We are all different. Some people are better at generating ideas and concepts. For some, it’s to work out plans. For others, implement it consistently and methodically. Therefore, the question of how to sell an idea is relevant not only for those who are looking for investment for their project. In fact, an original concept, a fresh look and an innovative solution to an old problem can bring huge profits. On one condition: that there is someone who puts all this into practice.

So how to sell an idea? There are several methods, they differ in cost, complexity of implementation, and the participation of the human factor. The first one is to find an investor or partner. Advertisements can be given on special portals, and on regular boards, and even in newspapers. This implies either the creation of a joint venture, or receiving a percentage of the profit share or a kind of “franchise”. A more complex and time-consuming way to sell an idea is to draw up an offer for potentially interested parties. Send out your offer, but it is important not to reveal the essence itself, but only to describe in general terms what the concept is dedicated to. Otherwise, you can be almost one hundred percent sure that your idea will be “taken away” and you won’t be able to get anything for it. Reliability and integrity of partners is a key point. Many businesses fall apart precisely because everyone begins to “pull the blanket over themselves.” Therefore, the selection of those to whom you can entrust your idea must be very strict.

Another way is competitive. If you are looking for ways to sell an idea, you can take part in various competitions and tenders. For example, many organizations promise funding for the most interesting and innovative projects. Therefore, if your idea resonates, you can count on someone wanting to invest in its implementation. Another issue is the division of responsibilities and the formal structure of the business. That is, whether the author of the concept will be a third-party consultant, employee, shareholder or manager depends on who organizes the grant competition and under what conditions. Recently, unique project auctions have also been created, where various mechanisms for assessing and connecting investors and creators of “intangible assets” are used. You can search for similar sites and find out how to sell your idea using them.

You should definitely remember that any “intangible assets” - that is, knowledge, skills, projects, know-how, concepts, brands - also cost money. And quite a lot. And not only at the very beginning, but also at any stage of the enterprise’s functioning. Therefore, it is advisable to either patent the idea if possible, or sign a copyright agreement from the very beginning.

The third, quite common way to sell a business idea is to create an information product. This could be an e-book, video, program. Such a product can also be a course of study, training, or materials for a seminar. That is, something that other people may be interested in and are ready to implement or invest in the business. When the product is ready, the question of where to sell the idea is resolved quite simply. You can do this on your website, or through a newsletter or through special virtual content stores. Another option on how to sell an idea is to take part in various affiliate programs. Or write an article for a specialized magazine. However, in this case, even if they pay, it will only be for the text. And not for the idea itself, which, if skillfully implemented, can bring huge income.

Summary

To sell an idea, it is necessary to develop it, bring it to some specific objective form of expression or product, i.e. it is necessary to present the idea in the form of a specific product. This product can be expressed in the form of a work of literature, science, art or technical description, project, or some other product.

Is it possible to sell an idea?

When a new original thought arises in your head - idea , often the next thought is “Wouldn’t it be nice to sell this idea!” But there is no need to rush. It rarely works out quickly and well. Especially with ideas.
So is it possible to sell an idea and how to do it? They say that nowadays you can buy everything. But selling, especially selling well, is a problem. Moreover, ideas are often taken for free or almost for free, and many methods have been developed for this.
Let's try to answer the question about the possibility of selling an idea, and, above all, here in Russia. First, let’s answer the question: “Do they even want to buy ideas and who can buy them?” If we talk about ideas as such, i.e. about original, relevant and even constructive thought, then such cases are not known in practice. Naturally, who would want to buy a thought, and how to do this? But there is no clear definition of the term “idea”. Often, ideas are understood not only as thoughts, but also as various forms of their implementation and/or development up to pilot testing. In other words, we can talk about selling an idea in some specifically expressed objective form or at a certain stage of its development.

If you sell something, it must have a price. And if something has a price, then it is already a product. Price (and value) is the most important characteristic of a product, the most important economic characteristic. Other important characteristics are consumer characteristics, from which, however, follows the price. From this we can conclude that if you want to sell an idea, then you need to treat it like a product. You need to determine primary and secondary consumer properties, target audience, competitors (competitive field), cost and price. Naturally, the original idea does not have these properties. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about its sale.
It is necessary to bring and develop the idea to the point of acquiring consumer and certain marketing characteristics. Moreover, the more of these characteristics and the more complete and specific they are, the higher the price will be. Such characteristics can have objectively expressed forms of an idea, implemented at various stages of its development. Every idea, if supported by the authors, develops. At the same time, its forms of expression or implementation develop, they are filled with more and more content. Naturally, the cost of the idea also increases at the same time. In other words, if you want to sell, then in any case we are talking about creating a certain product and selling it.

Ideas can relate to various areas of human activity. The forms of its expression and/or implementation may also be different. The most common form is a description, but it can also be a graphic design, a drawing, a musical theme, and much more. Naturally, forms of expression are improved as they develop, and to the extent of their improvement, the work itself is realized. Intermediate forms of expressing ideas can be, for example:
in the field of technology - description and/or diagram and/or sketch of the device,
in the field of science - a hypothesis or definition,
in the field of floristry - bouquet sketch,
in the field of music - musical theme,
in the field of fine arts - various sketches and sketches.

When considering the possibility of selling an idea, it is imperative to take into account the possibility and duration of its implementation. The complexity and duration of implementation of an idea significantly reduces its attractiveness. On the contrary, ideas that can be easily implemented in a short period of time attract a lot of attention and generate significant interest. These are the so-called short implementation ideas. Such ideas are often design ideas in the field of clothing, interior design, floristry, ideas for folk crafts, single or small-scale production, gardening and decorative arts. In these and many other areas, where large investments of funds and resources are not required, and the output of finished products is carried out within hours or days, a breakthrough and implementation of the idea is possible.
If it is necessary to invest additional funds (which the authors often do not have), the process of implementing the idea becomes significantly more complicated. Here it is necessary to look for comrades-in-arms, associates, and if they are not there, then investors and sponsors. Having colleagues and associates allows you to create your own team, which makes it much easier to achieve your goals. If you attract sponsors, investors, funds, you come under strict control and practically lose your power over the idea, even if you have know-how in stock. In any case, it is necessary to carry out the idea to the highest possible level of implementation, and only then sell it or attract investors. Another tip - try to put yourself in the position of the buyer, stand in his place. Look at the idea from the outside, would you buy it?Now improve it!

Demand for ideas

Currently, in the world and especially in Russia, new ideas are in little demand and the attitude towards ideas on the part of business representatives and authorities is indifferent or even negative. The reason for this is that most of the ideas and proposals are not new and are essentially fluff. You can easily verify this by looking at numerous sites on the Internet with publications of so-called “new,” “innovative,” “business” ideas. In most cases, these are either reprints, or the absence of something new and original, or anti-scientific proposals. Often, authors don’t even bother to look at what else was and is on this topic. Many people believe that if something comes to their mind, then it is a priori original. But in fact, a lot has already been done in technology. And often ideas that are new to any author have long been known or implemented. Even experienced inventors sometimes find themselves in this position, especially if they invent in a related field. On the other hand, in many foreign companies the reason for the rejection of ideas from outside is corporate policy and developed development strategies. Corporate policy involves using only its own employees, and using ideas from outside means reducing the wage fund of your own employees. Every large company has a development strategy and plans for development, development and implementation are already provided there, taking into account the actions of competitors.
The latter provisions are especially understandable in light of the global economic crisis. If companies had free money, they would have the opportunity to test new ideas. Now they have the opportunity to purchase only proven and cost-effective developments from outside. They have no opportunity to take risks.

In Russia, the reasons for the rejection of ideas on the part of medium and large businesses are somewhat different. In general, there is money, but no desire. Administrative resources, relatively easy and quick money, and the sufficiency of the resource base (for most enterprises of the mentioned business) create immunity to new things and development. Why take risks, strain, if it’s already good? If everything is ready, tested, on a silver platter and with a big profit, then maybe they will take it. This has been proven repeatedly through experience. Of course, there are cases of implementation of developments from outside. But in all cases, these are one way or another advanced and ready-made solutions, and not pure ideas.
Thus, each author of an idea needs to develop it as much as possible and promote it on his own to the utmost possibility of implementation and implementation - this is the basic principle for the successful implementation of an idea. A frivolous attitude towards your idea can devalue and even destroy it. The most preferable option for the author is to realize his thoughts and intentions on his own, to organize his own business or as part of a team of like-minded people.

If you value your idea, want to sell it or implement it on your own, then you need to take care of its protection. Otherwise, your idea will have another author. At the same time, protection is necessary at all stages of its development, in each case of the disclosure of its new signs. As the idea develops, it is enriched with new content, new elements, new features. These signs, one way or another, are revealed to different people as the idea needs to be implemented. At different stages of development, different rules of copyright and patent law can be used for protection. Already at the early stages, it is necessary to take care of securing and/or confirming the authorship of the idea, confirming copyright for its descriptions and other forms of expression. When developing technical forms of implementation, various types should be usedpatenting technical solutions . In some cases, it is possible to use the know-how regime as a means of protection, but one must take into account the difficulty of maintaining this regime. It is better to use this mode as a component of protection along with patenting andcopyright .

In addition to property (monetary) value, an idea also has non-property value. This value can only be determined qualitatively. It characterizes the potential benefit for an individual, a group of people or all of humanity and, as a rule, expresses goals, objectives or areas of activity. The value of such ideas lies and is expressed, first of all, in the expression of respect and gratitude to its author. Its measure is the degree of prestige, popularity and reputation of the author, as well as an assessment of his potential intellectual and business capabilities. Many ideas also have methodological value, which shows methods for obtaining and developing new and original logical solutions.

How to sell an idea?

But still, what to do if you decide to sell an idea? As was previously said first of all you need to present the idea as a product, commodity. This It is advisable to protect the goods with the help of copyright and patent law, develop an implementation project and a business plan for implementation and implementation. It is imperative to indicate the planned profit and convincingly justify it. If this is difficult to do, the social impact must be specified, especially for social projects. And there is no need to say that you are selling an idea. Remember that you are already selling a certain product, development and presenting the project with a business plan. Please take into account that the overwhelming number of businessmen, manufacturers and investors are interested, first of all, in economic indicators and material benefits. In rare cases, they may be interested in the release of new products, but here they will be interested in the cost of implementation and the potential capacity of the sales market. The more fully you present and describe the marketing characteristics of the product, the greater the chances of investment or purchase.

If you are addressing some big managers or businessmen, then the initial, absentee consideration of your proposal takes 1-3-5 seconds. And they are interested, first of all, in the purpose (usually clear from the name) and economic efficiency. Try to meet these people or at least talk in person. The effectiveness of personal meetings is much higher. Don't be discouraged by your first failures. Some persistence is required. During meetings and negotiations, do not talk about secrecy or maintaining know-how, do not ask to sign documents on maintaining confidential information. All this very irritates potential partners, investors, sponsors, spoils the impression and significantly reduces the chances of successful negotiations - after all, you came to them and do not trust them. It is necessary to understand that all the documents mentioned are easily dispensed with if necessary and in most cases have no practical significance.
If you are afraid of information theft, then protect it as much as possible in advance. Pre-protect all information, all data that you think is valuable. As a defense, use various copyright confirmation options and patenting. Availability of various registrations and especially patents increases the significance and value of your developments and/or works.

In history, including the history of the development of technology, art,few people were able to EASILY promote or implement their ideas. But there are plenty of examples of difficult and even difficult development and advancement. If you decide to promote your ideas, it is unlikely to be easy. Soberly assess your capabilities and if you have the strength, go ahead!

To publish/register ideas and other works, go to the page "Registration of ideas " and press one of the buttons
"Independently" or "Through the administration"

Do you have any brilliant ideas that, with proper financial support and proper implementation, can bring good money?

I think they are visiting and I think that you, not knowing what to do with this idea, simply allowed it to die ingloriously.

But everything could have been different if you knew how to sell an idea and how to get a good income from it.

I want to sell an idea, but to whom?

To be honest, I didn’t think of writing on this topic myself; I was prompted to do so by an unplanned Facebook “meeting” with my classmate.

Even at school, Vadik was bursting with ideas:

• then he proposed introducing an elective monarchy at school, choosing a king every 2 years;
• then he wrote scripts for some incredible school holidays that made our class teacher clutch her head;
• he organized frog races on the school playground;
• Then he made catapults so that he could shoot paper balls.

In general, it’s a one-man orchestra.

After graduation, I didn’t keep in touch with many of my classmates, especially since Vadik was not one of my close friends.

And not so long ago, a classmate found me on Facebook.

During the correspondence, I asked if interesting ideas continued to come to him.

A classmate exclaimed: “Sea! If I could sell them to anyone, I would have already become rich.”

I suggested: “Then sell them!”, and then I got stuck because I couldn’t advise who to sell them to.

That’s when I decided to find out more about who I could sell the idea to and how it could be done.

What ideas can you sell?

In fact, you can sell any ideas, even those that are not presented in any form other than verbal.

This, however, is much more difficult and dangerous, but it is also quite possible.

Who said that crystal-honest investors who help young talents do not exist in our country?

If you want to do everything correctly, then it is better to give your idea a more serious form so that it is much easier for a potential buyer to get acquainted with it.

The idea you want to sell can relate to various areas:

1. Business is a startup that can bring good profits.
2. Science is a formula, hypothesis, theorem that requires proof, etc.
3. Art – a sketch of a painting, an idea for a script, a model of a monument, etc.
4. Technology is a part or device.
5. Architecture is an innovative sketch of a building that no one has brought to life before.
6. Floristry - an original sketch of a flower arrangement.
7. Fashion is an invention that will change the life of fashionistas.
8. Agriculture - a new breed of living creatures, a new variety of plants, an invention to combat the Colorado potato beetle, etc.
9. Cooking is a recipe for which the best chefs in the world will sell their souls.
10. IT technologies - creating an antivirus program, writing some kind of program, etc.

In general, as you can see, you can sell an idea in any field.

The main thing is that this idea is innovative, promising, feasible to implement and not too expensive (even the most eccentric billionaire will not invest millions in an idea that is unlikely to return his investment).

How to sell an idea correctly so as not to become a victim of a dishonest businessman?

What is born in your head in abstract form cannot be sold.

If you come to some philanthropist or entrepreneur and start explaining to him on your fingers what you want to sell him, then at best you will be politely shown out the door.

It is advisable to go to such an important meeting with a ready-made marketing plan, so that the person immediately understands whether or not he should buy your idea.

“But this is a huge risk!” some will exclaim, “What will stop some moneybag from simply stealing my idea and not buying it?”

It is much easier to steal a voiced thought, because it is not protected by the “Copyright Law,” while clause 2 of this very “Law” states that manuscripts, images, video and audio recordings, models, and dummies are protected by copyright and much more.

Simply put, if you are so stupid that you chatter on every corner about the discovery that has visited you, then don’t complain if someone decides to use it without paying you a penny.

It’s a completely different matter if a dishonest sponsor, instead of buying your idea expressed in diagrams, texts and layouts, simply uses your work, you can sue him for copyright infringement.

Concluding an agreement with an investor will help sell the idea without deception on his part.

I'll show you what exactly I mean with an example.

Let's say you come to a private investment fund with your brilliant business idea.

You have thought through its possible implementation well, you know how much money you will need and even managed to draw up a business plan.

There is no need to hand all this over to the investor right away.

Briefly explain to him the essence of your idea, tell him that you would like to sell it and show him a few of your blanks.

If you see that your proposal is of interest, invite him to conclude an agreement, according to which your idea becomes the object of copyright, you are the seller, and the investor is the buyer.

The contract must include:

1. The conditions of your cooperation with the customer: you will personally implement this idea, your participation will be limited to consultations/general control, or you will not participate in its implementation at all after receiving the money.
2. The amount of your remuneration and its type: it will be a one-time payment or regular receipts to your account in the form of a percentage of income.
3. The rights and responsibilities are yours (seller) and investor (buyer).

It is very important that this agreement is certified by a notary and that it is legally competent.

If you are afraid of being deceived, then you can enlist the support of a lawyer who will study the drafted contract and protect your rights.

Who can you sell your idea to?

And finally, the most difficult thing remains: where to find those very investors who are ready to invest money in a promising one and make its “father” rich?

I admit, this is an incredibly difficult task, especially in our country, especially in the context of the current economic crisis.

But the problem is completely solvable if this is exactly what you want.

You can sell your idea:

Rich entrepreneurs.

You need to go around to the richest people in your city (it is incredibly difficult to get to them directly) and present to them the essence of the idea that you want to sell.

What if someone becomes interested?

1. Various charitable foundations, both domestic and foreign: RFBR, Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation, Development through Education, USAID, ACTR, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Programs, which is funded by the United States, etc.
2. Funds that are ready to invest a lot of money in various innovative projects, for example, “Fund for Promotion of Microfinance Activities”, “Direct Investment Fund”, “Fund for the Development of Internet Initiatives”, “RVC Biofund”, etc.

But before, inspired by an idea, you run to sell it, make sure that your idea:

• truly innovative (no one has ever created anything like this);
• is presented on paper or in some other form simply enough for the investor to understand;
• will bring much more profit and benefit than the money and effort spent on its development;
• It’s worth the long and tedious knocking on investors’ doors in the hope of selling it.

How to properly present your business idea

for its profitable sale,

explained in the video:

Think it through how to sell an idea yu, so as not to regret later about lost opportunities.

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There are minds among us who are constantly inventing and inventing something, trying to improve and make our lives easier: a remedy that will kill the Calarada beetle forever... a way to read a book in half an hour... and so on. Where are these inventors, who are they and why don’t we use their inventions?

Inventor Georgy Chernikov came up with a way to isolate air terrorists. The idea is simple and economical - all passengers on the plane are tightly tied to their seats using elegant handcuffs. This invention is just a “warm-up for the mind”; in fact, Georgy Chernikov is a serious engineer. For almost 50 years he worked as a designer at power plants and almost every month received bonuses for “improvement proposals”, as well as certificates of authorship - “as a souvenir”. Now the pensioner invents simply out of habit. He has more than 100 patents, but it doesn't bring him any money.

Georgy Chernikov: “I applied for and received a patent for a straw in which a filter is made and inserts are made of soluble tasty things that are pleasant to drink. Some restaurateur called me and said that they were interested in my straw, they say, let us try it. I say, please try it, do it.”

Repository of ideas

Rospatent - Russian Patent and Trademark Service - the intellectual granaries of our homeland. If Gokhran contains gold and jewelry, then piles of folders are stored here. All of these are patented ideas from the late 19th century to the present day, a 200-meter corridor of shelving.

The same library also exists in electronic form, containing all the world’s discoveries. And the secret fund contains developments in the field of security and defense; there is no access to them. All other patents can be seen by anyone. All ideas gather dust on the shelves, but only a few get life.

Yuri Gavrilov, economist: “Having a patent is a necessary condition, but clearly not sufficient for the successful promotion of a development to the market; it is necessary that a professional manager be involved in this development, and this is a problem in Russia - to find professional managers in this area. Because of all the inventions, there are ideas that are simply brilliant, but we don’t know about them.”

How to make money on an idea

In Soviet times, the state bought an idea for 20-50 rubles, which at that time was a good increase in salary. In addition, inventors were entitled to special privileges - free trips to the resort and additional living space. Only there was one condition - the state received all the profits from inventions.

Today, the inventor himself pays for a patent - at least 3 thousand rubles, but the idea becomes his personal property for 20 years. Thus, if his idea works, then he has a chance to receive dividends from his invention during this time.

There are three options to make money from your idea. The first is to receive royalties for the use of your intellectual property. For example, patent a toothbrush with intersecting bristles and, if it is produced and sold in stores, the inventor receives royalties. The so-called “royalties” are a percentage of the manufacturer’s income.

The second option is to sell the rights to your idea. That is, get the money and forget about lifetime dividends. Internet inventor Tim Berners Lee received the largest fee for his idea - 1 million euros. He did not want to engage in risky business and gave the rights to develop the World Wide Web to computer giants. Tim Bernes could have become a billionaire, but he chose a teaching position at one of the US universities. Today he runs the non-profit Internet Development Foundation.

And finally, the third option is to make a business out of your idea. In our conditions, it is the most difficult. Even Bill Gates in our country could not bring his company to the international market, which he brought through the USA, now it is a transnational company and he is the richest person in the world.

Every idea has an owner

Muscovite David Yan is called the “Russian Bill Gates” because his computer programs are used all over the world. In 1989, when David Yan was a 4th year student at the Moscow Physics and Technology Institute, during a lecture on French he came up with the idea of ​​creating a computer dictionary so as not to have to worry about translations. David's scholarship was 55 rubles, and three thousand were required to create a dictionary. The money was given at the Center for Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth. We had to work at night and attend lectures during the day, so the first version of the dictionary appeared only a year later.

David Yan: “I went to institutes, negotiated, said that we will soon have an electronic dictionary, would you like to buy it from us. And I concluded the first contract in August 1989, there was no program yet, it was already for 2,100 rubles.”

As a result, David earned only 10 thousand rubles from the dictionary. This is the price of 15 legal copies that he sold himself. In fact, there were about 100 thousand more pirated versions, if David had received at least some royalties from them, he would have become a millionaire.

According to the legislation that existed at that time, it was necessary to prove the extent of the damage that was caused to you. How could this be done?

In 1990, David and his partner opened a company; today there are branches in America and Asia, they sell software. David hardly works at the company; he receives a percentage of the profits from his inventions. For several years now, just for fun, he has been engaged in avant-garde art and opened his own experimental café-studio.

David Yan: “If you don’t have a team that is constantly developing their ideas with you, then you will never be able, even after coming up with something, to earn big money from it. One smart guy in the field is not a warrior.”

All over the world, special companies help inventors promote ideas to the market; in the USA there are more than 5 thousand of them, in Russia – 15-20. The business of introducing new ideas is called “venture”, literally translated - adventurous. Although it would be more correct to say - risky. According to statistics, out of 100 inventions, only one is implemented.