Balancing Market and Cost Pricing

Many inventors have a hard time pricing their product.  Why is this?  It is because pricing your product is a very difficult task—one that takes weighing multiple factors.  The two main aspects you need to weigh are cost and market factors.  We will deal with pricing in a three part series, with the first part dealing with market pricing, the second part dealing with cost pricing and then the third part dealing with how to balance the two. Read the rest of this entry »

Cost Pricing

Many inventors have a hard time pricing their product.  Why is this?  It is because pricing your product is a very difficult task—one that takes weighing multiple factors.  The two main aspects you need to weigh are cost and market factors.  We will deal with pricing in a three part series, with the first part dealing with market pricing, the second part dealing with cost pricing and then the third part dealing with how to balance the two. Read the rest of this entry »

Market Pricing

Many inventors have a hard time pricing their product.  Why is this?  It is because pricing your product is a very difficult task—one that takes weighing multiple factors.  The two main aspects you need to weigh are cost and market factors.  We will deal with pricing in a three part series, with the first part dealing with market pricing, the second part dealing with cost pricing and then the third part dealing with how to balance the two. Read the rest of this entry »

Unless you plan on manufacturing your product yourself, or plan on licensing your product, you will need to find a quality manufacturer to handle production of your product.  So whether you are contract manufacturing, private-label selling, or forming partnerships, you will need to find someone who can cheaply and effectively make your product.  But what do you look for in a manufacturer?  There are a few important things that you need to check on before you hire or form a partnership with any manufacturer. Read the rest of this entry »

Sales — Where Did I Go Wrong?

Many inventors are unsuccessful at first when they try to license their products.  This can be either because no one wanted to license the product or no one was willing to offer a reasonable agreement.  Before scrapping the product, inventors should reevaluate what they have done so far to see if they can still yet find a lucrative licensing deal.  We will deal with this topic in two parts: Part 1 — Did You Do Your Homework — Catching Up and Part 2 — Sales — Where Did I Go Wrong? Read the rest of this entry »

Did You Do Your Homework? — Catching Up

Many inventors are unsuccessful at first when they try to license their products.  This can be either because no one wanted to license the product or no one was willing to offer a reasonable agreement.  Before scrapping the product, inventors should reevaluate what they have done so far to see if they can still yet find a lucrative licensing deal.  We will deal with this topic in two parts: Part 1 — Did You Do Your Homework — Catching Up and Part 2 — Sales — Where Did I Go Wrong? Read the rest of this entry »

Inventor Story: Art Fry

Art Fry, a 3M employee, was singing in his church choir when he came up with his world famous invention: the Post-It Note.  Under Fry’s direction, 3M developed and manufactured Post-It Notes.  We have not yet discussed an invention that was developed by or in a corporation, but I think Fry’s story is a good one for all inventors to learn from. Read the rest of this entry »

Inventor Story: Chris Grenner

Chris Grenner’s woods were being invaded by an invasive plant called the bush honeysuckle.  He tried traditional methods of removing the plants, but all methods were deficient. Read the rest of this entry »

Stanford engineer Alan Adler is no stranger to inventing.  In fact, his Aerobie Flying Disc (a Frisbee-like disc with a hole in the center) broke the world record for farthest human-thrown object in 2003.  Deciding to move away from sporting toys, Adler looked for a way to quickly and easily brew a cup of coffee. Read the rest of this entry »

Inventor Story: Al Youngwerth

Al Youngwerth, an amateur off-road motorcyclist, purchased an aftermarket automatic clutch for his bike, but every time he rode, it broke and after repairing it a number of times, he realized it was designed wrong. Read the rest of this entry »