I know a guy who was actually successful inventing a couple things and making money. He says you really have to arrange your own manufacturing and distribution if you want to make money. The guy who invents stuff seldom sees a dime if he trusts a manufaturer not to knock him off or a distributor not to rip him off.
You will probably get knocked off anyway and if you don't have pretty deep pockets for lawyers the other guy will get away with it.
At least that was his experience.
The secret is to actually get a marketable product in the field, with a reasonable cost of product and a reliable supply chain before the copycats can get a foothold.
