It takes more than a good idea and a lot of money for inventors to successfully move a product from conception to market.
There are too many details that, if left unchecked, can result in financial loss.
Dhana Cohen (pictured right) and Melinda Knight, founders of The Women Inventorz Network (WIN), have seen it happen too many times. Inventors dip into their retirement savings without doing their homework and order 10,000 units of product, only for it to be scrapped because it didn’t meet safety standards or other criteria for market readiness, says Cohen of Deerfield.
“There are many companies that will take your money and promise you millions of dollars,” Cohen says. “Unfortunately, in our industry, there are a lot of people who make promises they cannot always keep.”
From decades of experience assisting inventors, Cohen and Knight became experts on taking an idea from conception to market and learned the pitfalls to avoid. In the process, they established relationships with a vast network of inventors and purchasers. In 2012, they made that network public with their website, which attracts 250,000 unique visitors each month.
They use the virtual platform and their weekly radio show to educate inventors on how to prepare their products for market and connect them with companies that purchase large quantities of innovative products, such as Bed Bath & Beyond, “As Seen on TV” giant Telebrands, makers of thePed Egg foot file, and Allstar Products Group, creators of the Snuggie, a blanket with sleeves.
Inventors who join the network receive email blasts about companies seeking new products. They can also choose to:
- Hire WIN to pitch their products on TV and radio shows
- Market their products to WIN’s large following on social media
- Participate in webinars that feature inventors offering tips
- Place their products in celebrity gift bags
- Sell their products at WIN’s virtual storefront
- Take advantage of sponsorship opportunities
Many of the women inventors assisted by WIN are mothers who created a product that is a solution to a problem, like the Potty Spray Guard. It prevents toddler boys’ pants from getting wet when they go potty sitting down.
For those of you with an idea for an innovative product who are ready to give it a try, “Be prepared to work really hard, but be prepared to work smart first,” Cohen says. You never know, it could be the next big thing.
Photo by Tell Draper Productions, Inc.
