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Profiting From Your Great Ideas
By Joyce Lain Kennedy

Dear Joyce: I have a business idea I think could get very big, but I don't know how to proceed. I get a lot of ideas. I need a nondisclosure agreement and then what? Patent? Copyright? -- K.W.R.

Dear K.W.R.: Don't spin your wheels trying to copyright or patent an idea per se. No can do.

Nondisclosure So tackle the easy part first. Find out what a nondisclosure agreement looks like. Do this on Glasser Legal Works.

From Start to Finish Ideas are a dime a dozen. The person who implements the winners reaps the rewards.

When the "big one" hits, work it out from concept to development. Examine all angles, from financing to manufacturing or procurement to marketing and sales. Play devil's advocate -- poke holes in your idea and see what it would take to fill the voids. Ask yourself: Am I the best person to turn this idea into a profitable enterprise? If not, try to find someone else to take over your idea in return for a modest "founder's fee."

Don't paralyze yourself with worry that someone will steal your idea. It could happen. But if you're the best person to run the show, why should investors try to ace you out?

If, after flushing out your inspiration, it still looks commercially viable and you're the one who can best pull it together, go further in two directions:

The Law Read everything you can -- books, newspapers, Web references -- about the intricacies of copyrights, trademarks and patents until you have a clear idea of what you're doing. Nolo Law for All is one good resource for legal learning. If your idea is an invention, make a working model, then find an experienced patent lawyer.

Marketing If you have a patent, copyright or trademark, you face another fork in your roadway.

Do it yourself. You'll need financial backing, business acumen and lots of commitment to make and market your brainchild. Maybe your inspiration is an idea for a business. Don't overlook the free advice from SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives sponsored by the Small Business Administration.

Outsourcing your idea. You may want to sell, assign or license your creation if it's a patent. Similar options exist with copyrights and trademarks. Most big companies have established a procedure for handling outside ideas, inventions and suggestions to eliminate, or at least minimize, their liability based on exposure to submitted ideas.

Research before postal mailing your proposal. Send it on paper; using the Internet makes your idea too available to anyone. Don't hold your breath. The odds of a big company paying you for your big idea are not much better than the lottery.

Your Money Want a patent? Veteran inventors say that most people lose, not earn, money on their genius creations. The majority of patents go to large corporations and foreign inventors. Attend inventors' conferences and get wise, but don't mortgage your house to follow your dream.

Innovation Resources Beware of slick invention marketers, also called idea brokers. They advertise they'll evaluate, register and market your creation. The realities are they'll take your money for useless service and won't make your dreams come true. Yes, there are legitimate inventor firms, but you're new and may not be a good judge; ask a patent lawyer first.

Additionally, some universities operate innovation centers where for an affordable fee, say under $1,000, you can receive technical and marketing feasibility studies made by students supervised by faculty members. Sorry, I don't have a list of these centers, but look at the University of Wisconsin's facility.

Jobs for Idea People If you're flush with ideas, try to find the best job niche in case you don't develop or sell your creations. Apart from entrepreneurship, an idea person often enters journalism, promotion, advertising, public relations, publishing, theater and film, product licensing, home furnishings or fund-raising. Other ideas for jobs? What other career fields can you come up with? Get creative.

Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, the volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.