I had a problem. A small problem. A problem that kept nagging at me.
What was irritating me was when I would sit outside on the metal outdoor bench, when I would get up in bench would jump up slightly from the one side. I wondered how I could fix this problem. What could I use to stop the wobbling?
I gave it some thought about couldn’t come up with anything that was an elegant solution. Sure, you can find something in your house to stop a table or chair leg from wobbling but will it be unnoticeable and effective? You don’t want to continually have to get bits of plastic or other material and keep putting it under the bench leg.
So I decided the next time I went to a store in my local community that stocks a range of different household products to look for something that may be on the market. At the store, the cashier took me right to the back to a stand where she showed me a small wedge that can be placed under a table, a chair or an appliance such as a fridge or washing machine. The products is called GECKO Wobble Wedges. It seems that the ZA Patent for this product was initiated in 2010. The product itself is a small rubber disk in a shallow conical shape. You use it to place it under a table or chair that might be wobbling.
When I got home I tried out the product by placing it underneath the leg of the metal outdoor bench. It works well although it is not invisible meaning that you can still see some of the plastic. If they had made one that was slightly smaller it would look more attractive. But anyway the product works – it does the job.
A simple solution for a small problem. This is the genesis or origin of this product. Often it’s an irritation or problem that can spark the idea for a new product. The idea, the original concept needs form. You need to give your idea form by doing a drawing or making a prototype. The wedge, for example, could have been made out of simple rubber that could have been filed or sanded into the first prototype. Before rushing off to a rubber or plastics manufacturer, it would be a good thing to consider a market analysis to estimate demand for your product. Later on, before you show it to others, you might want to obtain a patent or copyright or even trademark your idea so that it won’t be illegally copied by others.
If you want to come up with an idea yourself, if you want to produce, market and sell your own product, if you need a new source of income, you may want to get hold of a book called “Breakthrough Ideas”, which will guide you from generating ideas through to product development and marketing and selling.
