Should You Share Your Business Idea?

[Almantas]

Hi guys!

Do you believe in an opinion that one should keep innovative business idea in secret in order to prevent someone from stealing it? I know there are arguments which state that business idea is worthless without proper execution. Others state that no matter what you have come up with, someone has already tried it and done it before, therefore your idea isn't as innovative as you initially thought and you should not worry about someone stealing it from you. However, others say that by sharing your idea you will awaken the potential competition and it will be harder to set yourself apart, especially if you are aiming to dominate the market scene.

What are your thoughts in relation to sharing a business idea?

My belief is that no matter how simple a business idea appears to be, execution remains the key. What sophisticates me even more is the realization that one could simply use existing service/product that makes millions, add some innovative business model twist (e.g. flexible pricing model, faster delivery) and pull off millions in profits in no time.

Drop your wisdom bombs guys!

 

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[HoneyBadger]

My thought: the only things I see more frequently on entrepreneur forums than someone keeping ideas secret are threads about whether they should or shouldn't.

 

[Almantas]

My thought: the only things I see more frequently on entrepreneur forums than someone keeping ideas secret are threads about whether they should or shouldn't.

Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.

 

[SuperDuper]

Someone out there probably has the exact same idea. If there's competition, do it better than your competitor.

 

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[BigBrianC]

I see a direct correlation of "I have this great secret idea" with people who always have great ideas.

Because they never have great products or businesses -- but they always have ideas.

 

[ApparentHorizon]

Hi guys!

Do you believe in an opinion that one should keep innovative business idea in secret in order to prevent someone from stealing it? I know there are arguments which state that business idea is worthless without proper execution. Others state that no matter what you have come up with, someone has already tried it and done it before, therefore your idea isn't as innovative as you initially thought and you should not worry about someone stealing it from you. However, others say that by sharing your idea you will awaken the potential competition and it will be harder to set yourself apart, especially if you are aiming to dominate the market scene.

What are your thoughts in relation to sharing a business idea?

My belief is that no matter how simple a business idea appears to be, execution remains the key. What sophisticates me even more is the realization that one could simply use existing service/product that makes millions, add some innovative business model twist (e.g. flexible pricing model, faster delivery) and pull off millions in profits in no time.

Drop your wisdom bombs guys!

If it's actually:

• innovative
• you executing daily
• you progressing

Well, keeping to yourself is basic risk management.

If you're like a lot of entrepreneurs - with 200 pages of ideas - there are situations where you can share.

For example...

Someone hits a brick wall.

You have a flashback to a recent complimentary thought.

Then, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to pay it forward.

 

[nradam123]

Ssup bro.

When you are starting out go talk about your idea and business plan to others.
You should go and talk about your idea to people, that's important to get good feedback.

A really good entrepreneur who can implement your idea and kick your a$$ should be focused enough with whats going on with him already. He is not going to copy you unless he knows that you are making a lot of money and he is already your direct competitor. AKA you are taking part of his market.

Also, do you think that your idea will remain unknown forever? If you are selling and marketing people will know about it anyway.

Lastly, its very rare that your business is running in a vacuum with zero competition. Understand that if you want to be in business you have to always compete. When Uber came to India, 3 companies were having market share here - Taxiforsure, Meru Cab, Ola. Imagine a global competitor coming to kick your butt? Taxiforsure got acquired ($200million), Meru partnered and Ola is going head on against Uber. Its tough life man.

If people compete you, its opportunity for you to grow stronger. I think.

PS: Just my personal opinions. I will ask this question around to a few people this weekend if i go out to get you a more field tested reply.

 

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[Longinus]

Keep it for yourself.

In the thread of @Vick in the inside, they talk about chefs and cooks. We had some cooks here, trying to steal the recipes of chefs (not just Vick but also @biophase and @JasonR ). Even though their product wasn't as good, it brought lots of stress to some of these guys.

You don't want this kinda stress.

 

[townhaus]

I don't think theres much benefit to going around telling everybody about your business ideas.

It's not that they are likely to steal your idea and blow your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but simply because most people aren't relevant to your goals (especially if you are a student).

It's unlikely the people you bump into want to work for you, be your customers or partners. Don't bore them about business.

Basically, i think you should be focus on the people that matter (sales prospects, marketing partners, suppliers) than talking to randomers.

It might be worthwhile bouncing ideas of your closest friends, just to get it out of your own head. You can come up wth new ideas and details when getting someone else's feedback.

Talking about your business ideas could be an 'action fake'.

 

[Rethagos]

Let's face it. Innovative ideas can open some roads to wealth. For us - possibly - and for others - if we choose to reveal them. If we choose to not share the ideas, that means we are afraid of others executing this idea in a better fashion than we are able to.
Aside from the "dog eat dog" dynamic prevalent in some business environments we choose to hoard our ideas to keep our options open.
Don't you see the faults of this way of thinking? True wealth is made by focus and not by keeping our options open.
That is not a viable strategy even in the Slowlane because job also requires focus and commitment. Lots of it. Skills are not acquired overnight or bought for $69.95 from some infomercial.
Keeping options open reminds me more of a Sidewalker's mentality because these folks keep looking for better paying jobs all the time. What are you going to do with all those ideas, no matter how innovative they are? Will you keep hopping from one idea to another and looking for a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow? I don't think so.
Notice how successful entrepreneurs (even here, on TFF) gladly share their business ideas. They do that because they're not going to execute them anyway. They're occupied with just ONE that brings them RICHES.
The ONE to bring the RICHES.
And before you say "Here on this forum is so-and-so who makes his money through multiple businesses!" guess what? He didn't start with multiple businesses. He iterated on his plan because one business wasn't enough for his needs. He iterated on his plan, not bloated it with countless ideas.
And by the way, for one idea which grew to fruition there were hundreds which had to be dropped. For various reasons. Some of them were plain stupid. For others there as no market. But some ideas were perfectly valid and indeed COULD bring a fortune.
That brings us again to the golden nugget of wisdom everyone here knows. Execution matters the most.
So, here's my advice. Get rid of the excess. Share all of your ideas except ONE. The one you plan to execute on.
Because if you share ideas, some of us here might execute them right away and create a service none will be able to compete with.
But that's okay. You have a plan of your own. And no plan B. That makes it easy for you to decide what needs to be done.
Because business is not 100% about money. It's about providing value to society and helping our culture grow.
Now go and execute.

 

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[AustinS28]

I'm not worried about sharing ideas.

I wouldn't share things like who I'm sourcing from, what my strategy is, details about the inner workings of the business, core differentiators from the competition etc.

Also how easy is it to copy? Like said above about people here stealing ideas....is it a product on amazon that has a lot of opportunity and just needs to be sourced and sold or is it software you need built or an invention or whatever etc etc

In the end less talking more doing and then don't worry too much about it.

 

[Guest34764]

What's the point in telling others?

It doesn't serve a purpose besides to stroke your ego in front of them, keep the mouth shut and once you're established blabber all you want.

 

[Vick]

Keep it for yourself.

In the thread of @Vick in the inside, they talk about chefs and cooks. We had some cooks here, trying to steal the recipes of chefs (not just Vick but also @biophase and @JasonR ). Even though their product wasn't as good, it brought lots of stress to some of these guys.

You don't want this kinda stress.

Yes. Agreed. You can share your progress without showing everybody everything.

 

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[Vigilante]

Hi guys!



My belief is that no matter how simple a business idea appears to be, execution remains the key.

What is your specific business plan? What is your specific idea?

The way you answer my question will answer your OP.

 

[kytro360]

I read a super good article a while back that said that sharing your dreams, goals, and in this case business idea, is bad to do. They said that your brain can't tell the difference between you actually completing your goal and you just talking about it, so telling everybody your goals gives you this false sense of accomplishment. This makes you LESS likely to actually get your goal accomplished.

It was an interesting read. Here's the link to it if you're interested to read more on it.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I read a super good article a while back that said that sharing your dreams, goals, and in this case business idea, is bad to do. They said that your brain can't tell the difference between you actually completing your goal and you just talking about it, so telling everybody your goals gives you this false sense of accomplishment. This makes you LESS likely to actually get your goal accomplished.

It was an interesting read. Here's the link to it if you're interested to read more on it.

I didn't see any sources at all on that article, let alone scientific research.

 

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