Craig Allen – Licensing His Product in the Midst of COVID -19
Growing up watching his dad constantly fix things, Craig caught the bug. He approached a patent attorney, but then asked if instead of filing a patent he could file a provisional patent application and then market the product. The patent attorney had never heard of this approach but said sure, why not.
Later Craig found Stephen Key’s book “One Simple Idea,” which described that exact strategy for licensing an idea! After researching inventRight, it was the only company that really felt like it would be a ‘home’ for him, because he wanted to master the licensing process with the ultimate goal of becoming a full-time product developer.
He was humbled when his coach Paul Sorenson had him redo his sell sheet, and it took his product and interest from companies to the next level.
When Craig went to the 2020 New York City Toy Fair, every single company liked his product. He had two companies that were interested in moving forward and was about to hear from them when COVID-19 hit. Like many of us, Craig started stocking toilet paper and shared that “it felt like a dark time when I didn’t hear back.”
His coach Paul motivated him to keep going: “If the product is great, COVID-19 won’t matter.”
Craig’s faith, new sell sheet and video, and follow-up with those companies led to a company getting back to him within 48 hours, sending a contract, and him signing it on April 30th.
Be open to feedback, be flexible, learn the process, get out there and do it!
