.Clients
Patent RAIL FENCE MULTI-HANGER
BRACKET
Start by Doing The Following
Your Efforts Will be First to Obtain
a Licensing Agreement
First Make a Prototype –
Describe its multiple uses.
Take Pictures of its varied uses.
Determine the Cost of Manufacturing
Determine the Selling Price
Do research indicating a need for the product.
Describe the uniqueness of the product
Prepare a power point presentation – (we will help you with it)
We will help you with the business plan when the above is accomplished.
LICENSENING COMPANIES
Don’t Use an Invention Licensing Company
Go Direct to Existing Successful Companies
How to Deal With Them
Company’s
license profits, not ideas – the only “benefit” a manufacturer can show its
shareholders for making an investment in your invention is…Profits.
If your
business plan projections clearly show how profits can be made, then prepare a
presentation to show the prospective licensee companies.
One advantage you have in possessing an issued
patent is that you don’t have to be concerned about signing a confidential
disclosure – something most companies require. Since your patent is issued,
it’s already a public document, so show the prospective licensee everything —
including your business plan.
If you
have done your homework with the competitive analysis, and can show the company
– on paper – how they can profit by investing in your patent, then the rest is
simply a matter of negotiation.
If you’ve followed all of the right steps in
trying to find a licensee, and still come up short in closing a licensing deal,
take a hard look at your invention once again.
If you can’t produce the profit potential,
then it may well be “back to the drawing board” – start your next invention
with the knowledge you have gained by trying to bring your current invention to
market.
You have
to become an expert in the field to which your invention applies. You should be
able to rattle off who the competition is, what the potential market size is,
what the projected demand for your product is, and why your product is the best
to meet and satisfy that market demand.
Present
like a Pro. Information you present to potential licensees should be provided
in written form and in a PowerPoint presentation. The information should
include market research data, competitive analysis information, patent status
and extent of coverage
Also
include your product specifications, drawings, prototypes—even if they
demonstrate only what the product looks like without the actual functionality.
Add to this presentation your production cost estimates, testimonials you’ve
collected, and any and all other materials that help demonstrate the potential
your invention has in the marketplace.
Analyze
Your Targeted Licensee. Always do research on the company you’re targeting
prior to pitching them. Check to see if the potential licensee has the
manufacturing and distribution capability you need already in place.
It’s
smart to approach more than one potential licensee to increase your odds for
success. Further, playing multiple bidders off of each other can actually put
some well-needed leverage on your side of the negotiating table by bringing out
the competitive nature of the potential licensees.
There
are no standard royalty rates-they can range from less than 1 percent to more
than 30 percent, but most hover around 5 percent. The actual percentage depends
on various factors and your negotiating skill.
A Do It Yourself Option
1.
Know the costs of starting a business. Internet based businesses are not without cost. It will
probably take time before you start generating revenue, so you will need to
have money or credit on hand to cover the following costs:
·
Hosting – Webhosts are
the services that keep your website up and running. They usually cost $7-$19
per month, depending on how much technical support they offer and the size of
your site.
·
Email Marketing
Service – Building an email mailing list is key to advertising your product and
making money.[6] Start
building your list right away. The typical service costs about $20 per month.
·
·
Shopping cart – If you
are selling products and services that can be bought online, you will want an
online shopping cart for your customers to put them in. Some payment processors
(which are free to set up, but charge a fee per transaction) offer shopping
carts free with their service. Otherwise, they generally cost about $5 per
month.
·
Website design – The
cost of design will vary depending on whether you use a site that builds business
websites for free, build your own site using a service like WordPress (starts
at about $70),[7] or
hire a designer (usually ranges from $1000-$5000).
Make a business
plan. No
matter how small your business, it will benefit from a strategic plan that will
guide you in achieving your goals. You can find more details about how to write
a plan here, but broadly, you will want to include:
·
Your business concept:
what you are offering, your strengths and weaknesses, long term goals, and
performance indicators, beyond the bottom line, which will let you know you are
succeeding or failing.
·
Market research: the
nature of the industry, who is your customers, who are your competitors, how
will you get your product out there?
·
A marketing plan: how
you will communicate with customers and grow your customer base.
·
An operations plan:
identify the individual projects that will lead to completing your larger
goals. To begin with, these might include things like: hiring a designer,
registering your domain, and finding a webhost – all to build a website; or
picking and email marketing service, starting an email list, and writing a
weekly newsletter – all to begin attracting customers.
Do a
Google search - use different key words a buyer would use. Any one looking for
it? Also Search on Amazon and Ebay.
Use Google
Keyword Tool – for what keywords are used for such a product.
Search
Internet “Multi Hangers - Find Sellers
of like product.
Investigate
these competitive companies by conducting a current patent search. See what
patents they currently have,
Finish
your business plan, showing specifics on how the company can cut costs,
increase market share, or increase profits by manufacturing your invention
rather than continuing to build their current product.
If you
can’t show specific profit advantage to a company, you are wasting your time
trying to extol the “benefits” of your invention.
