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Managing the design process
Understand the steps you should take when trying to turn an idea into a product
Eliminating ideas that are not viable
Understanding when a product will not be viable is important to prevent wasting time and money
Exploring your ideas
How to innovate and develop your business ideas
Commercialisation options for your invention
Three straightforward ways of getting your invention to market: manufacture and sell yourself, license it or collaborate with another business
Science parks
Support and benefits of science parks, including technology transfer and business incubation
Support for protecting your ideas
Get professional help from intellectual property advisers, a patent attorney or a trade mark attorney to protect your intellectual property in an invention
Find manufacturers to build a prototype
Sources of information on product designers and manufacturers who can help you develop your invention
Support for product safety and testing
How to arrange product safety assessment, and where to find testing laboratories, services and product certification in the UK
Support for developing your ideas
Where to get help to develop new product ideas if you're looking to manufacture, market, sell or license your inventions
Record-keeping best practice
Good record keeping habits and the "four S" approach: system, separate, security, storage.
Purchase ledger
What to record in a purchase ledger to keep track of how much money you owe.
Wages book
The value of maintaining a wages book and how to manage it if you employ staff.
Digital financial records
Reasons for keeping computer-based financial records and how to choose bookkeeping and accounting software packages.
5 top tips for record-keeping
Record-keeping top tips to help you pay the tax you owe and keep an eye on financial activities.
IP rights: copyright
What is copyright, when does it apply, and how you can use it to protect your intellectual property
IP rights: trade marks
What are trade marks, and how to register trade marks to protect your brand, products or business
IP rights: designs
An overview of design as an intellectual property asset and advice on how to use unregistered and registered designs to secure your IP
IP rights: patents
What is a patent, how to apply for one, and how to use and enforce it to protect your business' intellectual property
Sales ledger
The basics of using a sales ledger to monitor the money coming into your business.
What should my record-keeping system include?
The legal requirements for a record-keeping system.