistake that companies make is assuming their customers are the end-users of their products. They miss the potential market of selling to another company who is already making the end product.
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That moment came for ADI Winds CEO Mike Winiasz when he took a second look at a prototype he invented in the 1970s to make broadcloth. The gearbox, which resembles a short cone laid on its side, was intended for a weaving machine. But running it backward might simulate a windmill, Winiasz thought.
Two years after making that observation, the Sheffield-based company is working to get its portable wind turbine to market, with “hope to put it all together in the next year,” Winiasz says.
It wasn’t the first time Winiasz tried to adapt the gearbox. During the 1970s, Advanced Design Industries, the parent company of ADI Winds that is run by Mike’s brother Jerry Winiasz, had tried to adapt the gearbox for pumping oil. But a combination of a strong competitor, stringent industry standards and expensive mandatory testing caused the company to shelve the product altogether.
Mike was the one who years later plucked the model off the shelves and gave it a whirl running backward.
“It worked,” Winiasz says. So ADI Winds built a 120-kilowatt unit specifically for the wind industry. “We’re a little wiser, and a little smarter, and a little bigger than we were [in the ’70s].”
Still, this is the company’s first attempt to develop a stand-alone product. ADI designs and builds specialized machinery for other companies.
“We think that wind power will become more viable if you can make a low-cost unit,” Winiasz says.
A prolific inventor with 46 patents, he created a titanium gearbox that uses one set of gears rather than the typical four to six sets on a standard wind turbine. In turn, the weight of the unit is cut by 400 percent, making it easier to mount. That means it can be up and running in a matter of hours, rather than the days it can take to build a traditional system.
“We have far fewer parts than the normal systems out there,” he says. “And that’s been our goal.”
ADI Winds has targeted the “middle wind” market — those who want to use 100 to 500 kilowatts of power.
“Our philosophy is to start small and work our way up,” he says. “At this point, we’re trying to walk before we run.”
Winiasz believes the gearbox will hit the market in less than two years. His next goal is to find other companies to work with to market and sell the product.
“We’re not a marketing organization,” Winiasz says. “We’re an engineering, design and development organization. …We need to align ourselves with another company or companies that will take this into the next level. We’re working that out right now.”
Plus: Tips for avoiding some common inventor pitfalls.