Ideas – Share them or protect them?

Posted on January 22, 2007
Filed Under Thoughts & Ideas |

I often hear people talking about having new business ideas, but that the idea is such a breakthrough, that they of course won’t be able to tell anyone about the idea, including their friends and family! And why is that? Obviously because the idea would be stolen, and used by some other genius, right away. Right!?

I used to think this way, and kept my ideas to myself. I believed that the entire value was in the idea. So if I thought the idea was good, I was already on my way to become rich. Of course, that is not the way it is. To have a good idea is the very beginning! Going from invention to innovation is the real challenge. Keeping the idea to my self didn’t help anything! An important factor in being successful is to know that you are right in what you are doing. If you are inventing a new product or service, you must be certain that your customers actually want to buy it. You don’t want to spend funds or time on this if you have any doubts about it. So how do you get this knowledge? This can be done in different ways, but it sure will be difficult if you can’t tell anybody what it is you are planning to invent. Whenever you get a new idea, everything seems to be positive. It’s easy to see all the good things about it, and difficult to imagine any problems. However, it often seems that these million dollar ideas never become anything but thoughts. Why is that, when it should be so easy? Because it’s not. When you actually try to implement an idea in real life, hundreds of questions will start flooding your brain. Answering these questions will be a huge challenge, without any outside help. So you are stuck, and the idea stays where it is – in your mind!

Keeping your ideas to yourself is not getting you anywhere. Actually I believe, doing the exact opposite will be a huge advantage for any entrepreneur. Tell everyone you know about your idea, even those you don’t know, through blogging for instance. Keeping your idea to yourself will keep you close-minded. You will most likely convince yourself why this will work, and leave out any critical thought. Talking to other people will give you some useful feedback, positive as well as negative. This is definitely a good way to realize the small factors, which you would never have thought about.

Will anyone steal your idea? No, they won’t! Well maybe you don’t have to tell your direct competitor about your idea. Generally though, I believe that most people aren’t going to copy other people’s ideas. Mostly because everybody is busy with their own projects. People like me and you most likely have our own ideas, a fulltime job, and lots of others things to take care of. But also for the simple reason that an idea seems far more brilliant in the eyes of the inventor. That is, as long as it is unproven - proven ideas seem brilliant to everybody. Besides, the reason you have this idea is probably because you have more knowledge in this area then the ones you are telling about it.

So if you feel like you have the idea of the year, start talking about it! Get peoples opinions and thoughts. Don’t let negative criticism get you down, but use it in a creative way. Maybe the starting idea will turn out to be something entirely different at the end, which might just be a healthy adjustment.

Comments

One Response to “Ideas – Share them or protect them?”

  1. Sam on February 21st, 2007 7:16 pm

    Invention is definitely not about equality. The system makes it very difficult
    if you are not rich to make it. If I was rich, I would not need inventing in the
    st place.

    The filing of a patent is a time consuming costly factor, and it does not really
    protect most ideas anyways. There are many ways that a corporation can make the
    same product idea you have been sacrificing for. There are many ways to change
    your idea or even polish your idea a little more and they can have another
    version of your product while your idea and your patent goes nowhere.

    It is quite disgusting to be an independent inventor. We are treated as bums.
    Many of us get tire of the disrespect companies have. Many of us burn out before
    our time.

    The best factor that could make inventors in the United States feel like they
    matter is to higher them in companies. Independent inventors should know where
    to go to get employed by companies, and companies should try to search for them.
    After all, they are an incredible resource which is being left behind too many
    times.

    Now more than ever we need to higher inventors. Junky product are taking over
    our market more than ever before. Mediocracy is a dominant factor in many areas
    of today’s market. This is a dangerous factor, for mediocracy lower standards of
    business creating a downward spiral of business practices that are really
    poisoning our businesses and our society.

    Our filthy business practices are making a social structure who is loosing human
    values. Trust, understanding, kindness are factors that are going down the drain. The people (“consumers”) are constantly bombarded by lies exaggerations and scheme, so our young generation is also learning that being wilder than baboons is a natural human state of being.

    There is practically no business place you can go any more where there is a
    comfortable factor of professionalism and respect towards the people
    (“consumers”).

    It is true that “consumers” usually do not appear to be smart or intellectual
    for that matter. At least that is the way the market labels many consumers. But
    if we continue to think that consumers are dumb bags of meat that eat anything
    and buy anything created by industry as long as you have the right advertising,
    this same factor is going to come back at us. Creating a dumb society who does
    not gives a dam about anything is a monster that will eventually be unstoppable,
    and everyone will suffer as a result of such.

    Some of the biggest diseases out there are not biological, but behavioral, and
    they can be capable of developing cause and effect properties which can
    eventually cause the end of societies and millions of lives.

    Consumers have always moved with the force of industry, if industry things they
    are dumb, and sell them dumb products, consumers will eventually adapt, and buy
    that junk, if industry thinks consumers are smart, and sell them good products
    and services, the consumers will eventually adapt to that. We humans are pack
    animals which means we have an ability to recognize the powers that control us
    as being bigger than us. This factor makes many of us follow the leader and lets
    face it, the leader is industry. So industry is the one with the power to ether
    create smart societies or bags of meat.

    There are many great ideas, and great inventors out there that are being left
    behind. Their dreams are never going to become real, and society shall be the
    one to pay for this.

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