A New Twist On Licensing

Bob Oros of Business Development Resources www.bdrinnovate.com truly knows the ins and outs of working with corporations better than anyone else I know. After all, he has worked for major corporations marketing and developing over-the-counter products, foods and beverages, etc., for more years than he will admit to.

In 1983 he founded Business Development Resources, a marketing consultancy specializing in new business and new product development and innovation. BDR’s client roster is “bipolar” with corporate clients on one end and inventors and entrepreneurs on the other.

Domino’s Pizza “Heat Wave” delivery bag and P♥M Wonderful Pomegranate Juice are two projects in which the company played a major role from inception through strategic development.

Now here is a little secret that most people don’t know. A lot of corporate executives like to keep their hand in the business when they retire. They do this by becoming an Angel Investor, helping startups break into their field. However, most inventors hear Angel Investor and try to pitch their baby changing table to someone who spent a lifetime working for the Ralston Purina company then wonder why they didn’t seem interested.

Bob has spent his time developing relations with all the top people he comes in contact with and is now putting all that hard work to a new use. When he finds a project that he feels has potential but the client may not have the resources to develop it properly, he calls upon his contacts “In That Field” to see if they have an interest. This is HUGE !!!

Just imagine, an inventor goes to XYZ Company with a product that is perfect for them, the VP of Product Development actually likes the product but isn’t too sure. The safest answer is NO. Now imagine that same VP gets a call from the person who had his job before they retired  and mentions that they invested in this product. If you were that VP would you be more inclined to give it more attention? I think so.

Most of the information out there regarding licensing to large companies is far from the truth. As he did in the past, Mr. Oros will also be giving us a no holds barred, slap in the face, reality check on how to get your product licensed to real corporations. It may not be easy but it can be done if you approach it correctly   .

Better Than FREE Inventors EXPO
It is FREE to Attend, FREE to Exhibit And FREE to hear our Speakers.
What could possibly be better than FREE? Winning Money !!!
That’s right folks, the Inventors Society of South Florida (ISSF) has out done themselves this time. Every exhibitor has a chance of winning one of the 4 the People’s Choice Awards, every participant of the Pitch Event has a chance of winning one of 4 monetary prizes for their pitch or product or both and every Registered attendee has a chances to win one of 4 monetary prizes.
Attendees can double their chance to win by turning in a People’s Choice Ballot with their name and phone number on it. Attendees who register on line and check off their name on the sheet at the ISSF booth will get 2 more chances. That’s 4 tickets in all!!!
You don’t have to be an inventor to attend. Anyone with an interest in the business or simply curious will be welcomed with open arms.
It will be held at the Main Branch of the Broward County Library 100 South Andrews Ave. Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 from 11:00 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday 2/9/19.

We have two incredible speakers who are well known by the independent Inventor community, Louis Foreman of Everyday Edisons, Edison Nation and Inventors Digest and The King of Licensing himself , Stephen Key. For more information about Louis Foreman go here http://www.inventors-society.net/louis-foreman/ and for more information about Stephen Key go here http://www.inventors-society.net/stephen-key/ . You are not going to want to miss a single pearl of inventing wisdom from either of these men.
They will take the stage again along with Leo Mazur the President of ISSF for a Pitch Event where 7 inventors will get valuable feedback as well as compete to win prestige and Money.

Trade Show Know How

A crucial element to the success of a product is getting the Voice Of the Consumer or Customer known in corporate circles as the VOC. Last month, we learned a number of ways to achieve this. However, one of the best ways to get the opinions of a lot of pertinent people is to do Trade Shows, Home Shows, Conferences and EXPOs. Picking the right show will yield a concentration of experts and professionals as well as interested individuals. The bigger the show, the better the exposure. Unfortunately, the higher the cost. As Independent Inventors, we need to get the most bang for our buck.

Skyline Exhibit Craft www.skyline.com is one of the largest portable and custom modular exhibit company in the world. They have nearly 80 dealers in North America, representation in 30 other countries and well over 100,000 clients. So it may be hard to believe that the late Gordon Savoie founded the company in the back seat of his car in 1980. When he realized the principals of a pop up tent could be adapted into making lightweight, versatile trade show exhibits. A real American Dream come true story if I ever heard one. They have amassed over 100 patents in the industry.

Wayne Litsky joined the company in 1996 and in 2006 became a partner as well as the Director of Operations for the South Florida and Caribbean dealership.

Tammy Fernos is Director of Technology and Design. She joined the company in 2005 and is on the forefront of making the dreams of their customers come true.

Together they possess the talent and knowledge to develop the proper strategy to convey the best possible image for the product or service. The amount of possibilities will astound you. On top of that, they will also be giving a number of pointers regarding trade show etiquette like put your cell phone away and engage the public.

The Key To Your Future

Just about every “yet to be successful inventor” I know has the following traits in common A) they have tons of Great Ideas, B) they don’t have a lot of money and C) they have a multiple of reasons why, they don’t develop those ideas into successful products. The Successful Inventors I know start off with A). They too have a ton of Great Ideas but they take the bull by the horns and develop the best ones into commercially viable products. How do they do that?

They start by determining the state of the art by doing patent, product and industry searches. You need to be an expert in the field you are inventing in to make a valuable contribution to it. Then, guided by the Voice Of the Consumer or Customer (VOC), they develop a commercially viable product but how do you get the VOC? Market Research, plain and simple. If you don’t know the needs and wants of your target market, how are you ever going to fulfill them.

Jennifer Dale of www.insideheads.com is a market research junky. She is addicted to finding answers to questions that most other people would never even think to ask. As a practicing researchaholic myself, I found this woman to be a fountain of knowledge with incredible focus.

She will show you how to define your demographic, conduct a number of different information gathering techniques, use that information to create a profile or define additional issues that need to be addressed, the difference between quantitative and qualitative analysis, etc., etc.. What you will learn in one afternoon will astound you but it doesn’t stop there. Through her website she can help you do it yourself or do the research for you.

One of the most important things any professional and inventor needs to do is evolve with their field of expertise. Ms. Dale has done so with a vengeance. She worked with Amy Yoffie at Research Connections to develop two of the first web-based online platforms for conducting surveys and focus groups. Jennifer also co-authored Qual-Online, the Essential Guide and published innumerable articles regarding the subject. One that I enjoyed was Made Marian (How sex surveys launched online qualitative research).

Can you handle the TRUTH ?

Just about every inventor I know, dreams about licensing their product to a large company. Then just sitting back and collecting millions and millions of mailbox money. There are all sorts of books, videos, etc., propagating the myth that it is just that easy. Get real! If it was that simple, the streets would be littered with millionaires.

Charles W. Grimes of Grimes LLC www.gandb.com knows the Truth. He has worked extensively in all facets of intellectual property law and has managed the worldwide trademark portfolios of leading consumer product companies. He has represented inventors, artists, authors, illustrators, musicians, photographers, toy and game designers, software designers, entertainment and sports personalities as well as other individuals in every imaginable field of creative endeavor.

Chuck, as he prefers to be called, is a prolific author, has served as the editor for Licensing Journal and IP Litigator, is a Adjunct Professor at the Ave Maria School of Law and … you guessed it, he is also an inventor. I ‘d have to say he is pretty darn knowledgeable about this stuff. You can check out his profile here http://bit.ly/35Zgob6
When we spoke, I was blown away by his no holds barred approach to telling inventors the way it is. He asked me if the inventors in my group would be open to hear this, I thought to myself, every inventor in the world should be required to hear this but I simply said, yes.
So let me ask YOU. Are you content to be just a dreamer or can you handle the TRUTH ?
Let’s see if you got the B … backbone strong enough to hear Chuck Grimes give you the truth about inventing and licensing.

Disruptive Innovation

This has been the key phrase in the corporate world for quite some time now but what is it, what does it mean? When Steve Jobs pitched his personal computer idea to IBM the company rep told him in no uncertain terms that ‘Computers are for business. Nobody will want a personal computer.’ The idea was too disruptive for him to grasp.
In 1959 Ermal Fraze invented the pop top can which was a totally disruptive invention. Not only did it change the industry, it changed the world! It was responsible for a rash of foot injuries as well as fatal swallowings. It took 17 years of engineers working diligently to solve the problem when another disruptive invention that we all know and love, the Sta-Tab, replaced it.
Alla Adam is truly a disruptive personality. She is always working on the cutting edge of various disciplines. Just check out her Linked In page www.linkedin.com/in/alladamartin/
She will be giving us a presentation on,
• Disruptive Innovation how inventors can benefit from it.

• Invent for social good and earn 2 in 1

• Minimal Viable Idea what is it and how it can attract investors.
Just about every inventor that I talk to wants to license their inventions to large companies. This is how it’s done. Large companies have floors full of engineers, designers, etc., improving their products and coming up with new ones. So why do they need us? Open Innovation Portals are a relatively new concept but are catching on like wild fire. What are they looking for in submissions? Disruptive Innovation !!!
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In keeping with our theme, Making Money In 2020, here is a dream come true for those motivated enough to take advantage of a program like this which Project Manager Douglas Saenz describes as:

CareerSource Broward’s Start-Up Now is a unique entrepreneurship training program in South Florida that helps people bring their innovative ideas to life. We partner with the Innovation Hub @ Broward College to bring you a demanding and profitable hands-on learning experience that will challenge you.  This rigorous yet rewarding program has launched 27 companies.

Facilitated and mentored by entrepreneurs, investors and C-level professionals, we offer you about $25,000 worth of best practices, education and mentoring.  Your commitment is to start your business and meet specific deliverables.

I describe it as Awesome!!! Basically, it is a structured program that teaches you how to (1) determine product-market fit, (2) write a business plan, and (3) create a pitch deck. Currently, all program costs are underwritten by our sponsors.

However, it is not for the faint of heart because it is a rigorous program. You, have to be committed and willing to give it your all.

After a four-week Boot Camp covering the basics of entrepreneurship, marketing and accounting, the Lean Launchpad phase helps you determine product-market fit. This methodology is used by start-ups and establish companies launching new products.

Next, Start-Up+ teaches you how to write a business plan and pitch, and shows you what to look for in the critical next steps. The final phase – Launch – holds you accountable to your business
plan and provides the encouragement and push to execute your plan.
If you are licensing your product, you must still determine product-market fit. And licensing instead of manufacturing it yourself is simply a different go-to-market strategy.