License or Sell Your New Product

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A business consultant can help you put together a business plan that will show whether your product is financially viable and whether it makes sense to pursue licensing or an outright sale. Again, you want someone who is very familiar with the industry and niche that your product fits into. Experienced consultants are likely to charge upwards of $100 an hour.

Cheaper Alternatives

Since most inventors are bootstrappers, the good news is that there are cheaper alternatives. One might be working with a local business school. Professors are often looking for real-world case studies for their students to tackle. Perhaps your new product might be the subject of a market research project or business planning course. "Offer to give the college a donation to make it work, or offer to pay the kids $10 an hour," Simon says. "You'll probably wind up getting a pretty good idea whether this product has potential, in which case you can raise some money to pay a professional. And if it's no good, you can pull the plug on it."

Business incubators are another option. "Some of them, like ours, will help entrepreneurs for a little while without any commitment or cost," Simon says. "I will at least advise people who approach me about whether they've got something they should pursue or not."

Once you are ready to approach potential buyers from a position of strength and knowledge, target those that are open to outside submissions. "The companies that are looking for new products usually have a detailed submission process listed on their websites," says Phil Baker, a new product developer and the author of From Concept to Consumer. Letting them know that you have a viable product that is protected legally and that you've tested it and gotten good responses will pique their interest, he says. Don't describe your product in detail at a first meeting; instead talk about the product category, your background, and whether their company is likely to be interested.

If there's not a specific person who meets with entrepreneurs, you're best off approaching the vice-president of marketing at midsize and larger companies, says Trevor Lambert, president of Lambert & Lambert, a licensing agency in St. Paul, Minn. "If you talk to the engineers or in-house product developers, you may be threatening their turf. And the president of a large company is going to be too busy. The VP of marketing is usually looking to drive new products, product-line extensions, and is more of a visionary," he says. Good luck!

Karen E. Klein is a Los Angeles-based writer who covers entrepreneurship and small-business issues.

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