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This Is How You Do It, Kid: The Inventorpreneur’s Handbook
by Francisco Guerra
You are Mr. Guerra’s attorney and legal advisor. Select one topic from the text and either tell him why he is proceeding according to your advice, or suggest an alternative course of action.
Remember, you are giving legal advice. If you agree or disagree, you must give support for your answer.
You can use any Internet source to support your position, but you must provide all URL.
blind albino python.”
It was all I could do to keep a straight face. Mike had
gone off script, but I couldn’t fault his improv skills. You
sce, we uh, didn’t exactly have access to elephants or twin
midgets with trained goats and a blind albino python. We
were a small operation that needed more business in order to
grow…but to get that business we needed to look like we
were a big operation.
Despite one more misstep when I asked about her dog-
“I had to put him down last week,” she’d said, in tears once
again. “I held his paw and sang the “Circle of Life”-I
ultimately walked out of her office with her company’s
business and, just as I’d known, that connection led to dozens
of others which made Bombino Brothers a force to be
reckoned with. I sold the business a few years later for a tidy
profit.
The lesson here? Be strategic, and don’t be afraid to go
big or go home.
While most businessmen will tell you that the shotgun
approach is best, I’ve always found a rifle shot to be more
effective. I used one big company to garner the business of
lots of others. It was a targeted, effective approach.
When looking for markets to sell your product, go to the
biggest source first, then work your way down. For instance,
when I patented the snow machine I knew that the film and
entertainment business would hold the largest pool of
potential clients, so I started there first. From there I
contacted any venue with entertainment-theatres, night
clubs, ice skating rinks, malls.
I’ll never forget when we were pitching to Cirque du Soleil
in Montreal, home of their Canadian headquarters. We’d set
up outside and, as it happened, it was snowing. When we
brought our machine into the building and demonstrated our
snow, management was blown away. They hadn’t been able
to tell a difference between our snow and the original, and
Canadians are pretty well-versed when it comes to frozen
precipitation, let me tell you.
33
spread their feathers, gorillas straighten and beat their chests,
the cobra flares its neck, the puffer fish inflates. Even men
draw their shoulders back and flex a few muscles when trying
to show themselves to their best advantage. Why?
To appear bigger. Because bigger is better, right?
While some might argue that letting your bulldog mouth
overload
your
Chihuahua butt might be a potentially
disastrous business practice, I’ve found that, for the most
part, the risk is typically worth the reward.
Picture this. It’s June, 1993. I’m a fit energetic twenty
something with more confidence than experience, and
enough initiative and intelligence to be slightly, shall we
say…reckless. Hey, it is what it is, kid. Hindsight is a
beautiful teacher and there’s nothing more humbling than
failure. I’ve had my fair share of that, believe me, and am as
proud of those so-called failures as I am my successes. I
learned something from cach and every one, the most
significant of which was the immeasurable value of trying
again.
Anyone can fail and quit—it takes courage to try again
and since courage is the cornerstone of character, I look at
each one of those losses as the building blocks of my
integrity, the square of my principles, the yardstick of my
sense of honor.
Anyway, back to 1993. Bombino Brothers is in the
middle of a cash flow crisis and, though I’m a skilled
magician, even I don’t have the ability to make money
magically appear in the bank account. At this point I’ve got a
master’s in “creative finance,” creditors are ringing our phone
off the hook-always one to look for the silver lining,
1
congratulated myself for having a phone they could actually
call—and payroll is due. I’ve got a meeting with the head of a
large entertainment company and, bottom line, I need this
business.
I need it.
Landing this account would put us
black, would generate some
immediately in the
much-needed
income for
30
Francisco Guerra
to
my
personal favorite, “problem to be solved.”
w
»
8
a
u
“I’m
1
E
information and, admittedly, my brain is ill-equipped
I blinked, stunned. This was entirely too much personal
handle these sorts of emotional issues. It sorts information
into three categories –“interesting,” “useful” and
There’s no silo for sad-I don’t know what to do with it.
“T, uh…
“I’m sorry,” she interrupted, taking a fortifying breath.
“That was unprofessional.” She massaged the bridge of her
nose. “Remind me again why you’re here.”
Fabulous. I’ve already fumbled with the kid question and
she doesn’t even know what our appointment is about 1
could see this meeting circling the drain with much more
rapidity than I was prepared for. If Mike didn’t radio in the
next two minutes it would be too late.
Francisco Guerra
with
Bombino Brothers
Entertainment Troupe. We offer a full-service—“
“Ah, right,” she said. “I remember now.” Unhappily, by
the look on her face. “Listen, Mr. Guerra, we’ve got a good
relationship with Sam’s Friends and Festivities and I don’t
think—”
Thankfully, my radio went off before she could finish
giving me the kiss of death speech.
“Fran to Mike?”
“Excuse me,” I said, inspecting the display. “I’ve been
waiting for this call. Mike,” I said, relieved for more than one
reason. “Please tell me the elephants have arrived.”
Patricia’s dim eyes flared with the first bit of interest.
“Yes, they’re here,” Mike confirmed, the hint of laughter
in his voice only discernible to me.
I breathed an affected enormous sigh of relief, purely for
Patricia’s benefit
midget?”
“Fantastic,” I said. “What about the
Silence yawned for an uncomfortable beat-probably
because Mike was staring goggled-eyed at the radio, I
imagined—then “Yes, there are two of them actually. Twins
Pork and Bean. And they brought their trained goats and the
a
This Is How You Do It, Kid: The Inventorpreneur’s Handbook
experience. And, of course, those people were stupid.
Ha! Just kidding.
The point? Don’t be discouraged, kid. Not everyone is
going to want what you have, but that doesn’t mean that it
isn’t marketable—it only means you’ve got to try harder to
find the right market. And, ultimately, you will.
Concentrate your resources, make the most of
your time,
money and energy. This is a marathon, not the fifty yard
dash.
Be smart.
Be strategic.
And
n’t be afraid to beat your chest and roar when
necessary. Sometimes you’ve got to pull an elephant from
your sleeve and a midget out of your hat to get to where you
want to go. The road to the top is often bumpy and filled
with pot holes, but I can promise you this—it’s never boring
and it’s never a disappointment.
Buckle kid, and enjoy the ride.
up,
product into their arsenal of inventory.
trade shows. Practically every global business has its own
Another way to concentrate your resources is to attend
association and holds yearly trade shows where like-minded
vendors come in, set up and demonstrate their products to
representatives and buyers who have the power to bring your
Instead of traveling all over the country hosting your
presentation over and over again, do it as many times
necessary while potential clients come to you. Save time and
money. This is a streamlined, cost-effective approach with
maximum visibility for a relatively low cost. It’s a limited
investment with the potential for a great return.
In other words, strategic
Additionally, considering writing articles for publications
which cater to your desired clientele, then place small ads in
those same publications-a targeted approach. Don’t waste
your time or money putting ads for your new tractor supply
gadget in fashion magazines. Consider the Farmer’s Almanac
instead. Makes better sense, right?
Trust me, this isn’t complicated. It’s smart. It’s utilizing
time and money to your best advantage, one that will
hopefully pay off in licensing and sales dollars. That’s the
goal, remember?
And listen, I know that I’ve said this before, but it bears
repeating—these people want to meet you.
They’re all looking for new and innovative ways to
improve their own customer experience. They all want to be
trendsetters, ahead of the curve-not behind it-and if
you’ve got a product that can do that, then ninety percent of
your work is done.
It’s just a matter of getting the right product in front of the
I
right people.
Did everyone I presented the snow machine to want it?
No, obviously not. While admittedly most of them were
impressed-it’s an excellent invention, after all—and could
see the value and viability of it, not everyone was interested in
implementing the machine
