Fathers of Invention
For Joe B., the idea came at 3 a.m. one morning. For Mike W., it was an epiphany while playing with his then 1-year-old son. And Wayne M. attended a birthday party, saw a need and took it to the next level. It's a quintessential American Dream: creating something new and then marketing it to the public. But what route does an invention travel to get to the market-place? For three local men, keeping their day jobs was essential, so each engaged specialized firms to handle the essential "4 P's" of marketing: product, pricing, placement and promotion. Both Mike and Wayne signed on with a firm to be their eyes and ears in the complex marketing process. They each chose Invention Technologies Inc., based in Coral Gables, Fla. "I watched my son playing with his toys and thought, 'There's so much clutter and kids are always wanting new toys. Why not take one basic toy truck chassis and market it with a collection of add-on parts?'" said Mike.
Mike has christened his invention the "Wee Man's Build-A-Truck Kit." "My wife and I started talking about this after going to a nephew's birthday party a couple of years ago," said Wayne. "We say so many beverage cups go to waste because the kids lost them, forgot where they'd left them and the parents holding the party are too busy to match up which cups belong to which kids." Presto. The idea for the "Scribble Cup" was born. "And it has applications for big college parties, block parties - any big gathering," said Wayne. "It's good not only for the savings - a party host doesn't have to buy as many of them, but - especially for little kids' parties - if a kid or two has a cold, the germs aren't spread to others." Wayne has worked with Invent-Tech since last fall. "The Internet has made it so much easier to find this kind of company," said Wayne. "They've been very good about contacting me about each step of the process.
I hear from them by phone, via e-mail. They call me a lot to keep me up-to-date." Mike found Invent-Tech - and a host of other firms - on the Internet through a Google search. "I checked up on all of them, and ran them all by the local Better Business Bureau, too. Everywhere I checked, Invent-Tech came up with the best ratings. "I'm very pleased with what they've done for me so far, freeing me up for my job and my family," continued Mike. "They're sharing my prototype at the big trade shows and they've set up a Web site space just for manufacturers to register, log in and view my idea. "They're working on your behalf in every way to get your idea out there, with the potential that someone will sign on to actually manufacture it and distribute it to stores," said Mike. "It's a long, long process and there are no guarantees that your product will be picked up, but they've helped me step by step."