To whom to sell the idea of ​​​​invention. How to sell an idea development invention, ideas for sale. At what price to sell a business idea? We evaluate your project

  • 17.11.2019

Alexander Kaptsov

Reading time: 7 minutes

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When did it appear interesting idea to open a business, to whom and how can it be sold? Large companies usually have their own business developers, private investors are attracted by projects that guarantee profit. We invite you to familiarize yourself with detailed instruction selling business ideas on your own. Required documents, presentation design and other nuances of the sale, read on the website

Selling a business idea the right way. Step-by-step instruction

Any idea must be framed appropriately. Otherwise, the author of the project will not find a buyer. Of course, much depends on the variant in which the product is offered to the buyer.

Here expert review chances to sell:

  1. The first place is given to startups.
  2. Then there are business plans.
  3. The last place belongs to patents.

One way or another, you will have to deal with the search for a buyer yourself, although theoretically startups imply the presence of interest from investors.

What should be done to properly sell a business idea, a step-by-step plan.

Development of an idea-project

Clever thoughts often come to mind, but who will buy them. A clear elaboration of the idea in writing is necessary, with a reflection of all the pros and cons.

What is included in the structure of such a document:

  • Description of the idea.
  • Analysis of the market situation.
  • Calculations regarding the size of investments.
  • In most cases, a financial plan is needed.

The idea, worked out in all directions, will not only attract the buyer with a profitable aspect, but also justify the cost side. In fact, the author shows in numbers how much the implementation of the proposed plan costs.

Presentation preparation

A good idea by itself is worthless. A lot depends on correct presentation the finished product - from the ability of the author to present the idea.

What rules should be followed when preparing a presentation:

  1. The use of Power Point is recommended.
  2. Content should be informative and memorable. It is important to skillfully combine the text part with the visual design.
  3. Negotiation skills are required.
  4. When composing a speech, the priorities of opponents are taken into account, that is, the conversation is conducted in one language.
  5. The key to successful negotiations is the pre-collected information about the buyer. This allows you to qualitatively prepare for the conversation - to understand the interests, preferences, worldview of the investor, in order to highlight the aspects of interest to him.
  6. Duration 20 minutes. Then questions follow.

What points are covered during the presentation:

  • The essence of the idea.
  • What product will be sold.
  • Startup costs.
  • Conclusions based on marketing research
  • profitability of the idea.
  • Be sure to prepare applications in graphs and tables.

A good performance is based on conciseness, clarity of wording, lightness and, most importantly, self-confidence. The purpose of the process is to interest the opponent.

Making a list of required documentation

Any idea must be supported by documentation. The presentation is just a version of the story with pictures. If the buyer, as they say, is ripe for a purchase, he will need accurate calculations confirming the profitability of the idea.

Therefore, in addition to the essence of the business and the amount of costs, it is necessary to provide:

  1. Detailed description of the project.
  2. Financial justification of costs.
  3. Calculation of profit - after what period the income will appear, what is the planned profit growth (show the prospects of the idea).

Additional nuances:

  • If a patented idea is being sold , relevant documentation is provided. It is obtained on the basis of a completed application and an examination. By the way, a patent is not issued for the idea itself, the proposed method for its implementation is patented.
  • - the fastest way to sell a business idea - a package of documents is prepared for your own company. The downside is the registration of the company and the financing of the project from the personal funds of the author of the idea. The sale is carried out after the completion of these stages.
  • Has practical value for the buyer . Here you will have to work at least six months to compile it qualitatively.

Finding a buyer

The most important question: where to look for buyers? Naturally, in the circle of professionals who are able to be interested in this proposal.

There are two scenarios here:

  1. The seller of the idea has access to a professional circle of buyers . For example, he works in the relevant field. Then his task becomes easier. He just offers an idea to those who know him.
  2. Business idea seller is looking for an intermediary for sale or someone who will recommend it to the buyer. A direct offer, even a brilliant idea, leads to a zero result - companies are afraid of intrigues from competitors.

Ideally, there should be several buyers. In this case, an auction is possible. Then the author chooses who to sell the product to.

Selling an Idea

The sale is carried out in stages. After all, there is always the possibility that, having found out all the details of the project, the client will simply refuse to pay.

Therefore, the selling procedure (in general terms) is as follows:

  • First, the buyer gets to know general description, then with the author's agreement, in particular with the clauses providing for liability for violation of the author's rights.
  • This is followed by a written confirmation from the buyer that this business idea is a trade secret. If not, then further discussion is meaningless.
  • After that, you can acquaint the client with all the subtleties of the project.
  • Consent to purchase is the reason for payment. The fact of the transaction is fixed by the relevant contract indicating the conditions under which the sale is carried out.

At what price to sell a business idea? We evaluate your project

There are not so many criteria for evaluating a project:

  1. level of originality.
  2. Demand in the market.
  3. Profitability. It's no secret that many innovative discoveries are far from profitable.
  4. Will the idea improve an existing business?
  5. Is it possible to protect the project from copying - is it possible to patent the idea.

In practice, there are several options for profiting from an idea:

How to evaluate a project? After all, every product has a price.

The most famous pricing methods are not so many:

  1. The price of an idea is based on similar products.
  2. The price is a percentage of the estimated profit.
  3. The price is assigned in accordance with corporate (professional) tariffs and conditions.

The listed methods against the background of the constant development of the market are very subjective. The reason for this situation lies in the lack of reliable information. This reduces all calculations to approximate indicators. Therefore, in Russia, in most cases, the price is set based on the principle called “red business” or “red price”.

How it looks in practice:

  • The seller, looking into the eyes of the buyer, tries to understand what price to ask.
  • The buyer, analyzing the cost of the car, clothes and accessories of the author of the idea, decides how much you can actually pay.

In this matter, the main thing to know the basic rule of pricing: the cost of an idea depends on the effectiveness (profitability) of the product and the amount of rights acquired by the buyer.

Where can you profitably sell a business idea?

In the foreign market, innovative ideas are promoted by companies specializing in this particular area. There are about 5,000 of them in America alone. Russia cannot yet boast of such a number of special firms - the riskiness of business slows down the process.

According to statistics, only one idea out of a hundred ideas makes a profit, the rest:

  1. In need of improvement - 85%.
  2. Without application remain - 10%.
  3. Only 5% go to sale.

Where it is profitable to sell a business idea, consider the possible options:

  • The author of the idea, of course, can seek contact with interested parties (investors) at specialized exhibitions or contact the company directly with an offer to sell. Although this way is not the most efficient.
  • Experts recommend using the services of managers selling ideas. They know a lot about promoting ideas, they know how to properly present the product to the customer. The cost of such a service is considerable, but the result will be relatively fast. You can find a professional project seller on specialized sites.
  • Plenty of Internet resources (GeneratorIdea.com, homeidea.ru, glavstart.ru and so on) that offer free ads with a brief annotation about the idea. This method is ideal for limited financial opportunities.

In principle, any of the above points can bring benefits. The main thing is not to stand still, not to wait until the buyer finds himself. It is important to act and desirable in all directions. Sometimes it is difficult to predict where the buyer of an idea will meet.

There are minds among us who are constantly inventing and inventing something, trying to improve and make our life easier: a remedy that will kill the Kalarad beetle forever ... a way to read a book in half an hour ... and so on. Where are these inventors, who are they and why do we not use their inventions?

Inventor Georgy Chernikov came up with a way to isolate air terrorists. The idea is simple and economical - all passengers on the plane are tightly tied to their seats using elegant handcuffs. This invention is just a "warm-up for the mind", in fact Georgy Chernikov is a serious engineer. For almost 50 years he worked as a designer at power plants and almost every month he received bonuses for "rationalization proposals", as well as copyright certificates - "as a keepsake". Now the pensioner invents just out of habit. He has more than 100 patents, but it does not bring him any money.

Georgy Chernikov: “I applied for and received a patent for a straw with a filter and inserts made of soluble tasty things that are pleasant to drink. Some restaurateur called me and said that they were interested in my straw, they say, let us try it. I say - please, try, do it.

Repository of ideas

Rospatent - Russian service on patents and trademarks - the intellectual bins of our country. If the Gokhran contains gold and jewelry, then piles of folders are stored here. All these are patented ideas from the end of the 19th century to the present day, a 200-meter shelving corridor.

The same library exists in in electronic format, in it all the world's discoveries. And in the secret fund - developments in the field of security and defense, there is no access to them. All other patents can be seen by anyone. All ideas gather dust on the shelves, and only a few receive life.

Yuri Gavrilov, economist: “Having a patent is a necessary condition, but clearly not sufficient for the successful promotion of a development on the market, it is necessary that a professional manager be involved in this development, and this is a problem in Russia – to find professional managers in this area. Because of all the inventions, there are ideas that are just brilliant, but we don’t know about them.”

How to make money on an idea

In Soviet times, the state bought an idea for 20-50 rubles, at that time it was a good salary increase. In addition, the inventors were entitled to special privileges - free trips to the resort and additional living space. Only now, there was one condition - the state received all the profit from inventions.

Today, the inventor himself pays for a patent - at least 3 thousand rubles, but the idea becomes his personal property for 20 years. Thus, if his idea works, then he has a chance to receive dividends from his invention during this time.

There are three ways to make money from your idea. The first is to receive royalties for the use of their intellectual property. For example, to patent a toothbrush with crossed bristles and if it is produced and sold in stores, the inventor receives royalties. The so-called "royalties" - a percentage of the income of the manufacturer.

The second option is to sell the rights to your idea. That is, get money and forget about lifetime dividends. Internet inventor Tim Berners Lee received the largest fee for his idea - 1 million euros. He did not want to engage in risky business and gave the rights to the development of the World Wide Web to computer giants. Tim Bernes could have become a billionaire, but he preferred a teaching position at a US university. Today he runs the non-profit Internet Development Foundation.

And finally, the third option is to make a business on your idea. In our conditions - it is the most difficult. Even Bill Gates in our country could not bring his company to international market, which he brought out through the USA, is now a multinational company and he is the richest man in the world.

Every idea has an owner

Muscovite David Yan is called "Russian Bill Gates" because he computer programs are used all over the world. In 1989, when David Yan was a 4th year student at the Moscow Physicotechnical Institute, at a lecture in French he got the idea to create a computer dictionary so as not to suffer with translations. David's scholarship was 55 rubles, and to create a dictionary, three thousand were required. The money was given at the Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth. I had to work at night, during the day I had to go to lectures, so the first version of the dictionary appeared only a year later.

David Yan: “I went to institutes, agreed, said that we would soon have an electronic dictionary, would you like to buy it from us. And I signed the first contract in August 1989, there was no program yet, it was already for 2,100 rubles.

As a result, David earned only 10 thousand rubles from the dictionary. This is the price of 15 legal copies that he sold himself. In fact, there were still about 100 thousand pirated versions, if David had received at least some deductions from them, he would have become a millionaire.

According to the then existing legislation, it was necessary to prove the extent of the damage that you caused. And how could this be done?

In the 90th year, David and his partner opened a company, today it has branches in America and Asia, they sell software. In the company, David almost does not work, he receives interest from the profits from his inventions. For several years, just for fun, he has been engaged in avant-garde art, opened his experimental cafe-studio.

David Yang: “If you don’t have a team that constantly develops their ideas with you, then you will never be able to earn big money on it even if you come up with something. One wise guy in the field is not a warrior.

All over the world, special companies help inventors to promote their ideas to the market, in the USA there are more than 5 thousand of them, in Russia - 15-20. The business of introducing new ideas is called "venture", in a literal translation - adventurous. Although it is more correct to say - risky. According to statistics, out of 100 inventions, only one is implemented.

In this article, we will consider the following question: “Is an idea a product?”. On the one hand, it is impossible to give an exact answer to this question, although on the other hand it is possible - yes, this is a product. Well, since this is a product, then there must be a buyer.

We will talk about this product today, or rather about " selling business ideas". How can these ideas be sold? And who will buy them?

We will start with the one who most likely will not buy, these are large companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Yandex, IBM, etc. Why won't they buy? Because they have their own huge Research departments that develop new business ideas for their companies (and in those areas that are most interesting to them).

But even such giants sometimes hold tenders for the best business ideas for their companies. So the business idea can be sold even to them.

Both large companies and small and medium-sized businesses may be interested in buying business ideas. Every company needs new ideas to expand their business, stay ahead of their competitors, or just keep moving forward, as this will lead to bankruptcy. The market does not tolerate monotony, it always needs a new product, new services, new perspectives.

There is another group that is ready to pay good money for a business idea - investors. They usually buy realized ideas that make a profit. Although it happens that they allocate capital for innovative project if they are of course interested.

But there is one thing, but the idea itself (which is in your head) is almost impossible to sell. You need to sell an already visualized project, brought at least to the development stage.

There is no need to translate your whole idea into reality, it will be enough to test the concept, how it works. The very idea of ​​a business goes through several stages from its inception to the final sale:

Stage 1. Suddenly a thought came to your mind, and a business idea arose. You start thinking about how to make it more attractive, more perfect, more profitable, etc.

Stage 2. Now you are trying to transfer this business idea to paper, save it electronically on a computer or somewhere else. So that later it can be refined and modeled already ready business idea.

Stage 3. The moment of patenting your idea comes, this is a rather difficult stage. And you need to go to it if you find out that it is worth it, and a patent is required for it.

Step 4. Move on to finding a potential buyer for your business idea.

Stage 5. Selling a business idea.

Of course, these stages are quite short, and negotiations, presentations, etc. were missed. This is just a clear example of how the sale of a business idea will take place. . You should at least know these basics, from which you can already build on.

Below, we will provide you with more specific recommendations on how you can sell a business idea:

1. Back up all your business ideas with facts. Facts should not be out of your head, but from trusted sources and supported by figures (payback period of the project, projected profit, etc.) All this should sound convincing, and even if you doubt it, it is better to look for more reliable facts.

2. All your facts should be connected with emotions, it should be one whole. Simple graphs and numbers do not hook anyone. An emotional idea is not only interesting, but it can become contagious, and this is very important.

3. Try to visualize your idea as much as possible. A beautiful, interesting and high-quality presentation is 50% success. Speak only to the point, show the very heart of your idea. The clearer the presentation is, the more chances you have to sell the idea.

4. Organize a clear plan for the implementation of the idea. If you do not have obvious steps to sell, then your chances of success are scanty. In this case, it is best to show buyers what investments and actions are needed to make the idea come true.

5. Make your idea as easy to understand as possible. It can be broken down into several simpler stages (support, fund, implementation). Talk about it like it's the idea of ​​all time, but don't exaggerate.

6. Take everything step by step, look for support even before the presentation. Find the right people and start working with them in person early. Try to find and talk to people who are listened to in the company (to which you propose the idea). And if they are supportive in a personal conversation, but hesitate at a presentation for any reason, you can delicately remind you that they supported you completely in the past.

7. Be prepared that not everyone can see the prospect of your idea, try to clearly explain why this idea is not relevant now, but in a year it will be mega-popular.

8. It would be very good if you enlisted the support of an influential person. Whether it's your friend or you just met this person on the way to your success (selling a business idea), it doesn't have to be a public person, he can just be the head of some serious organization. If you find such a person, start involving him in your project, let him put in a good word for you. For example, this business project is very promising, or the creator of this project is a very smart, creative person, etc. In business, this is very important.

9. The seller of the business idea must be very good. There are two options here:

- if you are a bad seller, but want to sell on your own, there is nothing wrong with that, just be prepared for initial rejections, until you can gain experience in making presentations and negotiations, you will not be sold an idea. But as soon as you gain experience, you will be able not only to sell this business idea, but also the subsequent ones that you will form.

- You are a bad salesman and do not want to spend time on self-development. Then hire a good seller who can sell your idea, and even if they associate the idea with him, the result is important to you.

To summarize, for a successful selling business ideas you need to have: a clear plan for its implementation; facts backed up by numbers; great emotionality; ease of understanding; top support; a good seller and a natural vision of prospects.

Short answer: no. Nobody will buy it.

The cost of your idea:

0 r. 00 kop.

Why can't you sell an idea?

Since you're interested in selling an idea, there are a few assumptions you can make about yourself and tips that will save you time.

You are not unique. Every month this page is read by at least 300 (three hundred!) people. They all carry an idea in their head and are interested in whether it can be sold.

Most likely, you are a fairly young person with little life experience - this prevents you from correctly assessing the prospects.

Is the idea really original? Why don't you want to check it out? The reason is one of two things:

  1. Fear. You are afraid to find out that someone came up with it before.
  2. Inflated self-esteem. You are so confident in the originality of the idea that you cannot imagine that it has already occurred to someone.

Checking an idea for originality with the help of search engines is not so difficult. Formulate your idea in different ways and search the Internet.

Sometimes teenagers come up with an idea for a computer game and think they can sell it to developers. However, as you can easily see from various interviews, developers do not need ideas for games. Rather, they need time, money and additional labor. The same applies to mobile applications.

Very often people are looking for how to sell an idea to Google or Yandex. They can be advised to part with naive dreams, study well and try to get a job in one of these companies in the future.

Finally, no one has yet heard of such cases where a person from the outside managed to come somewhere, agree and sell his idea.

What to do with an idea if it cannot be sold?

Write down your idea. When more ideas come up, write them down too.

If the idea is really good, try to implement it yourself or together with like-minded people. Try to prototype.

Who can submit an idea?

If you have not only an idea, but also a team of people capable of implementing it, this may be of interest to investors who would invest in you, as well as help with connections and advice. You can try to contact a business incubator or a startup accelerator (see Startup Ideas). But keep in mind that the investor will not be interested in the idea itself, but in the profit that he will receive by buying a stake in your business. With one bare idea, you should not look for an investor - it will be difficult to convince him that this can bring money. So be prepared to work on a business plan.

Here is what Sergey Karpov, managing partner of AddVenture investment fund (from here) says:

This is what happened in the 2000s. There was a crazy boom, and everyone thought the ideas would take off. Now most sane people understand that there is no point in hiding the idea, you can talk about it openly as much as you like. People who can do something with their hands in the segment can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Those who know how to do something well with their hands, you know by name. If they start doing this project, then you need to invest in them, and nothing good can be built around ideas.

If you don’t want to work on bringing the idea to life on your own, but want to “push” it, get money and live in peace, then you will only be disappointed.

How else can you find funding?

You can turn your attention to Planeta.ru or Boomstarter - these are platforms for attracting investments in projects through crowdfunding (collective or "popular" financing). Anyone can participate in financing. The amount required to launch the project is determined, and if it is collected within a certain period, the author of the project receives it. If not, all funds raised will be returned to sponsors. It is recommended to look at what kind of projects are successful there, and also take into account that on organizational issues it will take a lot of effort.

Known attempts to implement the buying and selling of ideas

The night before, I came up with an idea (online program) that I think could be in demand by catering companies [...] I understand that the easiest option is to go to the company's management and propose this idea.

Let's save the time of reasoning and immediately imagine ourselves in the place of the director of the restaurant. A young man comes from the street and talks about his very valuable idea. Let's say the idea is to kiss the ass of every customer for a paid bill, not on the day of payment, but on the next visit to the restaurant. What should the director of the restaurant do next? Immediately put money on the table for development? Any normal person will say "idea ok, come when it's ready". It doesn't bind him to anything.

Let's say your idea is not found by a search in Yandex (although, as practice shows, almost all brilliant ideas are found by a search). Let's say you found programmers, captivated them with a task, and received a beta version a year later. Then the most difficult thing will begin - to convince at least someone to use it.

An idea is worth nothing until there is a person behind it who can bring it to life. Nobody ever buys an idea. Buy faith in the possibility of its implementation.

A fucking idea for an internet service came into my head, but I don't have the money to make it happen. How to sell it? For example, such giants as Google or mail.ru?

I have to disappoint you: there is no shortage of cool ideas in the world. Anything that can cross your mind has probably already occurred to thousands of other people more than once. And a simple search will prove it. Nobody wants just cool ideas. Everyone needs cool ideas at the right time and to the point. This is where the number of inventors of ideas decreases sharply. Sometimes there isn't even anyone.

Take, for example, the banking business. For example, the sector of plastic cards. Thousands of very highly paid bank employees around the clock trying to come up with at least something new in their field. Whoever succeeds is super young. But there are very few new ideas.

So if you are able to come up with a hundred great ideas to order, you will not be lost in life. And if you have one idea, then nobody needs it.

And one more thing, about the syndrome of the Russian inventor:

I noticed long ago that there is a characteristic type of Russian inventor. He is talented, productive, inventive. And so he invented something.

At this point, the inventor begins to pupate like a caterpillar. It is covered with a special waiting cocoon. And he begins to wait for a buyer to appear who will allow him, the inventor, to soon fly like a butterfly.

A Russian inventor usually values ​​himself in simple discrete values: $1 million, $5 million. If the idea is crude and undeveloped, then one million is enough. If there is a patent and a prototype, then five.

The Russian inventor believes that if he has an idea, then he is provided for until the end of his life, it remains only to wait for the appearance of the one who will bring the dough.

It's amazing how many Russian inventors I have met in my life. Instead of a million, they all got x** and butter, but that did nothing to correct their expectations.

Andrey Koshcheev, founder of the DomaVkusnee company ():

How much does an idea cost? Andrey, how much would you pay for a great idea that will increase Doma Vkusnee sales by 35%?

Three pennies. That's what good ideas are worth. Any. Even the most brilliant Even those ideas that changed the world.

Karl Engelbart, who invented the computer mouse, received only $10,000 and a state charter for his invention. John Pemberton, the inventor of the Coca-Cola formula, fetched $1989 for his idea. Today the Coca Cola brand is worth $70-80 billion. For comparison, the entire Gazprom costs about 2 times cheaper. Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler invented stapler paper clips, but did not make money from it, because he could not attract investments, find production facilities, or organize sales. The same thing happened to the inventor of the photocopier, the McDonalds brothers and many others...

Why is that? Everything is very simple.

Investors don't believe in ideas. Investors believe in teams that can deliver results. Employers don't believe in ideas. Employers believe in people who know how to work and get things done. Women don't believe in ideas. Women believe in men who can provide for their families. Men don't believe in ideas. Men believe in women who know how to cook borscht [...]

I don't believe in ideas either. The idea - it is like hemorrhoids - in any case, will remain forever with the inventor.

Egor Rudi, co-founder of the Profi.ru service ():

I have always wondered why it is so important for everyone how the idea for a business was born? [...] But does it matter much? I have thought about this many times and now I think that it is more important how personalities appeared in our business. "It's not what is important, it's important how" - I always tell my employees about this.

Sergey Grigorovich, founder of the game studio GSC Game World ():

The modern world is so complex that any idea is already plagiarism. The world cannot develop if ideas have authorship. Initially, we have some kind of emotional barrier: we don't want to steal ideas and we want to create our own unique things. The problem is that this doesn't always work. Legislatively, ideas are not patented, and, as a result, it is very important to abandon such a barrier.

Opinion of illustrator Sveta Dorosheva ():

Stealing something really worthwhile is essentially impossible. After all, you can steal only in the amount of your own abilities. Like a thief on foot, he can only carry what he can carry. And if there is a full dragon cave of jewelry, then all the same, he will only carry a bag with a maximum of its own weight. It's as if I, let's say, stole the idea of ​​uuu ... well, let's say, from Pelevin. I would have spied what he was writing there right now, and would have stolen it! That would be laughter. Well, I stole it. What's next? How to realize it, because I don’t know how to write like that?

The opinion of the famous entrepreneur Dmitry Potapenko ():

When a person with a "unique" idea approaches me as an investor (a certain number of "pioneers" regularly knock), I immediately suggest that he go to work as a floor cleaner. Because nobody has invented anything unique since the time of Adam. Entrepreneurs do nothing but come up with new ways to satisfy old needs.

Nir Eyal, behavioral design researcher and investor ():

People tend to think that ideas are rare things, gems to be collected and hidden. But in fact, the essence of creative work [...] tells us exactly the opposite: if some kind of insight comes to your mind, then most likely it is in the minds of other people as well.

Where I live - in Silicon Valley - there's one hallmark of newcomers to the tech community: they ask me to keep their ideas private.

It doesn't matter who came up with the idea first, or even who implemented it first. It is much more important who implemented it on the market most successfully. This is mentioned in an interview by Ivan Pupyrev, technical manager of the advanced technologies and Google projects ATAP:

I worked at Sony and a couple of things came to market there. Tactile screens, which we invented in the early 2000s, entered the market in a touchscreen product. And then the iPhone came and killed everyone. So it all kind of faded away. Then we made a content design system for ordinary phones with buttons. The iPhone also killed everything. Then we made a PSP version of the Vita, where the touchscreen was on the back. This was also our development in the 2000s, it was a stormy project. The iPhone also came and killed everything. That is, the iPhone killed everything to hell.

In flight: 7 epic startup failures (see point 6)

  • Why you shouldn't be afraid of stealing ideas (video) - DigitalOctober.tv
  • We are all different. Some people are better at generating ideas and concepts. Someone - to work out plans. At the third - consistently and methodically to implement. Therefore, the question of how to sell an idea is relevant not only for those who are looking for investments for their project. In fact, an original concept, a fresh look, and an innovative solution to an old problem can bring huge profits. On one condition: that there is someone who implements all this in practice.

    So how do you sell an idea? There are several ways, they differ in cost, complexity of implementation, and participation human factor. The first of these is to find an investor or partner. Announcements can be given on special portals, and on ordinary boards, and even in newspapers. This implies either the creation of a joint venture, or a percentage of a share of the profits, or a kind of "franchise". A more difficult and time-consuming way to sell an idea is to make an offer for potentially interested parties. Send out your offer, while it is important not to reveal the very essence, but only to describe in general terms what the concept is about. Otherwise, you can be almost one hundred percent sure that your idea will be "taken away" and you won't be able to get anything for it. Reliability and integrity of partners - key moment. Many businesses fail precisely because everyone starts to "pull the blanket over themselves." Therefore, the selection of those to whom you can entrust your idea must be very strict.

    Another way is competitive. If you are looking for ways to sell an idea, you can take part in various competitions and tenders. For example, many organizations promise funding for the most interesting and innovative projects. Therefore, if your idea causes responses, you can count on the fact that someone will want to invest in its implementation. Another issue is the division of responsibility and the formal structure of the business. That is, whether the author of the concept will be a third-party consultant, employee, shareholder or manager depends on who organizes the competition for grants and under what conditions. Recently, original auctions of projects have also been created, where various mechanisms for evaluating and connecting investors and creators of "intangible values" are used. You can look for similar sites and learn how to sell an idea with their help.

    It should also be remembered that any "intangible assets" - that is, knowledge, skills, projects, know-how, concepts, brands - also cost money. And a lot. And not only at the very beginning, but also at any stage of the functioning of the enterprise. Therefore, it is desirable to either patent the idea if possible, or sign an agreement regarding copyright from the very beginning.

    The third, already quite common way to sell an idea for a business is to create an information product. It could be electronic book, video, program. A course of study, training, materials for a seminar can also act as such a product. That is, what other people who are ready to implement or invest in a business may be interested in. When the product is ready, the question of where to sell the idea is solved quite simply. You can do this on your website, you can - through the mailing list or through special virtual content stores. Another option on how to sell an idea is to take part in various affiliate programs. Or write an article in a specialized magazine. However, in this case, even if they pay, then only for the text. And not for the idea itself, which, if skillfully implemented, can bring a huge income.