Bill Sharp, a friend of yours, has an idea for a new type of kitchen utensil, which will make it easier for busy people to scramble eggs in the morning. He showed his business plan to a local SCORE counselor who told Bill that the business plan was strong, but he needed to produce an actual prototype of his product before anyone would take his idea seriously. Bill can’t understand why he needs to produce a prototype—it’s easy to see on paper what the device will look like and how it will work.

What would you tell Bill?