Inventors Face Big Challenges in Profiting From Their Ideas
Imagine getting ready to celebrate with champagne, but instead of drinking it, someone hits you over the head with the bottle.
That’s what it’s like to be an inventor who can’t seem to get financing for an idea that he really believes in. At least Bob Ayers felt that way. Ayers is the creator of the “Rx Rocker,” a patented rocking wheelchair that has obsessed Ayers and his wife Becky for the past six years.
The idea for a rocking wheelchair struck Ayers, a screen actor who has appeared on several TV series, while he was working on a movie location in an Iowa nursing home. Between scenes, Ayers watched a woman constantly rocking back and forth in a wheelchair that wouldn’t rock.
In his spare time, Ayers bought and chopped up standard wheelchairs, struggling to design a perfect rocking model. After years of experimentation, he solved the problem.
“No one has ever sat in this chair and not smiled,” said Ayers, who stops people in wheelchairs wherever he goes and hands them a brochure about his Rx Rocker.
Although the few chairs that he built and sold received favorable reviews from trade journals and customers, Ayers still lacked financial backing. While on a sales call to a convalescent hospital, he met a woman whose husband eventually became his business partner and financial angel. In January, Ayers, Bob Eyer and Edward Lee opened an office and assembly plant in Newbury Park, northwest of Los Angeles.
Following years of frustration and rejection from bankers, investors and traditional wheelchair makers, Ayers still seems a bit surprised that he is actually gearing up to produce hundreds of the rocking wheelchairs, which sell for about $1,200 each.
“The only thing that separates the crackpot from the genius is that a genius makes money on his idea,” said Gary Lynn, a Chicago marketing consultant and author of “From Concept To Market,” a how-to guide for inventors.
Lynn, who has invented several medical-related products, is trained as a mechanical engineer. Through the years, he has counseled scores of inventors struggling to bring their products to market.
“Being an inventor is tough with a capital T,” said Lynn. “One of the keys to success is total belief in your product and the ability to overcome the thousands of obstacles that will be placed in your way.”
Lynn said most inventors are visionaries who do not possess the management qualities needed to be a successful entrepreneur. He and other consultants suggest inventors turn to others when it’s time to turn their dreams into reality.
“Having an invention means nothing unless its claims are sanctified by a U.S. issued patent,” said Eugene Lang, president and founder of REFAC Technology Development Corp. in New York City. “No responsible person will ever want to talk to an inventor who just says he has a good idea.”
Lang has been inventing things since he was a boy. His patented Heli-Coil, a small fastening device that provides stronger screw thread connections, is still used in cars and airplanes. Since founding REFAC in 1952, Lang has helped inventors earn hundred of millions of dollars in royalties from their ideas.
“Very few inventors are qualified to be production engineers, marketing specialists or judges of consumer preference,” said Lang. “An inventor must learn to look at things in a very hard-nosed, objective way. One of the quickest turn-offs is when an inventor presents the fruit of his particular genius by making all kinds of elaborate claims.”
Lang said 99 times out of 100 the answer will be no when an inventor pitches his patented idea to a company. But he said inventors should view every rejection as a learning experience. “You can learn a great deal if the person will explain why your idea is of no interest to the company,” said Lang. “Then, you can deal with the objections before you take it to the next company.”
At one point, Bob Ayers said he was wined and dined by one of the country’s largest wheelchair makers. But it later became obvious that the company was more interested in keeping the rocking wheelchair off the market than producing it.
He nearly gave up his dream two years ago when he was living in Des Moines, Iowa. One day, he was elated because the loan committee at Norwest Bank approved the $150,000 loan he needed to begin production. But hours later, his elation turned to despair when the loan package was rejected by the local business development board, which was responsible for guaranteeing the loan.
Ayers’ funding was rejected by the development board because the manufacturing plant Ayers planned to use was outside the “Golden Circle” geographical boundary established by the board, according to Bob Stoner, the Norwest vice president who strongly supported Ayer’s loan application.
“We’ve had a lot of schemes run through here, but his was probably the most viable,” said Stoner. He said if the loan had been approved, Ayer’s company would have created dozens of jobs and boosted the local economy.
Instead, Ayers and his family packed up and left for California. Ayers admits that he might have gotten further faster if he was a businessman and not an actor.
“I’m not a businessman--I sweat when I see numbers,” said Ayers. But, unlike most inventors, he was able to find two experienced businessmen who believed in the rocking wheelchair enough to provide the seed money to manufacture it.
Although the wheelchair has drained his family’s energy and bank account, Ayers said he never regrets being committed to getting it made.
“If we ever quit, it would be an admission that we had a stupid idea.”
PATENTS: BRINGING AN IDEA TO REALITY Before you can patent an idea or product, it must meet three tests. First, you must be the first to conceive the idea. Then, you must be able to build a working model and test it in the environment in which it is supposed to work. After publicly disclosing your idea or trying to sell it to someone, you have one year to file for a patent. Obtaining a U.S. patent costs between $1,000 and $100,000, depending on the complexity of your idea. TIPS FROM GARY LYNN: Document your idea from the beginning in a log book with permanently bound pages. This record is critical to prove the evolution of your idea. Find out if there are similar patents. Ask the research librarian at a major library to help you conduct your search. Document the search in your log book. Build a working model of your product if at all possible. Find a qualified, experienced patent attorney to help you apply for the patent. Do your own market research. Ask at least 30 people who could be potential buyers of your product to answer these questions: What do you like about this product? How much would you pay for it? Where would you buy it? Would you buy it? Make sure they agree in writing not to discuss your idea with anyone else. If the response is favorable, decide whether you are in a position to start your own company or license someone else to make the product for you. Seek letters of intent from store buyers who are interested in stocking your product. These letters are invaluable when you are ready to approach potential manufacturers or financial backers. (Gary Lynn’s book, “From Concept to Market” sells for $17.95. It is published by John Wiley and Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, New York 10158-0012)
