They’re Going to Steal My Idea!

I was at a business networking meeting the other day and one of the presenters who was trying to get his business going said:

“I’ve got a very good idea for a product that works for sports teams. I can’t tell you what it is, obviously, because if anyone in the industry heard it, they would steal it from me in a second. And, to be honest, my worry is that even once I start my business, the big guys will rip me off.”

The audience went along with him and people danced around trying to find out a little more, but nobody pressed him for the “very good idea.” And while we were able to give him some general advice, we couldn’t really help because we didn’t know if he was selling a product, a service, or a hotdog with decals on it.

Help Me Help You
If he explained his idea we could have helped him more, but the reason he should have told us is because there is nothing “obvious” about having your ideas stolen.

First of all, good ideas are everywhere. Good ideas in business also tend to be simple, like one-hour dry cleaning or putting cheese on top of almost any food.

Second of all while, as a writer, I can tell you that stealing ideas is also rampant, the fact is: having your ideas “stolen” isn’t usually the reason businesses fail. Sure, there are the rare cases, like the guy who invented intermittent windshield wipers, and then spent years fighting the car companies. (He eventually won millions.)

No, the reason business fail or succeed is because of the way they implement the idea.

People look at the McDonald’s brothers and think, “poor guys, they blew it when they sold to Ray Croc for next to nothing.” Not true. Ray Croc built the business. The McDonald’s brothers were serial entrepreneurs who were lucky to sell one of the businesses, rather than having Ray Croc simply start his own chain.