LIVING THE DREAM
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it, has brought that idea to market without your knowledge-and without paying you. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it can be brutal. It happened to me once.
Keep the Ideas-and Profits-Coming! Noone wins at this game by beating a dead horse, nor lose by giving up too soon. So what do you do after you've shown your idea to the top potential licensees on your list and none are interested? When do you walk away from an idea? To be completely honest, the majority of the companies that review your ideas are going to reject them. You have to get up to bat several times before you hit a home run. But let's say you've submitted your idea to IO companies and they all rejected it. Before submitting it to your "B list" of potential licensees, you might want to reassess your idea to determine whether you should revise and resubmit it or just let it go. Remember in Chapter r6 when I advised you to ask a potential licensee why they had rejected your idea? Did they say it was wrong for them at that time, or for that product category, or for that industry? Was it too difficult or expensive to manufacture? Did they say the technology was too advanced or too passe? Did they give you any specifics on how you might improve the idea? Were they able to recommend another company, product category, or industry for which your idea might be a fit? Industry experts are another good source of information for evaluating why your idea was rejected. Maybe the market has changed since you developed your idea; maybe it's in a lull. Attending trade shows, reading trade magazines, talking to industry leaders, and studying the market will help you understand the market as well the marketability of your idea. Sometimes, you can use this information to fix your idea and then resubmit it to the same companies that rejected it or submit it to other potential licensees. Sometimes you just need to keep trying-to submit