Loans & Finances Today

Leaving aside the question of whether spinouts are the optimum way in which to commercialise research (compared with licencing, for example), it appears that more analysis need to be undertaken to determine why spinouts are not as successful as they could be, particularly in realising profit for their investors through successful exits. Furthermore, there could be closer consideration by universities of the following questions:

Should there be a more rigorous approach to establishing exit planning strategies when spinouts prepare their business plans at start-up? Should there be more extensive training of academics intending to commercialise their research in business management and practice, the raising of finance, investor relations, IP protection, marketing and exit planning?

How can the quality of management and staff in university technology transfer offices be improved? Also, perhaps those UK universities with a less than successful history with spinouts and those coming into the spinout business for the first time could follow more closely the approach of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, as well as the template established by the successful American academic institutions.

Inventor shows and workshops occur in numerous cities across the country throughout the year. Many times there is no admission charge to go and browse through the exhibition hall where inventors have booths displaying their inventions. Just walking the hall and visiting with other inventors can be an extremely valuable source of information and contacts.

Independent inventors are generally a very friendly and giving group of people who will gladly share their experiences and sources of help. Inventor shows and seminars often have workshops and lectures on various phases of inventing taught by experts in the field. The fees to attend the educational sessions are usually quite nominal while the education you receive may save you thousands of dollars over the long haul. The two largest shows of this type are the Yankee Invention Exposition, which is held each October in Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Minnesota Inventors Congress which is held each June in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Although these are the two largest such shows, others occur throughout the year.

The importance of matching your product to the manufacturer with the best “fit” for that product should not be underestimated. Your best chance of getting your product to market is in having it picked up by a company that already distributes similar products to the various retailers. Retailers almost never make the time to talk to an independent inventor with only one product and they will rarely, if ever, disrupt their planogram, or map of the store space, to make room for a one-product vendor. Getting your product  with a manufacturer who already has the retailer’s attention and shelf space solves these problems handily.

Our own personal story is the perfect example of this. While we were patent pending we manufactured and sold Ghostline® ourselves. We sold it to small office supply stores and teacher stores. That obviously was not our marketing goal at the same time, so we were also contacting all the large mass merchandising stores, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Kroger, Fred Meyer, etc., where we eventually wanted to see Ghostline® offered for sale.

When we were able to get someone to talk to us, which was a rare event, we heard the same refrain over and over again. They all said, “We don’t carry products from one-product vendors. Get your product with one of our distributors and we’ll be happy to carry it.” Most of the retailers would not talk to us at all because all of their buyers’ time was taken up meeting with their regular distributors. It would have been much too time-consuming to meet with inventors of individual products.

Contact retail buyers in a professional manner if you choose to manufacture and distribute your product yourself. Do not attempt to get their attention with gifts or gadgets. This is a dead giveaway that you are an amateur and it will destroy your chances with them.