“Oh no! He is going to steal my idea! I can’t share it with him.”
It’s funny how you hear stories of how other investors or people made billions from these ideas while the idea generator lived in obscurity, but with no obvious example.
I hear this all the time when I speak to young entrepreneurs and businessmen alike. It’s a misconception, a myth. No one knows your idea like you.
It’s not about the idea, it’s all about the implementation.Your idea is useless until it is implemented – Uwem Uwemakpan
No two people implement the same idea the same way. You often have a vision of how you want your idea/business to be and no one sees it down to the nitty gritty like you do.
An ‘idea’ is basically useless without the ‘Entrepreneur’. Get better at what you do, train yourself, put in the work or someone else will do it better than you.
Besides, someone else might be conceiving the same idea as you, right at this moment.
Your business idea needs refining… if your goal is to solve a problem, you won’t be worried about idea theft.
You find out that when you start sharing your idea(s) it begins to morph. You will inevitably go through different iterations of the original idea as you receive feedback until you finally settle on one.
In some cases you’ll find out it was a bad idea to begin with, and that’s OK, feedback makes ideas better!
Rarely do you see an original idea being the final product or service.
Take notes, write all feedback and the resulting changes. I have learnt that those seemingly ‘foolish’ ideas and feedback become tangible as I document and better my idea. Write that business plan and fill that Business Model Canvas; only then will the idea begin to flesh out and make sense with reality.
The worst thing that could happen?The only way to know if you’ve got the right idea is to share it.
My idea will change the world! This is a N50 billion money-making idea! Months and Years after, you’re still on the journey to actualising that idea.
You lose more when you don’t share those ideas than when you do. Chances are that you’ll receive valuable feedback that will change the original idea completely, or that you’ll meet kindred spirits that will help you achieve the goals of that ideas by way of investors or team members.
The only way to know if you’ve got the right idea is to share it.
The funny thing is, if your goal is to solve a problem, you won’t be worried about idea theft. However, if your goal is money, then that’s a whole new conversation.
Are you more concerned about the solution to people’s problems or your selfish desire to make money? Please understand that the biggest companies in the world started out solving problems!
