Developing a product -- Seeking advice

You can try to sell the idea, but it wouldn't be worth what the product would be. Several guys here have had luck with the crowfunding, but I am not sure exactly how that works.
If you can swing $15, subscribe and post this in B&I. Lots more traffic there, and the advice is great.

 

Forget the patent or at most file a provisional application for a patent and then go right to the product. You will have 12 months to prove your product has potential and if it does, then you can go back and spend money on the patent filing before the provisional application expires. Even then, a patent will have limited value, as it will take a long time to get and as a small company it is unlikely you will have the financial means to enforce the patent so it becomes moot. It's still useful in the event that 1) someone stealing your idea accuses YOU of patent infringement, or 2) the idea is one of the few that takes off crazy, in which case you'll make money fast enough that you can enforce the patent.

As far as the product, check out kickstarter.com. Detail your product thoroughly, investigate costs of production and make sure you can make a profit, then put it up on kickstarter and solicit pre-purchases. Your pre-purchase money is your start-up funding. If you don't get contributor/buyers, then your idea or at least your presentation of the idea isn't as good as you think, so go back to the drawing board.