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What do these numbers mean? This is from a survey I received recently via email and it pertains to what percentage of inventors feel they can earn from their inventions.

This is a big problem my friends!! The facts are these — less than 1 percent will earn such money and that is OK. Not everyone that invents is looking to make millions. Some people just want to supplement their income. Others just want to pursue their dream of running their own business and if they make 5 or 6 figures from their business they are happy.

Some of course do wish to make it big but the lure of making it big puts people at risk for falling for scams and traps that cause them to spend more money on services and products that will cost them more than they will ever make. Success means something different to everyone. For me, it meant just being to earn a nice living and I never actually had a specific dollar amount in mind. I was never easy during the first few years but as I look back I really did enjoy the struggle…ok — sort of!

But what I learned along the way was invaluable and it gave me the strength to know that I could bring anything to market because I knew firsthand what to do and how to do it properly after going it through it once. Most of these people took years and huge risks to make it big. Just keep things in perspective…. Hi Jim, This information is similar to the percentage of products that are patented. I think that most inventors will invent gadgets that have a short time on the market, while others are more practical and have a need to be forfilled in the marktet.

There-for the brand name grows and that is where the big money comes in. I know people put money into the patent and then it dies out right there. A lot of work and money that goes down the drain. Most inventors are like parents, they believe that they have the best. So it is not just up to how much you believe in your product but how good and needed your product is. Thanks for your information. It makes reality that much clearer.

One of the big reasons for inventor failure is lack of knowledge. Many inventors just see dollar signs but as I preach over and over this is a serious cut-throat business with high risks. I know that if more inventors took the time to get real knowledge they would clearly understand how the business works and what they can expect from it. For example, most people immediately look to file patents when in fact they should not.

You do not need a patent to take a product to market. An attorney friend of mine often repeats this little line of wisdom: That makes good business sense to me and it is a rare attorney who will give advice like this over pressing for patent protection.

Patent protection is not the be all and end all. My last encounter with the patent office left me with the impression that the system is not geared up to encourage innovation by independent inventors. However, the examiner held his ground and said we would have to file a rebuttal or whatever it is called.

Afterwards the attorney said that the examiners get bonus points for every action they send so they have an incentive to make it difficult. He said that we can file a rebuttal but the examiner will pick out some other random piece of prior art and send that to us.

After some back and forth we can eventually end up being reviewed by a tribunal of some sort but that this whole process would cost me several thousand more. At that point I gave up. This is a big reason why I like working with EN.

They know the IP ropes and how to get through the process. Also, their focus appears to be on getting great ideas to market and not getting bogged down in IP stuff. This way I can focus on what I do best — Inventing: I can tell you I never applied for any patents and fared very well…I realized that patents for certain items are just not worth patenting especially if you plan on cycling through an item and moving onto others.

Once it is issued they can read the claims and put their engineers and lawyers to work getting around them. Hi James, I think the lawyers advice is right on the mark. The best protection is better faster and cheaper. Jim, I think you are right for a couple of my products, I do not need a patent.

I just need good business sence and go for the better, faster and cheaper approch. Being that I do not have high overhead cost like most big companies maybe this is the way for me to go. I can do this I think , what do you think? LISTEN TO ME…because I know…you can bet on that. This may be hard for inventors to swallow…but the rewards are in SALES SALES SALES …. Inventors Digest ran a cover before Edison Nation owned it that said on it: Coming up with ideas is the easy part.

I am the inventor, the marketer, the publicist, the guy handing out brochures of my inventions everywhere I can. Maybe even be a sales rep for your invention besides royalties.

Work for the company too! Maybe be the publicist…. They are manufacturers, they come up with ideas themselves and make them. BILLIONS can be made if an inventor or guy with a good idea is willing to push their own invention or atleast take some responsibility. I will name a few. If you even offer to show your product at occasional shows or fairs…even that will help you.

These little things help so much. My little bit of marketing gets me almost 10 times the profit that I would get from just licensing. I am now a partner with my manufacturer…all because I do a little marketing and pitch in. ANYONE can make a million from their invention, and anyone can end up homeless from shear laziness too. What you put in is what you get out. If your invention fails after and all out effort…you have learned a GREAT lesson…. You know Ron, I have to say that I am happy you wrote this…because I too worked my butt off to make my money….

I realize that many people do not have selling or marketing skills and that is ok…just hire the right people and it will surely be one the best investments you can make!! Have you ever thought of starting a blog, kind of like Mark R. Linda…if I can beat this health crisis big things are coming to help people. Much bigger than a blog…I had offers before but was too sick.

Thanks for the nice comments and concern!!! Sales ability is shear effort, work, and stamina to get back up after rejections over and over. No one else will put in the effort into YOUR dream. Be a reporter not a salesman if you wish.

Just state the facts about your product and stay away from typical polished bull like a salesman. Many on this forum have an EXCELLENT idea but will completely fail because they refuse to be a salesman for their invention and therefor will never reach the right door from lack of exposure. Even seeking a licensing deal takes great sales efforts. I tell the REAL story of my products and I tell that around the world now. That being said, you do need skills and understanding of how to talk to buyers in order to sell them.

I am not a doctor, lawyer, or accountant and when I need their professional help I seek them out. I reach out to those that have spent years learning and perfecting their craft. Inventing is a business and until inventors realize this we will have more and more of them losing money and often their life savings.

Sales work is NOT just effort and work, it is a skill like many other skills. It must be learned and perfected…. You usually only get one shot at making a sales call to a buyer and so why would you do it incorrectly and blow a great opportunity. I admire your stance but I have been doing this my entire adult life and unless inventors spend the necessary time learning the ins and outs of proper selling and how retail buyers operate, they will waste precious opportunities and time — believe me.

I see it all the time!!! Yes Jim you are right. Not even you or I could be the perfect salesmen for everything or maybe even more than half.

Snapchat Doesn't Make Any Money, So Why Is It Worth So Much? - ABC News

Salesmen specialize in many different ways. Take my major invention. What I am saying though is many inventors are too shy or for some other reason, not even able to demonstrate or explain their own invention!!!

I have MANY years understanding and testing Handi-Straps. How could a salesman ever learn all that and be able to pitch it like me?

No one will have the passion quite like the inventor! All they have to do is learn how to sell properly, learn what retailers want from them, and how to articulate their product benefits in a way that allows others to benefit and not just themselves…. A guy like you can get double the payments or beneficial terms from a big retailer than I can for myself…they would beat me up. So I should not try to be better than you or do your job but what I am saying…the inventor has much sales work at all levels that needs to be done and should take some of those duties themselves.

Take me, I go to NYC and pitch to the news studios.

17 Mistakes Inventors Make / San Diego Inventors Forum

I try to get on TV shows and in magazines, but I also put out little cards at local stores. There is always some part of sales or promotion the inventor can do and for the big deals and sales…. I think it comes down to, do you want a small piece of the pie or a large piece of the pie…. I think what Ron is trying to say is, if you want a large piece of the pie then you are going to have to get out there and do a lot of the work yourselves…cut out some of the middleman….

If you want a small piece, then let this site do the work for you…. Jim and Ron each bring great info from their perspective of the inventing business and each is telling the truth. Inventors have to make the decision which direction works best for them. Do they have the time, funding and contacts to make the product themselves and drive the product to market and build a business around it.

The other Inventor is looking for a company that is established in a certain target market to take the idea, make the product, and understand they will get a smaller piece of the pie since they are doing less of the hard work.

As far as patents go if i was building a business around the product I would want all the protection I could get. My product the Super Sleever was patented through Westinghouse, whom I was working for at the time. They had their own patent group filing the paperwork,but had me answer all the office actions since i was more familar with the product than they were.

It took 4 years two months to get the final patent approved. The experience was a great learning curve and helped me decide to go the licensing route on any further product ideas. I am a serial Inventor and realized with over products in sell sheets I would not live to see all of my ideas have a chance at making it to market if iIwas looking at an average of two years per product to get the patent approved. This did not include the cost, and the full time job it would take to follow up on all the paperwork involved.

This would also be on my dime since I would not be making any money will I was getting all of this off the ground.

How Big Are Royalties From Inventions?

I do research and look at the option of patenting ,but leave that up to the company licensing the product from me. I have found that having the patent before going to a company for licensing does not get me anything I get without the patent. The royalty percenatge does not change. I deal with major, medium and small companies pitching my product ideas via sell sheets.

The Top 5 Mistakes Inventors make with their Invention - gedyfej.web.fc2.com | Patents & Patent Law

The deciding factor on raoyalties seems to be how much investment do they have to put into the product to get it to market. As Ron pointed out his device, although fantastic, has a liabilty issue that has to be addressed in the decision to go forward.

My Pizza Scissors would not require that type of decision. There are many factors that go into every product and the decision to move forward or drop it. Anything you can bring to the table to aid in that decision works in your favor.

Money - Invention City

Ron has medical research backing him up that his product does what he says. If he did not have that and a company was looking at his product from just his pitch they would know that this has to be looked at hard form a medical perspective and they would look at do they want to spend that kind of money and time on a product that in the end they may see as to cost intensive to make it worth pursuing. That is why I am always saying there is no one size fits all in this business. You have to decide what works best for you and your situation.

Once you have made that decision, do it to the best of your ability and hopefully you will be rewarded for your efforts. Thomas Edison and I have something very much in common. Nobody would buy his light bulbs at first because they feared the house burning down.

Edison had to give them away. The doctors came and the rest is hot dog history. With Handi-Straps, no big company probably would have even took a thought about the risk of my product in the beginning. It was all up to me. Now, MANY here…and I would say half even have a GOOD commercial idea. Look…if a potato chip has some scratches on it and someone says it is the face of Jesus…there is some wacko out there that will buy it…maybe even , wackos. OK…what I am saying….

I turned down Home Depot on Handi-Straps 3 years ago. I talked to their very top buyer myself and they wanted the product but the terms were looking too lopsided their way. I would get beat up.

Another reason to submit your invention to EN Right now, today, is where I can use a pro at sales like Jim DeBetta because he can negotiate the terms I am looking for.

His reputation gives him leverage, but I know Jim could never beat me pitching the true function and purpose of my invention and that is why I must do some of the promotion too….

The takeaway for all inventors should be a combination of what we are all saying — you must lay out your goals do you license or make and sell yourself and then pursue them, be passionate about what you do, do as much as you can yourself and reach out for help when you are out of your league in certain areas, learn all you can about the entire process of licensing, patenting, manufacturing, marketing, selling, etc, and most of all understand that inventing is a business and like all other businesses you absolutely MUST learn about how businesses run, the risks involved, and surround yourself with the most knowledgeable and well-connected people you can — among other things.

I agree with the guys that no one is likely to ever be more passionate about your products then you will and you WILL make mistakes while on this journey of taking products to market. But no matter what, passion will only take you so far. You need skills, patience, and understanding of the process — period!

Having the passion and skills combined can be a powerful weapon and lead to great success. Remember, buyers dont buy passion — they buy products they can make money with.

I spent years learning this lesson when my enthusiasm was applauded by major retail buyers but I was sent home as I had little idea of what they needed, what their customers wanted, and how to do business with them. After more than 15 years and more than 50 million in products sales to these and other big chains, I can tell you that unless you want to treat inventing as a hobby, you must gain skills and learn the business….

I will post another topic soon…. Hey Roger, Jim, Ron — thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge. What an education — I feel like I should send someone a tuition check! See Linda…I did think of you when writing here. You have an army of cats and a litter box invention. Who could pitch and sell the idea better than you??? You are the expert, yet inventors pass off the initial promotions to someone else….

One of the big reasons the invention industry has such a poor reputation and filled with scams and hyped promotions is because these companies promise inventors that they will succeed no matter what and prey on their emotions which only empties their pocketbooks and wallets and leaves them with nothing in return.

You guys know I am a huge advocate for this industry and have been written about in articles in Entreprneur and Businessweekand even am a staff writer for Inventors Digest so you know I am dedicated to this industry and love it and practice in it daily. Believe me — I can pitch inventors products much better than most of them because I treat their products the way retailers want me to treat them — like a business transaction.

I know what retailers want, their store layouts, their margin requirements, their customers, their process, their lingo, and how the product must be packaged and priced and many other details. If I see a great product, I get excited about it and have the passion but I clearly realize that passion alone does nothing for getting a product landed on a store shelf.

You guys know this is true and inventors need to not be fooled into thinking that they are their own best sales and marketing team if they no little or nothing about it. Linda may be the sweetest lady in the world but just because you have a product idea does not at all make you an expert in any of the processes of getting a product sold to anyone with all due respect.

I am a businessman disclaimer — I am a service provider for inventors but when something breaks in my house I call someone if I know I have no clue what to do or after asking my neighbors for help or reading on-line who to fix.

I am not saying not to try because inventors need to get their hands dirty and be very involved in their own success and learn by doing certain things. I realize that the time I spend trying to figure it out may cost me more in the long run when I screw it up. Same goes for inventors.

They see someone on the cover of Forbes and think those people just woke up with a sack of money in their arms. Most any successful businessperson will tell you that they worked their butts off, reached out to others, learned constantly and never put their emotions first as that usually leads to poor decision making.

You must be a life long student! I am…and I already made plenty of money selling products. That is how I effectively provide extreme value to those I coach and consult with…and they expect that I do so! The fact is that inventors MUST acknowledge what they do not know and either take it seriously to learn it or seek out help.

Unless they do, we will continue to see the road of inventing littered with more failures and upset people who have lost their shirt…. Inventing is a business…. If I had a kitchen product I would pitch a working prototype to a few restaurants and hotels. Make a focus group of people who like to cook at home. Maybe get a few quotes from manufacturers to get the lowest price so mass retail numbers work. Maybe do some graphic design for packaging. Do lots of research on my product from prototype stage to market shelf space availability and competition.

Maybe get a few local vendors or even find a vendor at a large flea market in your state and see if they will sell for you. Then Jim, I come to you with a portfolio of product history for you to comprehend and figure your plan and pitch to the big retailers.

Again, you are best for that because if an inventor makes the deals with big retailers for the first time, chances are they will get a terrible deal and that deal may even be impossible to fulfill. Not all inventors will be great at what I say to do….

I do things this way and I have NO CHANCE of failing!!!!! If I am not foolish and go order too many thousands of pieces of an invention, I will always be able to sell some. Heck, even an empty box will sell if it is a nice color! If I wanted to. Frankly, the very idea of learning all that bores me to tears. Thought I could see me demonstrating it at a pet store. That would be fun. Just because you have a patent does not make it marketable. There are thousands of Inventors that have expensive patents and nothing to show for it but a nice plaque.

In my recent conversation with Roger, he pointed out about market share and such and I began to calculate how much I would make even if one were to win the Bed Bath and Beyond LPS.

I am beginning to belive this a numbers game, and eventually they all add up to a substantial dollar figure. I do some songwriting, and similar to this, its a numbers game too.

Well unless you have a super duper big massive hit. Does that mean that the product does have validity? Should it give you encouragement to go forward with your product?

Press "enter" to search. Welcome to the forums! Our encouraging community is a dedicated resource for innovators everywhere. Sign up to chime in. Gladys Hernandez 13, Insider Points. James Fisher , Insider Points. Hi Jim, An attorney friend of mine often repeats this little line of wisdom: What a story James… I can tell you I never applied for any patents and fared very well…I realized that patents for certain items are just not worth patenting especially if you plan on cycling through an item and moving onto others.

I give a strange list here…. If you want to sit back and wait for someone else to make you millions…. I doubt I could have ever licensed this invention because of liabilty. I had to prove my idea in the market….

Linda Linda 50, Insider Points. Hi Ron, Have you ever thought of starting a blog, kind of like Mark R. Hope you are feeling good today and I am awaiting a call from you! I have to do it……and so what if I am unpolished. The goal is simply to pass on accurate information that will help sell the product. I also have many people that help sell my product with wonderful claims and endorsements…but I still have to help push all along.

Nobody will have the passion necessary except me.

Launching a new product is usually a loss at first. What salesman wants to work for free??? Right there…that last two sentences…. No Jim…your not fully getting me. Just inventors need to get more involved in general…if they want big success.

Roger Brown , Insider Points. Anyone want to know how to scoop cat poo? I may lose some time on a bad idea but the learning experience should be worth it. You boys can battle wits here. Hi Jim, You make an interesting point about making the millions in the initial post. Company About Edison Nation Our History Our Successes Partner with us. Community Forums Blog FAQ Join us.

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