At some point in our lives, most of us will have at least one, commercially viable product concept. Maybe you know someone who seems to come up with great ideas all the time. Perhaps you are that person. And in that case, you may ask yourself, “Now what should I do with my invention idea? It can be frustrating, feeling like you have the next big thing to generate millions of dollars, if you could just get it to the shelf of major retailers.
Have you ever watched a commercial for a hot new product and thought, “Hey, I thought of that years ago”? If this sounds like you or someone you know, you have come to the right place.
Unfortunately, developing new products is complicated and usually very expensive. Most of us lack the capital resources that it usually takes to go much beyond the idea stage, let alone: engineering, manufacturing, marketing and distribution, which can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. And even if you have the capital resources to go it alone, it rarely makes sense to build a company around a single product because retailers prefer to buy “assortments” or “lines” of products and that’s why licensing is often a safe and pragmatic alternative.
AON was created by a team of seasoned veterans from the retail and consumer goods industry who wrestled for many years with this frustrating dilemma that has hamstrung American innovation. On one hand there were retailers scouring the earth for exciting new merchandise to offer their customers. On the other hand was an endless sea of innovative ideas from creative individuals and businesses eager to cash-in. In the middle however, was the complex and seemingly insurmountable gauntlet of obstacles that stood between them, which posed an extremely arduous and expensive challenge to overcome.
Ironically, this scenario plays out throughout America every day, and therein lies the problem. The American consumer products industry has been stymied by systemic inefficiencies which has created a virtual innovation logjam.
This problem is so pervasive that even merchants whose careers depended on a steady flow of new products often avoid telling their acquaintances what they do for a living in order to avoid the monotonous replay of conversations that usually begin with, “I have an idea that would be perfect for your company…” and often end with a discouraged inventor tossing their napkin sketch into the trash once they realize how complicated and expensive it would be to get their idea off the ground. That is why you can call nearly any consumer products company or retailer in America and tell them you have a multi-million-dollar idea and see what happens–virtually nothing.
Now you are probably thinking, “This makes absolutely no sense,” and you would be right–were it not for the complexities of our litigious world.
To add to the irony and frustration, every consumer goods company and retailer knows full well that many of these lost ideas are in fact worth millions of dollars.
After finally identifying the systemic problems hindering American innovation, our team decided to do something about it. We created an innovation superhighway called AON Invent, “the invention connection”. Finally, we had an answer for the age-old question, “What should I do with my invention Idea?”
Click here to learn more about our services. We are ready to help breathe life into your idea.