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Make Gretzky Your Biggest Fan: How to Develop and Market Your Greatest Invention
by Laurie WangEditor’s Pick: The secret to success
If you’ve ever invented a crazy gadget or wondered if an idea you had for a product could ever come to pass, you’re in luck, because so has Tory Weber.
His latest product, the Therma-Blade, is a heated blade on the skate that creates less friction, allowing greater speed and agility on the ice. It has caught the attention and support of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and Harley Hotchkiss, owner of the Calgary Flames and chairman of the National Hockey League board of governors.
Risky business
Developing a product may seem like it involves a lot of risk, but Weber never found it to be that way. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas with friends who can give you valuable advice. People are often terrified of others stealing their ideas, but bringing a product to market is such a laborious process that it is usually unlikely that someone will steal your idea. People will be honest if your idea is a good one or not, and if it is, don’t be scared to move forward with it. Here are some tips on successful risk-taking:
1. Do not be discouraged. Make the decision that you will not quit or become greedy, and you are well on your way. Have faith in your product. Yes, it is important to consider others’ opinions, but remember, people thought the television was a crazy idea—who wants to stare at a box for hours? But now, North Americans can’t live without a TV!
2. Leave room for failure. Weber once developed a lead-weighted puck, a heavier puck that he thought would be good for practice so when you shoot the real thing, it’s even better. The product was not received well, but he truly believed in it and stuck to his guns. He has no regrets today.
3. Don’t use your own money. Suppose it takes $100,000 to develop and market an invention. Split this amount into 10 equal shares of $10,000 for shareholders and make this 40% of the product’s revenue. Keep the other 60%.This way, you don’t have to use your own money.
Marketing a product
Even if you have the best product, you are only 5% of the way to success. Taking a product to market is the hardest part. Luckily these days, big companies have bought out smaller companies, so the easiest way to go is to penetrate the big companies. Network yourself with an agent who has a good relationship with the big corporations you would like to appeal to (such as Wal-Mart or Home Depot). At the end of the day, you’ll find that it is this relationship that gets your foot in the door.
The patenting process
Getting a patent always sounds long and tedious, but it only takes about a year, and keeping your product from being stolen by the public is very important. Here’s how:
1.Make sure any company who learns about your invention signs a non-disclosure document. Sometimes the non-disclosure document is even more important than the patent itself.
2. Do a patent search through the US government website first. Then get a patent agency or lawyer to do another patent search.
3. File a provisional patent. This allows you to make changes or update your product and patent along the way.
4. Get a file number and get the file read by the patent office in Washington. This takes about a year on average. Once the file is accepted, you are issued a patent. Then you can license the patent.
Weber has had a fascination with successful rich people who invented “stuff” ever since he was young. He worked for Totem Building Supplies to pay for school and found himself carefully listening to customers and their complaints. He thought about their needs and what kind of products he could invent to fill those needs. He invented the E-Z Stair Template, cashed his life insurance policy, and flew to Toronto for a hardware show on a $500 budget. A Home Depot buyer ordered the stair trace-out nationally and put it on the market—and Weber on the road to more inventions.
Innovative masterminds, take the next step. You never know, perhaps your hobby of inventing “stuff” can become a career.
~ From the E-Z Stair Template to the lead-weighted puck, Tory Weber has been conjuring up inventions and producing them for years. He has taken about 40 different products to market, one of his real first successes being a folding wooden sawhorse that sold about 23,000 items. He currently resides in Alberta, Canada where he lives with his wife and two children.
~Laurie Wang graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A. in English and she has a diploma in Journalism. She's a big fan of hockey, sleep and rare steak, and thinks there’s no such thing as too much of the three.