Seeing Dr. C

I get to see the new & improved Halloween style finger today. I'm going to take a picture of it because I'm one of those people who wants to see. I look once and look away. Then
I have to look again, more closely, really look, you know? My Aunt Jeannette is like this, too, only more. I think she'll even ask if she can touch! Laughing.

Hopefully I'll get the use of some of the fingers on my left hand soon. I'll let you know on Friday.

On A Break....

With a broken finger! Visit www.themondaymotivator.blogspot.com for all the details.
I'll get back as soon as I can!

Up To Date

At this point, we're waiting for our second round of prototypes to come back and to have a discussion about costs. Once we know how much one pair of gloves costs to make, we can factor in all the other costs and people (us!) who need to get paid, we can then know if the whole licensing deal is going to be profitable. We're still targeting a fall 2009 date for our gloves to be for sale in stores.

I'll keep you posted on our progress and you keep me in the loop with all of your great ideas!

Standard Advance

The standard advance in a licensing deal is an advance against future royalties. Most contracts are written this way so that they licensee is not paying up front and then again (read as "more") as sales start and increase.

My thoughts on this are if you can give your licensee a good reason to pay you up front without it being contingent on future sales, then you're already ahead of the game. Some of the thoughts I've bounced off my attorney are an up front payment to cease negotiations with other possible licensees (usually a competitor), or payment for valuable contacts already made by me to market and sell the product (QVC and national television publicity). Both of these examples work best in an exclusive license scenario, but if you spend some time thinking about this, you can come up with many ideas that build value in you and your product, make your licensee look good, and basically put and keep more of the money you're intending to make in your bank account.

One more note on this subject, my experience has shown that the potential licensees I've spoken with have been very happy that Dave and I want to work with them on the research (much of which I did before I called them), development, and marketing. All three that I've been in negotiations with have come right out and told me that the everyday inventors they speak with would love nothing more than to drop an idea at their door step and collect a paycheck. It's as if an idea with a provisional patent is a winning lottery ticket. Now let's be honest, we all secretly think this way and wish it were so. We've heard the story of the lady who had this idea, made it at her kitchen table, wore it out in public where someone with influence saw it, loved it, bought it, and made this lady millions. Just like Hollywood, this is not real life.

Large companies love people who are willing to work and do their share to earn their keep. Offer up your services and be willing to follow through. If they want to do it all and pay you, beware; if you're not there, you might be missing out.

Think of ways you can get some good faith consideration up front without it being an advance and remember, anythings possible! Take that for what it's worth and roll up your sleeves, it's time to get to work!

Anything Goes!

One of the things that appeals to me with the area of licensing is that anything goes in negotiating the contract. In fact, there are standards that many use in licensing deals, but from what I'm learning, you can ask for anything you want.

For example, I feel strongly that no one can sell the features and benefits of our gloves better than I can. I'm proposing to our licensee that Dave and I work for their company as contractors rolling out the new line of gloves. Dave and I both have solid backgrounds in sales and marketing so we're certainly qualified. Additionally, people love a mother of invention story. We will ask for an up front payment when we sign our agreement (not an advance as is usually the case - I'll explain this in more detail on Wednesday), and then we'd like to be put on the companies payroll to travel the country doing in-store retail promotions, snow festivals, and introducing the product on QVC. This might appear to be an expensive way to roll out the product line, when in fact, we feel we can sell many more pairs of gloves by sharing our story and allowing other moms, dads, and grandparents get to know us. They will relate to us as we're an average, everyday American family just like they are. This kind of deal not only gives us the down payment for our IP, but it also gives us an income for a year, the opportunity to travel the US as a family, and we don't have an advance coming out of our royalties when they start to roll in.

Will our licensee agree to this kind of arrangement? That's yet to be seen, but we'll certainly put it up for negotiation. Even if we don't get the whole kit and caboodle, we'll certainly get something more than the standard license agreement. Most importantly, it's my opinion that this kind of forward thinking earns respect and will have our business partner thinking just a little more of us as innovators and individuals.

It's Never Fast Enough.

Once your willing to get out of your comfort zone and call the people who can help you get your product to market, the process will never happen as fast as it seems like it's happening. In my experience, every time someone said yes to me, I thought I'd made it.

With one of my potential business partners, every phone call we schedule gives me something to look forward to, and makes me feel like something will come of it. Something does, another step or plan and then (usually) several months before the next phone call. Hurry up and wait.

The reality is, this process is slow, and if you have a day job, keep it. You need to keep making your regular income but while you do, celebrate every single one of those moments that makes you feel like you made it. You only get to travel this road one time, you might bring other products to market, but you'll know the process and it won't ever be like this time again.

Who Will Buy Your Idea?

Is your idea something brand new, or is it something already on the market that you've done better? Either way, you either have to go into business to make it and sell it, or find someone who will do all of that and pay you along the way. The latter is licensing.

The first thing I did was find the companies who make gloves for little hands. I bought their smallest pair and measured the placement of the thumb and then had my son see if he could put them on. As usual, he couldn't put them on so I did as much research as I could about the company to see if they are a prospect for a potential licensing deal.

If I thought they were, I called and asked to speak with someone in their product research department. The people in this area of the company have all picked up the phone and been willing to talk and share details. In all of my cases, they gave me the name and direct phone number to the person I needed to speak with about licensing our idea. Once these conversations started, the signing of NDA's was easy as pie and we were off and running.

If your not willing to make the initial contact with the companies you hope to be business partners with, there's not much hope that they'll call you. Pick up the phone and introduce yourself!