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Cassie Quinn was fed up. The 28-year-old mother of one was sickof digging through her diaper bag to find things. "Whycan't someone design a diaper bag so all the little items areeasy to find?" she thought. Then she thought, "Whycouldn't that someone be me?"
The Spokane, Washington, inventor sketched her concept on paper,produced a prototype, enlisted the help of an invention marketingspecialist, and ended up licensing her idea to Kalencom Corp., aNew Orleans company that sells baby accessories. In late October1998, Kalencom introduced Quinn's product with much fanfare atthe Juvenile Manufacturers Product Association convention inDallas.
Juvenile Products Development Co., the marketing company thathelped Quinn land her licensing deal, gets a 2 percent monthlyroyalty for its efforts. Quinn, who still works part time at atravel agency, collects a 5 percent monthly royalty. All in all,it's a pretty good payoff for Quinn's willingness to act onan idea thousands of other mothers have probably had.
By licensing your product to another company, you can profitfrom your idea with a minimum amount of work. How did Quinn do it?Her first step was to expand her idea into a product concept byfully defining the idea's features and construction andproducing a rough drawing. Quinn began by brainstorming the ideawith her husband, Robie, and her stepfather-in-law, Steve Danzig,the president of Juvenile Products Development, a Spokane,Washington, firm that specializes in licensing ideas tomanufacturers.
After a long brainstorming session, the three decided smalldrawers, like the ones used to hold nuts and bolts in a hardwareorganizer, would be perfect. The product would have a drawercompartment, with four large see-through drawers on the bottom andsix small see-through drawers on top. A zippered flap would holdthe plastic pullout drawers in; above the top drawers would be oneor two larger compartments to hold diapers and other bigobjects.
Quinn was ecstatic as she moved forward into the product conceptstage: "I was pumped up the moment the idea was finalized. Iknew women with children would want it."
With Danzig's help, the Quinns started researching themarket. They checked stores, the Internet and catalogs forcompartmentalized diaper bags. They searched the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office's Web site (http://www.uspto.gov) to see if anysimilar ideas had been patented. They didn't find any similarproducts, but they had a formal patent search done by a patentattorney just to be sure there were no competitive products theyhad missed.
Next, Quinn set out to make a rough prototype. She bought twocamcorder bags and sewed them together so they were the same sizeas a standard diaper bag. The camcorder bags had a small forwardcompartment that was ideal for drawers, and the two bags ended upfunctioning as larger compartments for big objects. Quinn boughtsome small drawers, altered them to fit into the front compartment,and sewed teddy-bear-print fabric on the outside of the bag. Theprototype, though rough, worked great, and young parentsinterviewed as part of preliminary market research loved theidea.
With positive feedback in hand, it was time to prepare apresentation package and start talking to potential licensors.Quinn wasn't sure how to go about it and gladly turned theproject over to Danzig. He prepared a comprehensive reportdetailing their market research and took it to the JuvenileProducts Manufacturing Show in October 1997.
Attending the trade show was a wise move: it's far and awaythe best place to meet key industry people who might want tolicense your idea. When executives are in their own offices,they're protected by a secretary and typically won't takeyour calls--you'll just be told to send in your idea. At atrade show, however, those same executives spend most of their timeat the company booth to see if buyers like their new products.During much of the day, those key contacts stand alone in the boothand are usually happy to talk to you.
At the show he attended, Danzig met a wide variety ofmanufacturers and discussed Quinn's idea to see if he couldstrike a deal. Several showed interest, but none more than MonicaKalozdi, who, with her husband, Geno, owns Kalencom Corp., amidsized manufacturer and marketer of children's accessories.The company's product line includes baby-carrier covers,car-seat covers, carriage and stroller pads, and bottle holders. Inthe end, Kalencom Corp. was Quinn and Danzig's first choice instriking a licensing deal because Kalozdi was so excited about theproduct and its potential.
The next move was Kalencom's. Kalodzi made some productmodifications: She added a few more pockets to the side of the bag,and switched the teddy-bear fabric to a more neutral design so menwould be willing to carry the bag. She then arranged for overseasmanufacturing of Baby's First Travel Bag to ensure a low price,set up product distribution, and launched a marketing andadvertising campaign.
Quinn was fortunate to have a relative in the industry becauseshe didn't have time to develop the product herself. Inventiondevelopers are hard to find; they can handle only five to 10products a year, and most get plenty of ideas from inventors theyalready know.
But you don't need an invention developer to succeed. Thesteps Danzig took are ones you can take, too. Create a unique idea,do your research, build a prototype, prepare an informationpackage, and get out to meet the key people who might want tolicense your product.
Cassie Quinn wanted a product that met her needs--butcouldn't find one. All she did was ask "Why not me?"Isn't it time you hit the marketplace with yourideas?
Don Debelak (dondebelak@uswest.net) is anew-business marketing consultant who has introduced new productsfor more than 20 years. He is the author of Bringing YourProduct to Market (John Wiley & Sons, $19.95,800-225-5945).
Cover Your Bases
Steve Danzig's market evaluation was a key factor inKalencom Corp.'s decision to license the compartmentalizeddiaper bag. Look at the areas Danzig's report covered, andadapt them to your product:
- A market analysis of both the industry and the product,including trends, growth and other general market factors.
- Shelf space allocated to the product category at major retailergroups likely to sell the product, including:
- Discount mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart and Kmart
- Mid-range retailers like JC Penny and Sears
- Drugstore chains such as Rite Aid and Walgreen's
- Juvenile products specialty stores such as Treasure Island.The amount of shelf space allocated to a product category is anindication of how well the product sells. You might want to alsoinclude shelf space of other well-known product categories as acomparison.
- Competition (how many brands are in the market, and who are themarket leaders?).
- Total sales dollars of the product category along with past andfuture sales growth.
- Analysis of why the market leaders have that position. Werethey the first established brands? Do they have a superiordistribution network? Do they have the best-quality products?
- Significant points of interest in the market as they relate tothe new product.
- Explanation of how the product will be positioned in the market(who its target customers are, the product's price range, whatmakes it unique and why people will buy it).
- Results of focus group sessions with parents and grandparentsof young children.
Pass Or Fail
Monica Kalozdi, vice president of Kalencom Corp., reviewshundreds of inventors' ideas every year but rarely licenses anidea. Why don't most ideas pass her scrutiny?
- The product doesn't have enough unique features orisn't a big enough idea.
- The product doesn't function well or as expected.
- The product is not feasible because of production or marketingcomplexities.
Kalozdi liked Cassie Quinn's idea because it was innovative,served a distinct purpose and had a good price point. Your pricepoint should be close to the price at which most of themarket's volume is sold. For example, if most diaper bags sellfor $29.99, a good price point would be $19.99 to $39.99.You'll have a hard time selling a product that's too farfrom the average price point.
Fan Club
Cassie Quinn's husband, Robie, was involved with herinvention from the start. He thought her idea was great, helped herdo research and went with her to meetings.
Inventors need support from family and friends to succeed.Launching a product is a roller-coaster ride, and it's easy tolose faith in your idea without a support system that encouragesyou to keep moving forward.
Be proactive and create your own support group. Get friends andfamily to help you find competitive products. Ask for theiropinions. Most of all, share your ups and downs with them so theycan help you stay focused when things don't work out asexpected.
Contact Sources
Juvenile Products Development Co., S. 6322 Gaiser Ct.,Spokane, WA 99223, (509) 448-2114
Kalencom Corp., (800) 344-6699, Kalencom@aol.com
Cassie and Robie Quinn, 11724 E. Nora, Spokane, WA 99206,(509) 891-9242
