First, you must take the time to prepare the product, file appropriate intellectual property, prototype or graphic representation of your invention—then create a product sell sheet. If you’ve never done any of these things before, the learning curve can also lengthen the process.
Next, you must take the time to identify appropriate prospective licensors. You don’t want to waste your time, energy, and money, say, pitching a baby product to a household-products company, or a textile product to a company that specializes in electronics. So, developing an accurate and appropriate target list—with the proper contacts within each organization—is key. This will take time and research.
Once you’ve got your list of target companies to approach, it will take time to find an interested party and negotiate a deal. Again, there are exceptions; however, it can take up to a year or longer and there is still no guarantee. Then, just when you think you’re home free, you realize the licensor will take a year or more to develop and manufacture the product, get appropriate safety tests, get a proper distributor, and get it on store shelves. That means the whole licensing process can take from two to five years.
No matter which route you take, know that it does get easier—and faster—with each subsequent product you introduce to the marketplace. That’s because you’ve already created relationships with manufacturers, potential licensors and other vendors who make things happen.
With all that time ahead of you, you’d better get moving today!
This article originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.
