Ask who your end user will be

Keep it narrow.

While everyone may benefit from the product, realize that not everyone will buy it.

Start an inventor’s notebook. You can use a composition book, but don’t tear out any pages. In great detail, describe the process used to create your product. Have someone with no financial stake in your idea sign each page to certify that she understands your process.

After you’ve determined that you have a worthy product and you’ve documented how you created it, it’s time to legally protect your invention by applying for a patent – or at the very least, a provisional patent. Provisional patent applications act as temporary placeholders that allow inventors to file inexpensively without including a formal patent claim, oath or declaration. Once you file one, you’ll have one year to investigate factors such as the invention’s feasibility and patentability.