Thanks Ron for the heads up. Also hope it is more than a fall surge.

ron, i agree with you…it was easy for me to contact the last two companies to consider my product for licensing…..i could not believe it…maybe because i am not contacting the behemoths?….just mid-size companies…they seem receptive to innovation right now…..

That is good Eva that you are contacting mid size companies now. Us little guys really have NO BUSINESS contacting the biggest companies from way down where we are. It just isn’t done that way. People that I see do that over and over I usually see fail and then give up on this field unless they had some kind of connection to the company.

The right way for us little guys to deal with big companies and a product is to start with a small company, build a sales history and business structure for the product as well as a KNOWLEDGABLE business plan based on history not dreams…and then sell out to the large company.

If you look at the brands of many large companies, they were never started from scratch. They were bought out from little companies as this way is much less work and risk for the large company.

Why should a large company risk 3 million on a launch with you when they can buy a business with a product, sales history, list of distributors, consumer following etc. for 10 million let’s say.

Good for you Eva. You have learned something very important in this field. The large companies tend to treat you like a mosquito and the small companies can welcome you with open arms sometimes.

Ron Komorowski
Inventor of Handi-Straps
www.handi-straps.com

Glad to see others are working my angle and making it work. As I have been telling everyone here you can be a speck with the big boys or a flagship product with a medium or small company.

http://www.rogerbrown.net

i contacted the mid-size company two weeks ago and talked to someone the same day…i just got an email back from the bigger company yesterday telling me who i need to contact and that they only look at us patented products….

a huge difference in experiences

Roger, In one post I think you said your site wasnt great , it looks ok to me, but the all white background gives the impression I think, that it is under construction -congratulations on all those good products!!
one another thing I could not make out the glasses picture for a while, maybe it was just me.

I have a few potential contract manufacturers showing interest in manufacturing a consumer goods product I designed (using 3-D CAD) and prototyped. One of those companies showed me a product (from another client) that was produced overseas and now the inventor wants to manufacturer it domestically due to quality problems. The manufacturing cost from potential contract manufacturers has seem to decrease due to the economy.

I have seen a wide range of tooling quotes (injection-molding) from potential contract manufacturers that I have been in contact with, and the mid-size companies have been better at returning my calls. Trying to find a brand that I can license my product to in exchange for royalties is another option I am considering, if I can get a favorable agreement.

Which companies would be considered mid sized companies?

Brendan, thanks for the comments on the site. I am working with an EN member now to update the site. They are doing a fabulous job making the site look professional. I will post their name if they give me permission to do so.
Christopher, you are correct mid-sized companies are more willing to work with you . They are doing it to survive, plus they want to expand and grab more of the market share. That is how they become the big companies.
Margaret, that depends on each catergory of company and the market they are after. Lets take toys, Mattel would be considered a giant in that industry, Monkey Business Sports who does my power pitch horseshoes and Knockout Hockey would be considered mid-ranged. They make quality toys and have shelf presense in a number of large chains, but don’t quite have the reach of Mattel….yet. : )

Eva, your experience is the same as mine. The mid-sized company was more eager to discuss things with me and quicker to respond. The bigger company has so many layers of levels that you have to go through to get to the right person.

http://www.rogerbrown.net

Roger,

How and when can I get a copy of your new book Guerilla Inventing? Although I can do the product design, and locate potential contract manufacturers, what I am really looking for is information on how to negotiate royalties, and/or licensing with a brand. Is this information contained in your book?

I have a meeting in a few weeks with a distributor, and I think my product would be complimentary to their existing product line. The contact manufacturer I am talking to is also very interested, and I have another meeting with them soon on my revised design (2nd prototype). Any advice on negotiating tooling costs with a domestic (U.S.) contact manufacturer?