Bookmark and Share

How to Sell Your Invention

By JOHN TOZZI
Filed Under: Marketing
Deciding how to bring your revolutionary new product to market is a challenge. Here are some basics to set you on the right road.



So you've created a brilliant new product you know will fly off store shelves. Maybe you're considering patenting it or building prototypes.

But how do you sell it?

The business of patenting, promoting, and marketing products by independent inventors is a $300 million industry, estimates Bonnie Griffin Kaake, executive director of the nonprofit United Inventors Assn. Indeed, there's a host of services to help independent inventors turn their ideas into sales. They range from courses on how to sell inventions to online marketplaces that match innovators with corporate buyers or companies that buy inventions outright.

Tread Carefully Before Paying a Fee

Those familiar with the invention business broadly agree on a few things. Would-be inventors should know the marketplace and be able to explain the value of their product. They shouldn't expect big payoffs up front, and they should be wary of paying a fee to someone promising to sell their idea.

More From BusinessWeek

    But most inventors spend too much time and money trying to protect their ideas, and not enough selling them, says Steven Key, an inventor and co-founder of inventRight, which sells educational CDs to inventors. Key advises against rushing into the lengthy and costly patent process, because 97% of the patents he sees never make any money, he says. Instead, he says inventors can protect their ideas as "patent pending" with a provisional patent for a $100 fee, and tweak the product while marketing it to manufacturers. "It gives you one year to kind of fish off the pier," says Andrew Krauss, Key's business partner and president of the Inventors Alliance, a California-based educational and networking group for inventors.

    Key and Krauss advocate pitching ideas cold to companies that might be interested with a one-page sell-sheet that concisely explains the idea's value. Inventors should target midsize companies in growth stages, Key says, because it's often hard to get on the radar of a big corporation and startups may not have the capital to invest in outside ideas. When contacting a company, inventors should pitch their ideas to someone in sales or product managers in marketing, not top-level executives, who are too busy, he says.

    An Intermediary Can Help

    Independent inventors have other options to get their ideas in front of corporate buyers. Corporations hire firms like the nine-year-old Yet2.com to license products for their science and technology needs, essentially outsourcing part of their research and development. Chief Executive Officer Phil Stern says Yet2.com can be an intermediary for inventors if their products match his clients' needs. "We'll try to take it as far as we can in terms of screening and making sure it's a good fit before we make a direct connection, which usually results in a confidentiality agreement," says Stern.

    All the fees are paid by the buyers, which include companies like Honeywell, Microsoft, and Siemens. But Stern stresses that inventions must have proven value before his clients will consider them. "Without any kind of test data or any kind of proof that this does something novel, it's really just a waste of their time," he says.

    Stern also warns inventors not to seek big licensing fees up front or huge shares of the royalties because manufacturers still shoulder most of the risks of an unproven product. Key and Krauss of inventRight agree that inventors shouldn't ask corporations for money "to go out and buy a Corvette." Instead they should seek the buyer's help in developing the idea into a product. "We teach how to convince the manufacturer to upgrade the provisional to a full patent and put it in your name," says Krauss.

    Beware Scams

    Other companies offer to help inventors get their products in front of potential buyers for a fee, although this area is rife with scams. "Many, many companies cater to helping inventors and at least 95% are ripping them off," says Krauss. "They don't rip off the ideas, they just empty people's wallets and leave the inventor with a useless design patent and no sales leads."

    More on This Topic

    1. Offshoring Good for Biz?
    2. The New China?
    3. Overseas Manufacturing
    4. Make It Anywhere
      John Tozzi is a freelance writer for BusinessWeek.com.

      Bookmark:

      Recent Comments

      Post Your Own  
      1 - 10 of 22
      22 comments

      jobabc2 10:51:02 PM Sep 12 2008

      Report This!

      I have been working on a game-like problem solving, goal setting, strategizing, life management/organizing second to none product that is presently undercapitalized. It's visual, auditory and touch oriented, has it's roots in several achievement oriented disciplines and is very broad reaching in it's applications as well as market.Looking for interesting relationship with like minded individual/company. I am research/design oriented. You are end user or minimally an investor. Together we can improve lives while having fun. Over ten years of off and on purposeful tinkering/seminar attending to get to this point. Much potential. many related concepts. All to be seamless and elegant. John

      zz6pxl 07:02:15 PM Sep 12 2008

      Report This!

      If anyone needs a patent draftsman to capture your idea, I'm your man. Been doing it for 25 years now.Check out my splash page: www.cadproductdesigns.comI'm here to help!

      myperfectplace 04:55:40 PM Sep 12 2008

      Report This!

      I developed a website to help the real estate market get moving. It is www.perfectplacecontest.com. You can use the site to offer your home for a prize in the contest . There is an entry fee, $50.00 -$200.00 for the current contests. The amount of entries are limited equal the value of the home. . making the odds goood for winning and alloe=wing the owner of the property to get the money for what the property is worth. The winner can get a home for his use, a vacation home or an ivestment property with income. He has no mortagage. Real esstate agents can bring their clients and get their custumary commission

      simmonsfrs 02:31:05 PM Sep 11 2008

      Report This!

      I have a product that I have been working with for a couple of years. It's a tool carrying device with an attachment for clamping. I am not a rich person and need advice to get it out to the public.I have two prototypes. What I could use is a partner who knows his/ her way around the business aspects. J.Simmons simmonsfrs@aol.com

      cheerfulpictures 11:23:25 AM Sep 11 2008

      Report This!

      It's the same thing with books. I just read THE FIVE PEARLS. A great coming-of-age novel about five tadpoles (a new name for teen slackers/outsiders) in an after school program. Author Barry Hickey invented characters straight out of my dysfunctional house and put them on paper for all to read.That is his invention. The novel's theme, moral and message is what the invention offers us in society for change. A dying man , an old nurse and a crooked insurance agent are the catalysts for the change in what the tadpoles do with their lives. As a reader, I compare my mind to a microwave. I can put many things inside it, but if I add tin foil (drugs) my head will explode!

      oaksalmon 09:34:30 PM Jul 12 2008

      Report This!

      I developed a delicious seafood product called Oak-Grilled Salmon. My customers included Williams -Sonoma, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's Stores, Costco Wholesale and others.I would like to partner with a larger company to realize my products full potential.my contact oaksalmon@aol.com

      oraclegroup1 12:22:45 PM Jul 12 2008

      Report This!

      Maybe usefulDAD

      imaginarymotors 11:57:06 AM Jun 29 2008

      Report This!

      ImaginaryMotors@aol.com is the best way to send suggestions. Check the website and let me know your opinion. It's all about the research.

      imaginarymotors 11:55:20 AM Jun 29 2008

      Report This!

      I agree with westnova. My patented invention is slow to market but I'll give it the time to do it right. You can buy them one at a time, or you can buy the whole patent ! ha Check my fledgling website at www.ImaginaryMotors.com and send me suggestions, please.

      jayaustinmoore 04:57:20 AM Jun 26 2008

      Report This!

      MORE OIL...LESS KOOKS

      1 - 10 of 22
      22 comments

      Add your own Comments

      Clear
      Add

      The Startup

      The Startup

      The Startup, the web's premiere online reality show for small business owners, is back for its third season! Watch as we follow four entrepreneurs to see how they're making their businesses come to life.

      1. The Startup

        Small Business Checklists

        It can be difficult to keep up with all the details involved in running a small business. Don't lose track of the details -- use a checklist to keep yourself organized.

        1. Checklist: Starting a Business
        2. Checklist: Closing a Business
        3. Index of Small Business Checklists

          Small Business Success Stories

          1. More Than Moonlighting
          2. Reality TV Leads to Small Biz Success
          3. From Couple to Business Partners
          4. Build-A-Bear's Founder Shares Her Story

            Helpful Resources

              AOL Coaches

              Jake Steinfeld

              Business Coaches
              Starting your own business can be a daunting task. With AOL's Small Business Coaches, you can get the best advice to guide you through the process.