While a single patent can be circumvented, a portfolio of patents offers much stronger protection. To build a comprehensive patent portfolio, you would file multiple patent applications.  Each of the patent applications would focus on different aspects of your idea.  Here are a few ideas on how you can file multiple patent applications. 

• Product Patents: Focus on the product itself.
• Method Patents: Protect the methods or processes of using the product. Competitors might avoid infringing on a product patent but might still infringe on a method patent if they use similar steps.
• Component Patents: Patent individual components of your invention.
• Usage Patents: Secure patents for various ways to use your product.

By creating multiple layers of patents, you make it significantly harder for competitors to bypass your intellectual property.

Don’t worry about the cost.  Typically, the patent applications are filed sequentially or after the original patent application has been granted.  This way, the cost is spread out over time and the profits of your product pays for the patent portfolio.