What is Licensing?

Licensing is an agreement between and retailer and a product developer/inventor (YOU). The agreement states that the retailer will manufacture and sell the product for the developer/inventor.

Basically, its having other people spend their money to produce and sell your idea and you getting royalties in return. You don’t have to build your own business this way!

You don’t have to put any upfront money into creating your invention, you can just sell your idea!

You have a couple options;

(1) You can sell your idea outright for one lump sum (the idea is no longer yours to profit from)

Or

(2) You can choose to receive royalty payments based on each sale. The royalty payments are a lot less than if you were to create your product yourself and sell it, BUT you don’t have to spend a ton of your own money or try to find funding to build your product…all at the risk of it possibly not selling in the marketplace.

Companies are now looking more and more to find outside inventors (people like you with great ideas!).

They want to outsource their product development because it brings down the costs associated with having an in-house product and development team.

Also they see outside inventors as better product developers because they tend to be someone who has experienced a problem and is inventing a product to solve that problem.

One company that is seeking outside inventors is Proctor & Gamble with their Connect and Develop program. You can read more about this program in my article Submit Your New Invention Ideas to Proctor & Gamble.


a. Search through catalogs – Catalogs are a great place to look at all the companies that sell products similar to the one you are inventing

b. Magazines – There are thousands of magazines on just about every subject you can think of. By looking through magazines where you think your product might be sold, you can get a list of companies that might be potential licensees.

c. Stores that might sell your product – Think about what stores you would like to see your product sold in. Think Target, Walmart, Longs Drugs, etc.

d. Searching internet stores – Everyday, more and more internet stores are popping up. Approaching online stores about your product is a great way to go.

e. ThomasNet – This is a guide that lists thousands of companies that produce products

f. Industry Trade Shows – There are trade shows for just about anything and everything you can think of. This is a perfect place to find companies that are searching for new products…yours just might be the next one they choose to stock!

Proctor & Gamble is seeking YOUR well-developed ideas through their Connect and Develop program.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Jeff LeRoy, External Relations Manager for The Procter & Gamble Company about their Connect and Develop program which includes a needs list with new types of innovations that the company is seeking.

He wanted me to know that they encourage mom inventors to submit their well-developed product ideas or concepts.

“The more your idea has been developed, the better.” 

They like products that have already been tested on the market and have done well. 

For example, if you have a great recipe for a baked fruit or vegetable snack and you’ve trademarked the recipe, you’ve tested it around your neighborhood, maybe got some local stores to carry it, and received feedback from your customers that they absolutely love your snack….. submit it to Proctor and Gamble!  They may decide to work with you on developing the snack to be sold through their distribution channels.  If you can show to them that there are people who are interested in the snack and excited about buying it, Proctor and Gamble may want to partner with you on your product.  Read more

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