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THE ONLINE INVENTOR – June 2005 Issue

(c) 2004 Market Launchers, Inc.

http://www.marketlaunchers.com/customer-testimonials.html

Editor:  Paul Niemann

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You are receiving this free newsletter because you signed up for it either at my MarketLaunchers.com web site, or by sending me an e-mail. If you want to unsubscribe, just hit the "reply" button and type in the word "unsubscribe."

PUBLISHER’S NOTES:         The Online Inventor started out as a free monthly newsletter and, while it remains free, I am changing the frequency to every-other-month because I have a lot of things going on right now. In addition to running MarketLaunchers.com and writing a syndicated weekly newspaper column (called Invention Mysteries), I’m also teaching marketing and entrepreneurship at a local university.

In other news, the first-ever New Product Hunt at MarketLaunchers.com is now officially over. More than 35 inventors participated and I sincerely hope that each of you who participated received calls from interested companies.

I hope you enjoy the 3 articles below.

Best Regards,

Paul Niemann

http://www.MarketLaunchers.com

800-337-5758

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Personal Quotes, contributed by Omaha inventor Pepper Aasgaard:

*          “Don't let your idea be invented tomorrow. . .” Spring of 1975
*          “Inventors visualize the future; then make it happen.” Summer of 1995

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Article # 1:      “Psssst! What manufacturers are REALLY looking for!” by Mike Coulton of Benjamin Obdyke, Inc., reprinted from the JAN/FEB/MARCH 2005 issue of Inventors’ Digest with permission.

Historically speaking, few manufacturers have been open-minded about acquiring products that were invented outside of their company. But that’s changing as more and more companies are starting to look for help from independent inventors to expand their product lines.

Our company was founded by an inventor. In 1868, Benjamin Obdyke invented the original corrugated down spout for roof drainage systems, and now we’re turning to outside inventors for help in expanding our product line of home improvement products, particularly exterior roofing and siding products.

Looking beyond their own creative abilities should be a win-win situation for both inventors and manufacturers. We’ve been working with outside inventors formally for more than a year and informally for over 15 years. We’ve found that there are several benefits to doing this. First, we’re now able to choose from among hundreds of new product ideas per year; in the past we were limited to what our own engineers could generate.

Second, product ideas that come from independent inventors are often significantly different from what we would create in-house. This allows us to benefit from their “outside the box thinking.”

Third, our R & D cost per product concept is much lower when we work with outside inventors because the inventor has already incurred the majority of the development cost and patent cost. The downside is that we don’t have much control over what an outside inventor invents. As a result, we’ll often look at 80 to 100 products to find four or five that may fit well with our business and are worth further consideration.

We still rely mostly on our own people for new products; in fact, I don’t think we’ll ever rely exclusively on outside inventors. We allot roughly 20 percent of our research and development effort to working with outside inventors.

While selling or licensing an invention to an existing company is the goal of most independent inventors, it rarely works out that way because most companies do not look outside their company for new products, and inventors often lack either the right product or the know-how to get a deal done.

There’s not much you can do to change the way a company does business, other than to pitch products to them anyway. If they indicate a total lack of interest, it doesn’t hurt to let them know that another company in their industry (one of their competitors) is interested in your product.

But there are several things you can do to improve your chances of licensing a product when you find a company that is open minded to considering your invention.

First, be prepared before contacting a manufacturer. Do your homework; research the company well so that you understand its business, its products and its customers. This will enhance your professional image, and the people you deal with at the company will take you more seriously.

Second, the further along you are in the development stage, the better your chances of getting a second look. Most companies don’t buy undeveloped ideas even if they are open to acquiring new products. We consider the following when we review new product submissions. 

*          The product must fit in with our product line, and it must allow us to offer our customers something that no one else does. If you have a product that might enable us to enter a new market, that’s a big plus. Above all else, it must solve a perceived market need.

*          The product must have a manufacturing cost-to-retail price ratio of no more than 25 percent. That means if the product costs $1 to manufacture, we have to be able to sell it for no less than $4. This will fund marketing and distribution efforts necessary to make the product successful. People have to be made aware the product exists and it has to be available to them where they buy their materials. That costs a tremendous amount of money.

*          The product must have a strong market potential for us. It’s better if you’re already manufacturing and selling it, because any new product without a track record involves a substantial amount of risk, and nothing helps reduce risk like a proven sales history. 

*          You should have a working prototype that shows how your product works and, more importantly, that it does work.

*          We prefer products to be patented or at least patent pending, but we’ll help you obtain a patent if we think it is a marketable idea. If you have a product that isn’t at least patent pending, then we’ll have you fill out a confidentiality form on our web site for your own protection. 

Keep the above items in mind when you call, e-mail or write to a manufacturer. If possible, get the name and title of the appropriate person at the company you’re approaching. Some companies won’t publicize the name of the person in charge of New Product Development because they don’t want to get inundated with phone calls. Most companies won’t mind if you call to follow up, but don’t call too often or you’ll find no one will take your calls. We acknowledge every submission in writing back to the inventor and will keep them informed as it moves through the evaluation process, again in writing.

Many inventors think that their product is the best in the world, and that’s okay, because it shows that you have passion and confidence in it. Keep in mind that it’s the end user -- the customer -- whose decision is the one that really counts.

SIDEBAR 1:  In late 1868, Benjamin P. Obdyke made a career change that would ultimately lead to the modern Benjamin Obdyke Corporation. Benjamin Obdyke entered a partnership as a sheet metal worker and as the sole manufacturer of the new Corrugated Water Conductors. While pioneering these first-generation corrugated down spouts, the company was incorporated, and Benjamin P. Obdyke Inc., was born. The pioneering creative vision of their founder remains the hallmark of their company today.

SIDEBAR 2:  About ten years ago, Joe Opdyke (notice the “p” instead of “b” in Opdyke) of Collegeville , Penn. , came up with an idea for a trim kit for door and window frames. He developed a prototype and decided to take it to a local company, Benjamin Obdyke, Inc., to see if they’d be interested in it. “I just walked in the door,” he laughs, “and it just so happened they were looking for new products. They liked the idea and did everything for me, including applying for the patent. It’s probably not the way to do it; you should really protect your idea first unless you know the company.” He did hire an attorney to work out the licensing agreement, and the company perfected his invention and put it on the market under the name, PermaTrim.

Co-owner with his brother of a construction business that their dad started 50 years ago, Garages by Opdyke, Joe is an astute businessman who has cultivated a very positive relationship with the folks at Benjamin Obdyke. “When they were working on the trim kit, I’d stop by to visit,” he says. “Several years ago, I knew they were trying to improve their big seller, the Roll Vent, which is a ridge vent for roofs. At the time, it could only be installed nail by nail, and they were trying to find a way to be able to install it using a nail gun.” Joe tackled the problem, came up with a simple solution, worked with some Benjamin Obdyke employees on it, and earned another patent and a licensing agreement. The product’s name is Rapid Ridge.

“They’re always working on new products,” he says. “We’ve developed a great relationship and, often, their engineers bring me prototypes to test out on the job site. Just recently I tried out two product ideas; one was unworkable but the other one is a winner!” As an expert new product analyst, Joe always signs a nondisclosure agreement before testing a prototype.

“I’ve learned that there has to be enough improvement in a product that it’s worth it to a company to make the change,” he says. “It could cost millions just to retool, then there are the additional sales costs to promote a new product.” As to working with Benjamin Obdyke: “I’d recommend them to any inventor who has an idea in their area. They’ve been great to work with!”

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Mike Coulton is vice president of business development at Benjamin Obdyke, a 137-year-old manufacturer of residential building products, headquartered in Horsham , Penn. www.benjaminobdyke.com

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Article # 2:      “The benefit of attending your industry’s trade show,” by Paul Niemann of MarketLaunchers.com

I recently went to Dallas to attend a trade show in the newspaper publishing industry. Why did I go, and what does this have to do with you as an inventor?

A trade show is probably the only place where you can meet 50 or 60 prospective clients at once. A trade show also gives a good idea of who your competition is – and what they’re up to.

You don’t even have to get a trade show booth (which can be rather expensive). If you have a booth, you’ll find that you’re at the booth most of the time, when you could be out walking the trade show floor and learning more about your industry, your prospects, your competitors and, most importantly, other companies who you might be able to team up with.

If you sell to businesses (marketing people refer to this as B-to-B, or business-to-business), then you would benefit by going to a trade show. The best thing about trade shows is that nearly every industry has one. Where do you find out about trade shows in any industry?

There are 2 ways: The quickest way is to go to http://www.tsnn.com and look it up there. Or you can look for your trade association in the reference section of your public library. There you will find a book titled, “The Encyclopedia of Associations.” Most industries have an annual trade show; costs can range from free to several hundred dollars to attend.

My suggestion is to find out more about these 3 things in your industry:

1.         Your industry’s trade association.

2.         Your industry’s trade show or convention.

3.         Your industry’s trade publication.

Doing so will help you become an expert in your industry.

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Article # 3:      “Who invents better products -- individual inventors or corporations?” by Paul Niemann of InventionMysteries.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTE:            The following story is excerpted from my book, “Invention Mysteries: The little-known stories behind well-known inventions.”

Before we move on to a brand new year of invention news, I’d like to pause for one of the more important news items of 2004: The break-up of Barbie and Ken after a 43-year courtship.

Barbie and Ken who?

I’m referring to the Barbie Doll and her commitment-phobic boyfriend, Ken, who called it quits last February. Their publicist said, “They’ll always remain the best of friends.” Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to make their die-hard fans feel better.

How is this relevant to our story, or is your humble scribe just going off on a tangent again?

The dolls have something in common with many of the popular inventions that people use everyday, because they were created by an individual inventor (Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler). Where do inventions come from? Are the best products invented by individual inventors, or by big companies?

For many brand new products, the chances are good that they were created by individual inventors. But products that are either high-tech or are variations of existing products (think Diet Coke) were probably created in corporate labs.

Individual inventors often face nearly insurmountable odds in the invention process, because they don’t have existing brand names to capitalize on and they usually don’t have retail stores set up to carry their new inventions. Oh, and there’s that pesky little detail about paying for the cost of inventing and marketing.

From board games such as Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit (invented by two Canadians), to toys like Furby (Richard Levy) and Rubik’s Cube (Erno Rubik of Hungary ), it was the work of individual inventors that brought us these products. The same goes for appliances like the George Foreman Grill (sorry, but it was Michael Behm, not George Forman) and anything that comes from Ron Popeil (of Ronco fame).

Individual inventors create new products in every imaginable industry, such as hardware inventions like the Black & Decker Workmate to sporting goods inventions like the modern baseball glove (Cardinals pitcher Bill Doak in 1920) and the snowboard (Jake Burton). In the case of Black & Decker, it was Englishman Ron Hackman, an individual inventor, who invented the Workmate and licensed it to the company.

Think that TV and radio were invented by RCA or Zenith? Think again, as it was 17-year-old Idaho farmboy Philo Farnsworth who invented TV and Croatian immigrant Nikola Tesla who invented radio.

The next time you drive somewhere in the rain, you can thank Alabama ’s Mary Anderson for inventing windshield wipers in 1903, or Robert Kearns for inventing intermittent windshield wipers in 1964. Both were individual inventors.

If you prefer flying, credit goes to Wilbur and Orville for getting you there. If your plane doesn’t make it all the way to your destination, you’ll be forever grateful to Captain Tom Baldwin and his brother, inventors of the parachute.

And we haven’t even mentioned some of the all-time great individual inventors, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington Carver or Thomas Edison (who went on to create his own corporate lab).

Back to the original question of this story: Who invents better products – individual inventors or corporations?

That would be impossible to answer in one column, as we would have to compare the results of thousands of individual inventors vs. thousands of corporations. As Invention Mysteries begins its third year of syndication, we will continue to focus on the stories of individual inventors.

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INVENTION MYSTERIES reveals the little-known stories behind well-known inventions.

It contains 47 great stories and 35 illustrations. The INVENTION MYSTERIES book makes the PERFECT Father’s Day gift. Written by syndicated columnist and MarketLaunchers.com president Paul Niemann, INVENTION MYSTERIES will entertain you and inspire you. You can read several sample stories or purchase a copy at http://www.InventionMysteries.com