038 | Licensing partnerships with Erin Dollar, Cotton & Flax

Erin Dollar, the owner of Cotton & Flax is an artist and textile designer, focused on creating home goods and bold surface pattern designs. Her background as a printmaker guides her work for Cotton & Flax, and the entire collection of Cotton & Flax home goods are designed, silkscreen printed, and sewn in California.

On today’s episode we’re talking about how Erin licensed her artwork for a line of fabrics manufactured by Robert Kaufman. She’ll share her story of how this licensing partnership came to be, considerations when partnering with other brands and things she learned along the way.

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:

Cotton & Flax’s product offerings
What motivated Erin to start Cotton & Flax
How she came up with the name when she decided to re-brand
How the collaboration with Robert Kaufman came about and why she chose to work with them
How she crafted her licensing pitch
Considerations smaller companies should take into account when looking at a partnership with a larger company
Red flags when it comes to contracts
Flat rate compensation versus royalty compensation
Brand strategy when co-marketing your products with a larger company
How diversifying her income has allowed her to feel more confident in her ability to be self-employed
What she would do differently on her next licensing deal
How Erin defines success in her business
The advice she would give to someone starting out in a product-based business

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KEY TAKE-AWAYS

“Cotton & Flax was a weird experiment that got out of control. It was almost completely accidental.” – Erin Dollar

“I wanted to explore working with manufacturers who have that expertise, have that ability to scale up and really create a quality product but without having to do it all myself.” – Erin Dollar

“Thinking about the way that I could craft a pitch that would be appealing to their end use customer was really important.” – Erin Dollar

“It has to be a blend of the strength of your work and your ability to get that message across in an effective way.” – Erin Dollar

“It’s really about that partnership. It’s not, ‘What can I get out of it?’ It’s, ‘How can we work together to have a successful collaboration?’” – Erin Dollar

“If you don’t feel comfortable looking over legal documents and really feel like you can understand those documents, get someone to help you” – Erin Dollar

“Licensing has been a way for me to really grow my brand beyond my own product line while holding onto the rights to my work to be able to use in other ways.” – Erin Dollar

“If you’re not comfortable with what’s in the agreement, ask for more of what you want. Don’t be afraid to speak up.” – Katie Hunt

“The diversification in income is something that’s really helped me to feel more confident in my ability to be self-employed.” – Erin Dollar

“Success to me means freedom to do the type of creative work that I want to do.” – Erin Dollar

“I feel like we’re all our own worst critics. We need to get ourselves out of that mindset and give ourselves more credit for the amazing things we’re doing.” – Katie Hunt

“Having a network of folks that you can turn to who care about you and want to see you succeed is so vital.” – Erin Dollar

CONNECT WITH ERIN DOLLAR

Website: Cotton & Flax | Facebook: @cottonandflax | Instagram: @cottonandflax | Pinterest: @cottonandflax | Twitter: @cottonandflax

Connect with Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.

Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct