What Are The Difference Between Entrepreneurial Inventor And Inventor

Inventors of today are having a dilemma whether they should license their products for third party distribution. Would you rather manufacture or reproduce and distribute it yourself or would you sell your rights to another company through licensing if you have invented something you know that will be of great use to the world?

This is going to be a tough one because, first, if you created something, it is natural to always want to hold on to the ownership of something you birthed from within you. Second, watching other people profit from what is essentially yours can be tough. When you license your product, you will get paid and usually, royalties will be huge. Still, there are those who would rather keep the pride of being known as the inventor of something even when they don't earn that much from it. Inventors can be one of two things - an inventor-for-royalties or an entrepreneurial inventor? Which one are you?

As an inventor-of-royalties, you will be selling the rights to your invention to a third party company that will have all the resources to mass produce it. You will get your royalties but once you sell your creation to them, it will no longer be your property. The right to change it anytime if you think there's something you need to tweak here and there is no longer yours. Unless you can cut an agreement with the company saying, you may still add your inputs from time to time as the product is being mass-tested. Other than that, the thing will be completely theirs and what you'll have will be the money that your invention has generated for you.

On the other hand, as an entrepreneurial inventor, you will retain full ownership of that thing you invented. But the challenge of mass-producing it so it can be distributed commercially will be your own. If you are not exactly a businessman who knows the ins and outs of the trade, this can be tough. It is tougher if you don't even have the money to produce your first batch of commercial products. The good thing about being an entrepreneurial inventor though is being able to proclaim over and over to the world that you created this thing and it is entirely yours. That sense of pride can, indeed, be very fulfilling.

Give it a lot of thought, although essentially, nothing will change if you have just developed a product and are considering selling for royalties or mass-producing it yourself. Nothing can change the fact that you invented that product and deserve to be proud of it whether you decide to be an inventor-for-royalties or an entrepreneurial inventor.