Here’s Why You Should Share Your Business Idea With Others

There’s a common misconception about sharing your business idea with others and most times people usually advise against doing such. The fear of plagiarism and the thoughts of someone stealing your business idea can cripple you and make you want to protect your business idea, clutching it to your chest, when someone shows an interest in it.

But keeping your business idea only to yourself is detrimental not only to your creativity but also to your business’s success.

In the Scale Exclusive Circle – a professional networking community where entrepreneurs get to discuss their business growth and more about their entrepreneurial journeys, there are questions asked from new entrepreneurs about starting a business and what the career entails. The established entrepreneurs often have the experience and are suitable to offer advice to the young entrepreneurs and share the steps they took to get to where they are. They’ve practically been there and done that. That is one benefit of sharing your business idea with others before launching your business – you get to learn from people who are in the field and receive the needed help to develop your entrepreneurial strategies and ideas.

“If someone does take your idea, they will never have the passion you have for it because they didn’t come up with it.” – Joel Gascoigne

So should you share your business ideas with others? The answer is YES! Here are more reasons – with benefits – why you should:

For validation

It will be a grievous mistake to work hard on a business idea no one is interested in. Validating your business idea is a critical step in your startup process and it will save you a lot of money and time down the road by letting you know if your target audience will resonate with your product or service. This process is all you need to know if you should go ahead and create that app or not.

According to Buffer CEO and Co-Founder Joel Gascoigne in a Courtney Seiter-penned article titled Why No One Will Steal Your Startup Idea, he says: “When you build a startup, you’re basically creating something that doesn’t exist already. In order to figure out if your idea is actually going to work, it’s essential that you share it with people. You’re going to have to do it sooner or later. The longer you leave it, the more risk there is that you spend a long time working on it, and then eventually you put it out there and find out it’s not something that resonates.”

To raise funds, share your business idea

You’ve got the business idea, vision, and the drive to see your product make a presence in the marketplace and have a home in the home of your target audience, but you need a whole lot of money to bring that business idea to life and get it off the ground. Starting a business takes more than just a great idea or a dream – it takes months of planning and money, lots of it. Sharing your business ideas is one way to raise funds for it. But how will you raise funds if you don’t share? And how will you share if you stay indoors with your business idea as your companion instead of building relationships and meeting with investors who might just be interested in what you’re working on?

You never can tell which person will know the perfect investor you need to bring your business idea to life.

For great partnerships

Do you know how people became co-founders of great startups? They bonded over shared business ideas that were refined and later became great businesses. Starting a business is hard. Very hard, and it’s no fun doing it alone. Having a partner with whom you can share the stress of the workload or who can help you see things from a different perspective when issues arise will go alone in making your business a smooth one. Sharing your business idea is a way to find a co-founder to help you find the missing pieces in your business idea and also execute it successfully.

Don’t keep your business idea a secret.

“If you keep your ideas a secret it will be impossible for anyone to actually help you. Could someone steal your idea? Of course, but as I’ve said before your potential competitors are more likely to become partners. You’re far more passionate about your idea than anyone else — and most people want to partner with people with passion.“

— Alexander Muse (Should You Share Your Idea?)

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Featured image: istockphoto