You have fought several months, maybe years, but you finally did it!  Your invention is available to the public!!

…fast forward several months or years later.  Your product is selling, but not at a pace you expected.  You had big plans to already have sold 20 times the amount you are at.  Days seem long and as time passes it is easy to feel discouraged.  Doubt can creep in as the money invested seems almost unattainable to get back.  The dreams of a new car and nice vacation disappeared a long time ago.  Even friends slowly stop asking how the product is selling because they know it hasn’t caught on like you expected.  Overall you may start resenting your product invention.  STOP!

STOP. Negativity kills entrepreneurs faster than lack of money.  What you need is a plan.  A plan to succeed.  The truth is you most likely never had a plan.  Like most inventors you envisioned your product succeeding so well that you just thought the story would right itself.  Although this happens to some inventors, you now have to realize that you are not part of that limited group.    This is actually a good thing because you have the chance to plan and run your business before it runs you.  Don’t get me wrong, selling millions of dollars worth of your invention would have been great, but the odds of that success were stacked against you from the start.   It’s like that family member who wants to be a movie star, sure its possible, but without a back-up plan they’ll be a professional waiter/waitress forever.

The PLAN

Create the Yak’s Tail.  Feathered out, bushy and full you need to create a product line that is much like the Yak’s Tail.  You already have the root of the tail which is your invention, but its currently bare with no surroundings.  It is exposed and has to survive on it’s own with no protection.  Creating the Yak’s Tail is to create a full product line of retail ready products within your specific niche.  By retailing your invention with other same category products you’ll have a full and complete product line.

How?

It’s easier than you think.  It is most likely not possible to add a second, third and fourth invention and the truth is you probably don’t have another idea in the same product category or your budget is too tight.  This is fine because turning a solo invention into success has nothing to do with adding new inventions and everything to do with building a retail website.  That’s right a Niche Retail Site! With your invention as the foundation, add as many products as possible within your newly found niche.

You see the fact is big retailers can’t be niched.  They don’t want to be niched.  They are big retailers because they go for mass appeal products only!!  If your invention was overlooked in your niche, you can guarantee that there are other great products within your niche that retailers/buyers have overlooked too.  If you can’t find success getting into the retail stores you think your invention belongs, then BECOME the RETAILER!  Remember you invented your product because no one first addressed the need and brought it to market.  Now do the same thing by creating the online retail store. Eventually by going niche you’ll either get the big box retailers to want to stock your invention or they may be interested in owning your niche and purchasing your retail site!  …Or you may actually own and operate a successful business that provides for you and your family!

….. Now let’s start planning a niche site!  Look for more on creating your Yak’s Tail in 2 of 2.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 7:38 am and is filed under Entrepreneurial, Inventing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.