Selling Business Ideas

trad

I'm an ideas person, have a book of projects that have been brought to various stages of developement. Got a kicking last year after spending 6 months working on a project only to have the licence turned down at the last hurdle.

I currently have 2 decent ideas ready to implement and I have identified 2 well known companies who operate in the respective fields who would be excellent platforms for to add my plans to their existing business.

I want to sell the plans / concepts to these companies. In the right hands there's money to be made. Other than non disclosure and confidentiality agreements how do I protect my ideas if these companies are not interesting in purchasing the plan?

515

It depends on what the ideas are... are they new ways of doing business, new products, marketing ideas?? Some are only protected by secrecy, some by intellectual property...

conolan

Almost impossible to protect an 'idea'. Obviously if the idea is worked up into a detailed proposal you are in a stronger position.
NDA rarely worth the paper written on, but you should do it anyway.
You might approach the prospective client saying
"I have a proposal in the area of .... that would fit in with .... and bring you benefits of ....."
"If you don't have a plan / concept in the area, I'd like to show it to you but I need confirmation that you are not already working in that area"

Obviously if the client believes that you are credible and have a track record they might take you seriously. But you have to take the risk, or keep the concept under wraps.

conolan

conolan wrote: »

Almost impossible to protect an 'idea'.
NDA rarely worth the paper written on.

This is only the case if you cant afford to follow it up with a lawsuit if the agreement is breached

trad

One of the plans is for a bus route, no other public transport in the area, massive footfall and could become established very quickly, so I'm pitching this at bus operators, and the other is a website, nothing like it on the web in Ireland or other countries for that matter so will be pitched at web companies.

With creditable companies behind them both have the potential to make real money, 4 buses cost €1m but a large coach operator would have the capacity to deal with this, likewise a web based company would have all the infrastructure in place.

antoinolachtnai

These are both areas of business I happen to know well. It is very hard to get someone to pay up anything at all and buy an idea like this off you. This is even when the economy is expanding. When the economy is contracting, it's far worse.

If you think I can help, let me know. I don't think I'll be signing any NDA's though.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

trad wrote: »

One of the plans is for a bus route, no other public transport in the area, massive footfall and could become established very quickly, so I'm pitching this at bus operators, and the other is a website, nothing like it on the web in Ireland or other countries for that matter so will be pitched at web companies.

With creditable companies behind them both have the potential to make real money, 4 buses cost €1m but a large coach operator would have the capacity to deal with this, likewise a web based company would have all the infrastructure in place.

Idea's are rarely worth anything without action, even if the effort means getting a patent etc.

You need to separate a good idea with a feasible idea. The above idea is good, but has no commercial value. You need huge money to start a public bus service and then you'll need a license to start the route. The relevant companies will be aware of the need for service, however their hands are tied - unions wont change their working hours (hence routes), they can't fire and in the current economy can't hire either.

With the web based idea, its very hard to find the right person to risk their money and pay you. Also since you can outsource nearly everything to do with online business i'd be questioning why you were confident enough to take someone elses money but not willing to risk your own.

conolan

Fancy Dresser wrote: »

Also since you can outsource nearly everything to do with online business i'd be questioning why you were confident enough to take someone elses money but not willing to risk your own.

Amen to that.
Of course if you lack the skills/experience to launch your web idea, there's a fair chance you don't have the skills to assess the feasability of the concept either. Suggest you find someone in the business who you trust and bounce the idea off them. Strong possibility they'll tell you some piece of information that changes everything in terms of your concept

trad

Thanks for al the posts.

There are other bus companies beside state run unionised outfits. In this day and age anything that helps to keep jobs and provides profits has to be seen positively even by state run companies, not that I would approach one. The issue of a bus licence is relatively straightforward for a licenced reputable company.

I'm not out to fleece anyone and I'm not looking for a fortune for these plans. I have multiple ideas and don't have the resources or the committment to see them through to fulfilment. That does not mean they are bad ideas.

I don't see it as a huge investment to a company to add an additional string to their bow. They are established and don't have to bear the start up costs of a new venture. Likewise, if these companies are reputable companies their reputation alone would be a huge advantage over a startup.

If I was in business and someone came along with a well thought out plan that suited my company I'd pay them a few grand for the idea. I don't think I'm risking other peoples money, either you see the prospects or you don't. If you get the opportunity to expand your business utilising the resources that you have and maybe add €250,000 plus turnover for a "nominal" fee would you not be tempted by it?

lanternman

I dont think anybody would pay you for your bus idea unless you had the route up and running yourself then maybe somebody might be interested in taking you over. Othewise they would just set up the route themselves and pay you nothing.

As for the web site idea, I think something similiar would apply to a very large extent as ideas on paper are not worth an awful lot of money.

antoinolachtnai

trad wrote: »

The issue of a bus licence is relatively straightforward for a licenced reputable company.

The best years of my life.

tombull82

Its hard to know if you would have any come back.

A friend of mine contacted a large well known company with an idea for how they could make sale's to an online audience (ebook style) without the customer having to use credit cards etc.

He copied all the top managers of the company thinking that this would stop his idea being claimed by a signal recipient and so he would have some come back.

He received an email back a few weeks later which copied all on the original mailing list.

"Thank you for your great business idea, its customers like you that make "£!%%!% such a great company"

Low and behold he idea was implemented within another few weeks and the company are now selling an e copy of their product using the same method and payment style he had explained.

Any thoughts on this??
I would have assumed as he has the email response that he could have looked for royalty of some sort but he just bit his lip and never replied from what I know.

515

I don't think the person in the above example has any claim... he gave the idea freely without limitation...

For our thread starter, I think you just have to try to find a business owner who thinks like you, that a small fee would be fair and fitting. I know some owner/managers would certainly think like that, but not all. And I don't believe you have any legal recourse to make them pay you.

Maybe the website has something like a trade-mark or domain that is critical and can be protected, but that is unlikely.

My best advice would be to try to talk to a few bosses in the fields you are talking about and sound them out... would they give you a fee for a killer idea? It could be conditional upon it being successful after 6-months say... If they say they wouldn't then don't tell them... if they would and you trust them then why not try, you have nothing to lose if you're not going to do it yourself.