People often ask me how they can prevent having their business idea stolen. When I ask what their business is, most people respond by saying, “Well it’s just an idea now, but I’m afraid that when I start it, people will try to steal my idea.” As tactfully as I can, I tell them what a very wise man once told me: Your idea isn’t what matters most—it’s your execution.
After sharing such sage advice, I await their expression of awe and wonderment, but typically the response I receive is something like, “But should I get a patent?”
Recently, author and entrepreneur Tim Berry wrote about the fear would-be small business owners have about someone stealing their idea. “Eventually, all good ideas get copied,” he writes. “Yours will be too. You’re going to have to deal with it.”
Trademarks, copyright, patents, nondisclosure and noncompete agreements—they all have their place in your business planning. Your trusted legal advisors can help you determine which, if any, are right for your unique situation. But all such legal documentation can cost you a lot, but at best, is just a temporary protection from the competition.
The point, says Berry, is that copying is everywhere and all the time. “In almost any kind of business, from high tech to classic Main Street retailing, good ideas get copied … It’s part of life.”
Laws only protect you so far.
As we’ve written before, America’s first inventor to gain worldwide fame was Benjamin Franklin. Yet Franklin chose never to patent any of his inventions or register any copyright for his intellectual property. In his autobiography, he wrote, “As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
The key to success is the execution of your ideas. And then, the execution of your next ideas. Assume that anything you do well will be copied. But better execution and constant innovation is up to you and you alone.
(via: Tim Berry’s Bplans.com)
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