I Have A Great Idea For A Business, What Do I Do Now?

[daveymck]

Business plan and market research your kick ass idea may not be as appealing to the public as you think.

[gabbahh]

Stop talking about executing this great idea for a business!
The more you talk and think about it, the less chance I give you of actually doing something. Business is not about thinking and talking about ideas, but primarily about executing them.
IF your idea is so good: GO FOR IT! And don't look back. You sure are going to need balls of steel. But if you go for it 100%, AND the idea is good, AND you are not a complete idiot, then you have a very decent chance of success.

Good luck.

[SossMan]

Email Fossilman.

[fundmyhabit]

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Email Fossilman.

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brilliant

Before you do anything consult a lawyer. Seriously. They would be able to give you a better idea of what to do than a bunch of degenerate gamblers on a message board given the information you provided. They won't examine the idea for you, but they will tell you or give you options on what your next step would be if you did want to follow through on the idea. Marketing of the service is key, and it seems that one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is in the marketing/advertising of their business and products. Understanding how people think and what they want is the first step to success.

[Lloyd]

If you were going to start up a new business, then clearly a business plan would be important (and critical if you were trying to raise money). Of course, creating a business plan for a business that has a lot of potential is an art in and of itself. The complexities involved in creating financial projections usually require outside assistance if you have no experience in the industry (and with the product or service) or if you are not particularly math inclined. But if you're not raising money, I don't think you need a full blown plan. Just something that communicates your idea to others in a well thought out manner.

If you were to raise money, most of the time you don't just go out there, raise a bunch, and get the business up and running. You raise money in stages that naturally correspond to the development of your idea and company. So, for example, you'd raise X amount and that would carry you through the development of a prototype. You then raise enough so you can go out and get a few key accounts. You then raise enough to launch your product nationally. Etc. Etc. There are a couple of reason you do this. First, it's very unlikley that unless you are a well established serial entrepreneur that you can go out and raise a ton of money at once. Second, when you raise money it's typically done with some sort of equity. How much you have to give up of your company for what you raise is based on the potential return of the investment and the risks involved, both of which improve as your business progresses.

Typically, you need the 3 Fs to raise money from initially (friends, family, and fools). Once you're up and running you can look at more established sources of money.

Selling or licensing your idea to a company in the industry is certainly another option. If you're worried about someone stealing your idea you can have people sign a non-disclosure agreement. Many companies, however, would not sign such an agreement for several reasons one of which is that most ideas are truly not unique and they wouldn't want to sign an agreement that precludes them from doing something they have already thought of. Even VC firms will not sign a non-compete. So yes, you are typically at risk when talking with someone about an idea. You can get a patent on a business method (or process) but this isn't a very simple or cheap process. And you'd typically want to nail down the process through actual experience before applying for a patent.

If a company did decide to use your idea, it would be accomplished either through a licensing agreement (whereby you license them the right to use the service but you retain ownership) or by selling them all of the rights. In either case, you would have legal representation and the document would spell out all of your rights and how you'll be paid. So you do have protection.

Another option is that you find someone with entrepreneurial experience and who believes in the idea as much as you. They can be the CEO and have equity in the company (probably quite a bit for taking the risk of joining a start-up but you can structure it so, for example, they get it over a 3 year period just in case things turn south with them). You could then be the Chairman, not involved in the day to day operations, but still a large shareholder and involved in strategic discussions and giving advice where needed.

Bottom line, this is a very complicated process and if you're serious about being an entrepreneur I'd recommend picking up a book or two on the subject. One that I particularly enjoy is High Tech Startup and although it's written for a high tech company most of the concepts apply to a non-high tech company.

Good luck.

[tek]

The first thing I would do is form a focus group made up of people you trust (who won't steal your idea) and who also have common sense and business experience.

What you want are honest opinions. Would they buy your service? If not, why? What flaws do they see? Do they know of companies that offer he same or similar service that you need to study?

If they like the idea and would buy it, how best would you reach you focus group.

As someone else said, marketing is key. There are many books at the library on grass roots marketing. Perhaps a local business college has programs where marketing students evaluate products and services and recommend marketing ideas...

www.mycorporation.com

[BradleyT]

F that you can do it yourself for under $125. Your states website should have the form and it's 10 lines or less.