Licensing Versus Going to Market Alone

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• Licensing Versus Going to Market Alone
• Warren Tuttle
• Monashee Marketing
• wwtuttle_at_yahoo.com
• 203-594-8808

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Warren Tuttlewwtuttle_at_yahoo.com

• External Product Development Lifetime Brands
• President United Inventors Association
• Monashee Marketing

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My Background

• New York City retail store Buyerlearned
  housewares industry from ground up
• Specialty Retail Store Owner
• Independent Inventor Advocate
• External Product Development for Lifetime
  Brands....25 licensing deals past two years
• Taken several products directly to retail
• UIA President

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32 Brands including Farberware, Kitchen Aid,
Cuisinart, Pedrini, Towle, Mikasa, Pfaltzgraf
Lifetime Brands
30,000 products
9 Divisions
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What is Licensing?

• Taking your product to market through others
• Leveraging valuable IP
• Making a royalty on each unit sold
• Establishing a fair royalty amount ( or )
• Negotiating exclusive or non-exclusive terms
• Setting annual quantity minimums
• Securing a signing advance
• Determining length of licensing agreement

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How to Prepare a Productive Licensing
Presentation

• Taking a professional approach
• Understanding industry licensing guidelines
• Vetting product at retail
• Develop working prototype proving function
• CADs and photos
• Researching and filing for a patent
• Creating a Sell Sheet
• NDAs

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Who to Approach when Licensing

• Research your industry
• Retail store and catalog shopping
• Internet Searches
• Trade Shows
• Industry Trade Magazines
• Industry Contacts
• Determine company with broadest distribution and
  reach
• Seek Inventor Friendly companies

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When Licensing is the Right Move

• When personal resources are limited
• When industry standards are stacked against
  youthe plight of the single sku vendor
• When you are working on multiple projects
• When running a company is not for you
• When your personal creative and business
  strengths lie elsewhere
• When a larger company can simply do it better
  than you

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How Larger Companies Can HelpInventors Maximize
Revenues

• Product development services
• Expanding patent opportunities
• Branding
• Established distribution
• Expanded product assortment
• Acknowledging Inventor
• Platform for future licensing opportunities

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Going to Market on Your Own

• Same initial development process (idea,
  prototype, patent search, marketplace vetting)
• What are industry standards and nuances?
• What are retailer requirements for single item
  vendors?
• What is price point of the product? High margin
  and low volume opportunities.
• Can you earn a windfall profit early on?
• Can you build and sell the business?

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Going Alone (Partial)Checklist

• Early Development Costs
• Tooling
• Manufacturing
• Inventory
• Shipping
• Warehousing
• Disbursement
• Billing
• Collection

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SummaryWhat Will Drive Your Decision

• Financial Resourcesaccess to
• Timequit your day job?
• Passionare you a visionary, or simply crazy?
• Consumer Researchsketchy
• Industrychallenges within each
• Productability to manufacture
• Marginshigh or low volume
• Personal Goalsquality of life