How long is long?
While there are exceptions to every rule, I want to provide a framework to keep in mind. If your product is in demand and you do all the right things, it will still take the average entrepreneur a few years to gain distribution on a large scale. So why does the process take so long?
There are many steps to bringing a product to market, and these steps take time. First, you must create a prototype, perform market testing, hone your product, and get it manufactured and packaged.
Even if you do this in record time, there is still a long road ahead, and one you can’t control quite so easily: sales. You will inevitably find that the hardest part about inventing isn’t creating the product—it’s selling your product to retailers.
To illustrate this, two years ago, a buyer from a major national chain accepted one of our products on a test basis. We were thrilled! What we didn’t realize was the time it would take to conduct that test—one and a half years.
Fortunately, the test marketing went extremely well and the chain decided to pick up our product at its stores across the country. But even from that point, it took an additional 12 months or so to get into the distribution channel and hit store shelves on a large scale.
It’s also important to note that there are steps we took well before that point to grow the market for our product—we needed a proven sales record before even considering approaching a national chain. As a rule, large retailers are in the business of minimizing their own risk, so they take on proven products. This is why the sales cycle can take such a long time for new products and small businesses.
What about licensing?
So what if you license your idea to another manufacturer—one with experience and contacts in the retail world? Shouldn’t that minimize the time it takes to start generating revenues?
Perhaps, but not necessarily. There are still many steps ahead if you choose to take the licensing route.
