What are your thoughts on Licensing and Scaling

Makelangelos are a success and I wonder if licensing is the way to grow so I can hire staff and afford all the R&D I’m putting into my super weapon other projects. I’m giving the question due consideration and I’d love your feedback in the comments below.

This morning I got order #250 in the store. That’s a nice round number! I feel confident now that I’ve found a rhythm, that I can deliver and support and R&D… the squeaky wheels have been greased and the Marginally Clever machine is starting to purr. AS IT SHOULD. Now is not the time to sit back and relax. No no, now is the time to hit the accelerator. I have to raise an entire generation of minions smart people who can help me with my megalomaniacal plans.

I recently started a distributor program – registered sellers get a ~30% discount on the orders they place. Really good for hackspaces and store fronts. Well color me surprised when the first two resellers asked the same thing: can we make the kits ourselves and pay you a fee to keep updating the software?

Cons

I don’t have any experience with licensing so I’m intrigued, wary, and indecisive. I need your experience to make the right move.

I don’t want to take on hardware support for equipment I didn’t pack and ship. I can recommend my OEMs to the licensees, and even share my laser cutting patterns. I realize we all want to make money and they have no desire to kill the golden goose, so we’re all highly motivated to play nice and fair. Still, I can’t shake the feeling this could be trouble.

I don’t like the idea that the Makelangelo might be rebranded by these other companies. I would be OK “Company X Makelangelo”. To me “Company X magic wall-e-bot” dilutes the brand. Shouldn’t it promote my company in some way? Am I being unreasonably possessive?

Pros

On the plus side, I like that I won’t have to hold inventory or ship or worry about part counts. Money for doing what I was going to do anyways sounds like a little slice of heaven. Since I’m the only one who really groks the software (which is what makes the robot useable) I feel like I still have a lot of control over the situation.

Unknowns

What else am I missing? I don’t have any experience and I’m concerned there’s things I won’t even think to ask.

Final thoughts

What would you ask as a license fee? I was thinking the same 30% sounds fair.