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From baby products to portable billboards, Murrieta inventor Mike Donine makes his living thinking up solutions to everyday problems.
You may have seen his latest creation, The Xcuse Box, at Target.
The $10 key chain accessory plays high-quality background noises, including sirens and a carpenter’s saw, that make it believable when you tell a chatty friend you have to get off the phone or let your boss know you have to miss a meeting.
The box, which has 10 one-minute sound bites, also can be found at Rancho Carwash in Murrieta, in the Solutions catalog, online at XcuseBox.com and soon at Restoration Hardware stores.
Selling ideas is the hardest part of the process, said Andrew Krauss, who teaches inventors to market their products through the 2,500-member Inventors Alliance.
‘There’s a whole host of people who just have ideas, but ideas aren’t worth much if you’re not able to sell them,’ Krauss said.
Most inventors don’t have the business sense for manufacturing, bookkeeping, marketing and managing cash flow, Krauss said.
That’s where Donine’s business background comes in handy. In the meantime, Donine said he is enjoying the satisfaction of being an inventor.
‘Life is more fun because you don’t know what’s coming around the corner,’ he said. ‘You’re looking for the project that will catapult you to wealth, but in the meantime, it’s an adventure.’
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