Private MattersCan't get big merchants to notice you? Private-label sales may be a good way to get your invention on store shelves.

Inventors of just one product typically won't have a lot ofluck selling it to mass merchants, because mass merchants don'twant to buy from small, unknown companies that could be unreliablesuppliers. But rather than accept defeat, inventors often turn toprivate labeling. They find another company that does sell to massmerchants and offer their product to that company to sell under itsname.

Perfect Products

Products that are natural extensions of other product lines areideal private-label products. For example, your product might be arack that allows people to bake four sheets of cookies at a timeinstead of just two sheets. This product may not have enough appealto get mass merchants to carry it from a separate company. But theproduct is an ideal complement for a company that sells other,similar baking products.