Tag: Licensing

  • Education Behind the “RED-X” (Part 2)

    Education Behind the “RED-X” (Part 2)

    Stop! Warning! Danger! …Not this time! The color red seems to be best associated with negative things. Red meaning stop, don’t go there, don’t do that. We also know that it’s not what you want to see after you submit your idea for a licensing opportunity but we want to challenge you to see the Red X as a new opportunity. An opportunity for learning, to get better and grow with your idea creation and submissions! If you read our blog, Education Behind the “RED-X” we have more insight to share! As a follow-up to the articles, Education Behind the RED-X (Part 1) and “Fly on the Wall”, we want to share some more reasons behind the Red X and how you can improve your ideas for resubmission or make your next idea the best one yet.  Remember, we’re not successful unless you are successful. #BetterTogether. Finding a licensing partner for your idea is what we work hard to do every day. Unfortunately, if a partner doesn’t believe they can make money with everything it takes to design, tool, mold, manufacture, package, distribute, market, and sell your idea they are not going to take it on. Businesses want to see a return on their investment which means they need to know there are enough people in the market who will buy the product. Remember: there may be a lot of interest and activity in a certain category but if it’s a crowded marketplace with similar products, it’s more difficult to stand out which is why we have been stressing the differentiation/WOW factor that is needed.  New products are brought to market every day – we want your idea to be one of them! Let’s dive in…again! 1) When you hear: Your idea is cost prohibitive. Our Review Team is saying:  Profitability will be a challenge for this idea to move forward. We need to be able to justify to potential licensing partners that the product can be made to fit within their current margins.  What can you do?: Some simple, key things our partners look at: Their current manufacturing capabilities. Volume of sales. Do they believe they can sell enough to bring the cost of manufacturing down? The more products they manufacture, the lower their overall cost.The price range of their product line. Note: A pain point we run into is “the idea is so innovative” and “nothing like it on the market”, but… then you run into additional costs of research, development, testing, manufacturing and materials. Our licensing partners have to be sold on this idea selling A LOT of product for this undertaking. This leads nicely into the next point. 2) When you hear: Your idea is not a mass market item. Our Review Team is saying: We can’t capture enough of the market share to bring this to development. What can you do?: Can you widen your market by making some changes to appeal to a larger audience? This idea may have legs for a niche audience; it needs to be broader/more widespread. Think about the following: If you have a product geared towards a targeted audience, for example men, does your product appeal to all men or just men of a certain age? If your answer is men only and then also of a specific age group; your group size has substantially declined. From there, within this “men” and “age group,” is your product geared to a certain interest? In that case, your group is now even smaller, and you can continue to break it down to get a realistic outlook on the general size of your market. Once you break it down, go back through and see if you can make adjustments to grab a segment (or two) you knocked out with your original submission. Then resubmit! 3) If You See: The Red X within the Edison Nation Insider Licensing Program. Our Review Team is saying: We have put forward resources, evaluated all efforts, collected market data along with market response, put together a professional pitch deck and all efforts necessary. Your idea has been pitched to an extensive list of potential licensing partners and they unfortunately did not see a place for your idea in their line.  Please note that sometimes they don’t give us a reason – they just say “No”. We try to get feedback for our innovators and ourselves but it is at their option as to how much time and effort they choose to give with their feedback.  4) If You See:  The Red X within the Edison Nation ASOTV Search. Our Edison Nation As Seen On TV is saying: Our Edison Nation As Seen On TV team has evaluated your submission and determined it has not met the requirements for a successful ASOTV product. The thing with ASOTV is there are no definitive rules on what will make a successful product so we look hard at the following:  Is this a product demonstrative? In other words, could someone easily show how the product works with-in a few seconds? Is the concept easily understood? Is it a simple solution for an everyday problem?Are there competing products already in the market? Will this idea have mass market appeal? Niche products are difficult for ASOTV. You need to think to a large demographic. Can this product be manufactured inexpensively? Is the product an appropriate size for retail shelves? Smaller items are better for retail shelves especially in the ASOTV market.  To finish up, we wanted to throw a couple side notes out there from some recent submissions that came through our dashboard. A few weeks ago, we noted that we go through the description and details first and THEN go back to any pictures, videos, etc. in order to pull the idea together. These are important to have with your submission… even a sketch! If you have a prototype – attach picture or video of it with your submission! We have innovators that acknowledge they have prototypes but fail to attach anything for our team to look at. We read text first and go back through to follow up with pictures/videos. If you are telling us it is different from competitors on the market, we want more than a description – otherwise we are guessing on every aspect of design. We want your idea to shine! Finally, we want to encourage to most of all – do something with your idea! We celebrate all successes here at Edison Nation. If you’ve submitted ideas through our dashboard you know that we ask within the submission information to disclose when the product was first thought of. We just received a submission for a product that was thought of in 2011. To help us help other innovators, we would like to ask your thoughts on this. Why did it take 9 years? The market is fast and always changing so the sooner the better with getting your ideas out there.What kind of things have held you back in the past from proceeding with your idea(s)?Fear of idea being taken? Not knowing how to translate your idea from a thought to paper or a drawing? Not having a certain skill-set you felt you needed to continue? Not enough time? We are always looking for ways to make Edison Nation a more valuable resource for our innovators. We do listen! We celebrate your licensing successes in and outside of EN. Please share with us your biggest stopping points/hurdles you feel you’re facing. We hope that the biggest takeaway from these blogs is that you should never give up. If you have or in the future receive the Red X, do not let it discourage you! We hope you will look back at these posts, make the changes needed, and succeed.  Do what you love, love what you do – Never stop creating! Blog courtesy of Casey Carroll WRITTEN BY Casey Carroll

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  • Congratulations!

    Congratulations!

    Here’s a quick recap of Franklin Ramsey’s journey as it started on Season 1 of Everyday Edisons to the present day, newest licensing agreement on Pressix! Have you ever wondered, “Is there a solution to this simple, everyday problem?” If so, you wouldn’t be alone! Franklin Ramsey, an inventor featured on the very first episode of Everyday Edisons, believed inventing and innovating occurs when there is a problem that needs solving. Ramsey didn’t spend his days creating and designing new products. He was just a man with an inventor’s spirit, looking for a solution to an everyday problem: trash bags falling into the bin. When his wife asked him to take out the trash, Ramsey encountered a problem. He couldn’t get his trash bag to stay in the bin by tying a knot in it. He was sick of this everyday problem and set out to fix it. Ramsey’s solution was to cut a pie shape into the sides of the trash can so that the bag could be tucked into the sides. Goodbye, nasty knots! Hello, Pressix! Ramsey had a great idea but wasn’t sure what his next step was. He didn’t know how to get Pressix to mass markets in order to help people everywhere with this common struggle.  This is where the relationship first started.  When Ramsey brought his idea to Edison Nation, we thought there was no way this idea wasn’t already on the market. After an extensive and thorough patent search, we discovered we were wrong. There was no product on the market like Ramsey’s. We then took Ramsey’s authentic idea and helped him get his Pressix technology licensed. Since then, we have been keeping the innovation alive and are still bringing in royalties. Scott Dromms, Vice President of Licensing and Intellectual Property at Edison Nation, has recently discussed the exciting new licensing agreement for Ramsey’s product. “Pressix is a property that has been licensed for years now. It has had a remarkable history, and like many products, there are ebbs and flow to the life of the product. It has always had multiple companies involved in manufacturing it, even some that did so while violating patents, and Edison Nation worked to bring those companies in line. One became a key partner to Edison Nation on Pressix and several other products they brought to market. For the past several years there have been three companies actively manufacturing Pressix , all to various levels, and during the past years the path of Pressix was impacted significantly by the US/China Trade War and tariff situation on select raw materials (like stainless steel – which many trash cans are made in). Edison Nation worked with one leading partner to ensure that Pressix remained a vital part of trash cans during that period, and in the past 6 months began discussions on how to work to grow back the Pressix business. That was a key reason for the revised licensing agreements on Pressix, which allowed one manufacturer to continue to produce the limited number of SKU’s they were down to, for those existing, current customers, while at the same time, developing a three year “exclusive-like” agreement with the main manufacturer. This will allow for expanded efforts by their team to develop additional channels of distribution for Pressix and hopefully to grow sales on the technology. This is an example that even though an innovation has been driving sales for a lengthy number of years now, our team is always focused on ensuring we drive the maximum value out of the innovation.” Even though Ramsey’s story with Edison Nation started years ago, we are still working closely with and actively pursuing opportunities we see arise. The success of our innovators and placing their ideas in front of the right companies is what we are built around. Edison Nation wants to do the same thing for you! We are still enthusiastically looking for new inventions and innovations—however large or small they may be—so that we can see your ideas maximized. In Ramsey’s Everyday Edisons episode, he said that he has had many ideas in the past but didn’t believe he had the time or resources to invent. We don’t want your ideas to be unheard and unfulfilled. We want to help. Get out there, discover the problem, and create! Happy Inventing! WRITTEN BY Casey Carroll

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