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MenuIf you have an idea for an awesome product, but it is really easy to copy. Would you seek help from someone experienced? What if they steal the idea?
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The "idea" is the really the least important ingredient in building a successful product business. Building the product and then gaining adoption and then turning that adoption into a viable business are all where the rubber meets the road.
These pieces are so difficult that you're best finding the most qualified, experienced people who share your enthusiasm for this idea. What's most important is that you're clear in what you yourself bring to the table besides just the idea.
Happy to talk to you in a call about how to recruit a team and further validate your idea.
Many times I have been asked to sign a NDA. I never sign that kind of agreements, not because I want to stole ideas, but because agreements were too general and I could potentially lock my self out of doing related projects. That said, don't be that person who throws NDAs in front of people.
Idea is the 1% of the whole business. If it ends up a successful money making product you will get the competition soon anyway. Whatever you are doing, you have to be a couple of months ahead of them.
The other point is that people are too lazy or too busy to start a new venture anyway. If you seek advices from entrepreneurs chances are they are already busy building their startups.
Also, being first does not make you better by default. If you take a look at examples of today successful companies you would be surprised how their current business model differs form their initial idea.
Best of luck!
If you want to prevent someone from stealing your idea you need to have them sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA). I insist on NDA's when I talk about products with development companies. These organizations usually transform into product companies after starting out as development companies. The last thing I want is for that idea they execute upon to have been one I'm in discussions with them about.
On the other hand, if it's just a friendly chat with an advisor I'm much less focused on the NDA. It takes a lot to build a company and NDA's aren't everything.
If you want to stop someone from stealing your idea just do nothing, take no risks, and find a cubicle at a large company to hide in. If you want to do something big you always have to put your ideas out there for others to steal/imitate.
Great question.
I agree with a couple of the other experts comments, the idea is the least of your worries. Most people are too busy to want to copy someone else's ideas. I would advise speaking to someone else who runs a non-competitng business for advise. (I'm happy to help.)
You may have heard friends say "I thought of that idea 10 years ago" about a business which they seen on the news which is the next big thing. However it's not the idea which makes you the money, it's the execution and dedication to making it the best product or service possible. No one else can copy your passion or originality.
My advice... Go for it!
Coming from a founder that spent too long worrying about the same issues, listen to Tom Williams! He's spot on, it's all about execution. Know your numbers, know your product and know how you're going to execute.
If it's an amazing idea that raises money, or begins to monetize without Angle/VC, you'll still have a difficult road ahead, just in terms of recruiting top talent.
Even though it's digital, it's a business right? So trust me brotha, get to work! And I mean that in the kindest and sincerest possible way. Start connecting, asking, sharing, going to meetups, whatever you have to do. Just put it all out there and you'll find that incredibly great and talented people will avail themselves to help you throughout this journey. Plan, Pivot & Bust Your Ass!
If you need straight answers from someone that's been in your shoes and didn't buy the idea that "people are too busy to steal your idea," I'm sure I can give you the information and maybe even the confidence to make your idea a reality. I shoot straight without a filter, but at the end of the call you'll know exactly where you're headed...
Back to work!
-Gregg
I strongly disagree with some of the advice you have gotten here. Some have said that the idea is not important and that execution is far more important, so don't bother with an NDA. I agree with the former part of that but strongly disagree with the conclusion. If you're approaching a subject matter expert in the field about your idea, they are far more likely to run on their own with this, than someone in the general public. I've actually seen it happen many times, and when it does the entrepreneur has absolutely no recourse. So my advice to you, would be to get the subject matter expert to sign an NDA. And if they won't as they want to leave their options open, then find another expert.
There is nothing that you can do except be first, stick in the minds of consumers, and offer outstanding service. Read Al Ries and Jack Trout's book on Positioning.
Don't stop taking massive action.
Best of Luck,
Michael T. Irvin
michaelirvin.net
My books are available exclusively through Amazon Books. Check out my book "Copywriting Blackbook of Secrets"
Copywriting, Startups, Internet Entrepreneur, Online Marketing, Making Money
Related Questions
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How should you decide which business idea to pursue? How do I decide which direction to invest my energy in and how can I develop my idea further?
These are some great questions. As an entrepreneur, growing and scaling my business has been both a challenging and rewarding task. I'll answer both your questions separately: 1. How should you decide which business idea to pursue? Your decision should take into account both personal factors and should have regard to your environment, your market and your resources. From a personal perspective, choose an industry which (1) you are passionate about and (2) you have knowledge/experience in. This will considerably reduce your risk of failure. As a startup founder, you will find your job to be extremely challenging and the only way to succeed is through resilience. If you are not passionate, you will easily give up. Having the knowledge and expertise of your industry will not only give you more gravitas but also save you lots of time in research and understanding the wants and needs of your customer. From a larger perspective - ensure your business solves a problem that is large enough to build a profitable business out of. Here is a non-exhaustive list of questions to help you get there: 1. What is your intended customer base? It is harder to target a broad and general audience - try to establish a niche customer base which needs your products and/or services. 2. What problem does your service/product solve? Identifying a problem and providing a solution is the heart of every innovative idea. 3. How can you add value to the product and customer experience? Your customers need to gain benefit from purchasing your goods/services. 4. What are the most unusual characteristics of your business which will give you competitive advantage on the market? Establishing yourself in the market means you need some advantage over your competitors to attract their customers or new ones. 5. Have you researched your competition? In what ways do you feel you can do better than the competition? You need to know who are you facing to understand your market share, and how can you provide better solutions. 6. Do you have access to all the resources you need to launch the business? This includes funding, manpower, premises, equipment etc. 7. What is the size of the market? Do your research! 8. What would it take to create a minimum viable product and test it on the market? You don’t need a finished product to launch, start small and test your ideas. 9. What will it take to make profit? You need to have at least some estimated financial projections as to what you need to spend and what you need to earn in order to break even and then make a profit. 10. Is the problem you are trying to solve on the top priority list of the potential customers? Important consideration to see whether your products will sell. 11. What is your business model? How do you plan on charging your customers, how do your competitors do it, can you create additional revenue streams? 12. Is there a potential for growth? Think in the long term, can you scale the business further? 13. What are the possible roadblocks you are likely to face? You should attempt to find a solution for each problem you can think of. 14. Have you chosen a business name? Make sure that your name is descriptive of the branding and targets your customers. Ask people their input - choosing a name is an important matter as it will affect the rest of your branding. 15. Have you looked for your business name online? Ensure that no other business can be confused with yours. Ensure that the domain name and all social media accounts for your business name are available. I hope this answers your first question. 2. How do I decide which direction to invest my energy in and how can I develop my idea further? This will come to you much more clearly once you have found the answers to your first question. Ensure that you are spending your time in a way that produces results. Your first goal is to bring your MVP, to test it amongst customers, to learn from feedback and then to improve your product. Repeat this formula until you reach product market fit. I hope this helps - please don't hesitate to get on a call with me if you'd like to drill this down further.AI
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Are basic/simple (but new) startups ideas considered dumb?
Execute. Is there a critical mass of value that someone will care about the problem you are solving for them? The size of the problem you are solving and well you solve it generates the value. That then dictates what (if anything) you can charge. The number of people who have that problem defines your market size. That might give you an indication of the type of business/startup you have - is it a high growth startup, or in the case of a problem being solved where the market is not very large, maybe it's a life style business. Pete Thiels excellent book from last year talks about this and is certainly worth a read http://ajs.io/bookzerotoone. Wikipedia says: A business model describes the rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value. Or in my words: your business model is the way you profit from the value you create for others. The good news is, starting simple has lots of benefits to usability, UI, message to market and capturing your first 100, 100, 10,000 users or customers. Go-to-market is where many startups fail most, not the technology, so that is something you should focus on and simplicity -provided your idea is part of a bigger vision- is a great place to start.AJ
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So I have an invention idea but do not really know how to go about
Everybody has an invention. The question is this....Is there a demand for your invention. My experience with the invention idea companies is that they are out to make money for themselves and will submit your ideas to companies and sites that you can to without spending 10 grand. If it is a great invention there will be a great demand. Start with google adwords to find out if there is real interest in the product. Don't stop taking massive action. Best of Luck, Michael T. Irvin michaelirvin.net My books are available exclusively through Amazon Books. Check out my book "Copywriting Blackbook of Secrets" Copywriting, Startups, Internet Entrepreneur, Online Marketing, Making MoneyMV
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I have $400 to start an online product/service/business. Where do I start?
The worst motivation for starting a business is the need for income. A business has to be built over time based on meeting a market need. Of course a business must make money to be successful, but this can take a bit of time. So, the real need is to use the online world to make money. Based on your copywriter skills, here are some ideas to get you started: 1) Start a blog. You can do this for free with platforms such as Blogger and WordPress. This will provide you a chance to show case your writing talent. Writing articles about copywriting can both demonstrate your writing ability and be used to market your approach. 2) Join job markets. There are several freelance sites you can use to make extra money without little to no cost, such as Upwork and elance. You will find jobs on these that will help you earn money and build your portfolio. The pay can be low as the markets tend to be aggressive but a few good contacts can lead to a better source of work. 3) Build your network. Connect with people who provide web marketing services. They need guest bloggers, ghost writers and ad copywriters. Over time you can build a steady source of freelance work. Once you have a good portfolio and practice, you should consider building a branded web site. But first, build your freelance brand. This approach works with other skills too. Let me know how else I can help.JB
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I have an idea of a hardware product, that has received good feedback until now.Should I fill for a provisional patent or start an indiegogo campaign?
The answer: do both. The first thing you need to know about patents is that the U.S. now has a first-inventor-to-file system after the American Invents Act (AIA) went into effect in 2013. I have to disagree with Dan above: for hardware inventions especially, a patent is an important part of the business plan. The first inventor who "races to the patent office" now is typically the winner. This means if you do not file for a patent on your invention, you can lose the rights to your invention much easier than before the AIA. The next step is to think about how a patent fits into your business plan. A patent application is but a tool in your bag when starting up. A crowdsourcing campaign on a site like Indiegogo can validate the idea. But it also puts the idea out to the public and starts the 1-year clock ticking on when you can get a patent. For hardware startups, however, if you're not thinking about a patent upfront -- you're likely leaving a massive amount of your product's value on the table.JP
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