I have a unique clasp design I believe has mass market appeal. I
have no desire to tackle such a huge process on my own so was
thinking about contacting a supplier such as Rio Grande to license
the design or something along that line.
Am I nuts?
I’d be grateful for suggestions on where to begin, caveats, sources,
processes… just about anything. I’m starting out at mass-marketing
101 here.
many thanks,
Bobi
I have a unique clasp design I believe has mass market appeal.
Take it with a grain of salt but I think you might do well to study
the links in my sig. The odds of finding someone to take your idea
and run with it (presumably making you rich in the process) are slim
and none, and slim just left town for an extended stay. But it does
happen. If you want to try it I strongly suggest also studying Harvey
Reese’s book “How to License Your Million Dollar Idea.” Assume you’ll
have to approach dozens of people with a sound, well thought out
pitch (“you’ll make millions” is not such a pitch) before you find
one that is more positive than kicking you right back out the door.
Think about it this way. ANYONE can come up with a unique clasp
design. Some manufacturers may even have staff they PAY to do so. But
the big manufacturers also know, most likely from real experience,
that even with all their clout the tried and true clasps will
continue and continue and continue to be the big sellers, anything
else will just be a big risk. Good luck though.
James E. White
Inventor, Marketer, and Author of “Will It Sell? How to Determine If
Your Invention Is Profitably Marketable (Before Wasting Money on a
Patent)” Info Sites: www.willitsell.com www.inventorhome.com,
www.idearights.com www.taletyano.com www.booksforinventors.com
Hello Bobi,
First, a unique clasp is a matter of opinion- jewelers make one of a
kind clasps daily for customers the design is their intellectual
property and the copyright is rarely tegistered but implied. and most
never consider mass producing them.
Contacting a jewelry supply vendor manufacturer like is
the last place to take your idea. They pay a staff to search the
globe for “unique clasps” that they resell. Without scheduling an
appointment, asking for a non-compete and non-disclosure waiver to
be signed before walkingi n the door are just two simple but
necessary considerations that should deter you. Your idea may be
great but the realities of setting up a manufacturing business to
protect your product, and then to sell it to vendors are the
beginning of a long process that one piece does not rationalize. When
you have a portfolio of clasps and other jewelry pieces and the
moulds, waxes, etc. (prototypes) for many pieces ready to cast en
masse and then presentt to vendors then you begin marketing
them…that is after setting up your business as a legal ( not
hobbyist )entity and getting financing, insurance, hiring any help
you need, developing your advertising budget, buying or leasing
equipment or finding reliable outsourcers that will deliver on YOUR
schedule…then call…in a word: hate to burst your bubble but you
will need more than one idea to actually make money from one design,
one time than it takes to produce that one clasp or 50 like it. You
would do better to patent the idea and see if anyone buys it…and
even then chances are slim, and you would have to fight any company
that produced it unknown toyou once you found out it was being
sold…all at your expense. If you are already in business that
lessens the steps but for one design idea…you would come out better
producing many copies from your own model, registering the trademark
or stamping it with your makers mark and selling them to colleagues
therby cutting out the advertising, marketing, and costs of doing
business in precious metals…
rer
Thank you - R.E. Rourke and James White! Your was just
the reality check I was looking for. I don’t think I was too
starry-eyed at the notion of “we’ll be rich, I tell ya, Rich!” with
my clasp design though your words did help me get grounded again.
The clasp was borne out of a design need for a larger concept/line
I’ve been working on. Because I liked the look of the clasp and it
worked well on other pieces I started putting it out there. That’s
when concern for protecting the idea sent me to wondering if an
existing production/marketing stream was out there that one can hire,
slip into, learn more about.
What I’ve decided, thanks to your help, is to go back to the
original concept that spawned the clasp in the first place and expand
on the line. Figure it out. Earn my chops. And it’s more in keeping
with where I want to put my energies anyway.
Again, many thanks.
Bobi