HOW MUCH IS A BUSINESS IDEA WORTH? NOTHING

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HOW MUCH IS YOUR IDEA WORTH? NOTHING 

A value of a business idea depends on many factors such as market demand, innovation, competition, growth potential, the team behind the idea, among others... but REALLY, a valuable idea is one that can generate sustainable revenue and has significant growth potential. It is important to note that an idea alone has no tangible value until it is developed into a viable product or service in the marketplace. Therefore, be very clear that your idea is worthless... Right now it is nothing more than a series of electrical impulses in your head. What is really valuable is the successful execution of your business idea... which is yet to be demonstrated.

The sooner you understand this, the sooner you can let go of your preconceived ideas about entrepreneurship and the value of ideas... and get to work. Realise now that the distance between your idea and a successful business is abysmal... and the road is fraught with difficulties. And yet I know dozens of great visionaries who bitterly lament as they recall that company X, now a multi-million dollar company, stole the idea they had come up with (curiously, separated by over 10,000 km and no contact at all).

In one year, it is common to hear the same business idea more than three times... and each entrepreneur has approached it in radically different ways, targeting opposite segments and with divergent business models... and yet the idea was the same and has generated three profitable businesses... why? Because having an idea is easy, everyone has them... and yours is probably not even original. What really makes it different is how you design the service and what makes it complicated is how you put it into practice, which requires significant doses of determination and persistence, seasoned with commitment, dedication and self-confidence. 

As my grandfather would say, you must internalise the 3 Vs:

"COURAGE, WILL AND VUEVOS" (COURAGE, WILL AND VUEVOS)

Get used to the idea that the resilience (+), Resistance to frustration should become your companion... because you are not going to suffer few failures. The important thing is that when you fail and get the mandatory slaps in the face that every entrepreneur suffers, you get up quickly... and above all, that they are cheap and early slaps in the face (agile entrepreneurship).

SO... MY IDEA IS WORTHLESS?

Let's look at the simplest case in order not to get into metaphysical aspects of what "value" is: let's talk about monetary value, about money... and, for this purpose, nothing better than two self-explanatory scenarios in which to talk to an investor:

1. Invest in my idea: In the very rare case that you find someone motivated enough... to invest in your idea... What are you going to say when he asks you how much it is worth? 10.000€? 100.000€? 1.000.000€?... and don't hesitate, the next question he will ask you is why? And once he has dismantled your claims based on castles in the air, he will offer you a meagre participation in exchange for a significant percentage of your company (did I say company? I meant idea).
2. Invest in my company: I have a recently formed company, in which we have already created product X / service Y, which has been purchased and validated by 5 customers and which has growth prospects of x%. These prospects are based on the forecasts that have been checked with these X customers, and which will be executed by this team. In this scenario, the discussion will be based on quasi-realities, quantifiable and more or less objectively assessable...

IN WHICH OF THE TWO SITUATIONS DO YOU THINK THE IDEA IS WORTH MORE? 

Corollary: become a master of the bootstrapping (+), and unless absolutely essential, do not use external capital (beyond the 3Fs): Friends, Fools & Family) (+). Set up your own business, whether it is an Internet business or a bakery, create a minimum viable product of your product or service (+), pivot (+) and then validate your business model (+) through sales... and only then will you be able to have an informed discussion about the future of your company and its value. In any case, don't get too obsessed with looking for investors until the time comes... Your obsession should be to materialise this idea, take it to the market and design the most optimal business model.

"For every course on how to raise finance there should be 10 on how to run your project and get customer sales.

In other words, the key to execution is not an excellent business plan, but a capable, flexible team inspired by a purpose they believe in... and make no mistake, your resolve will be tested many times over.

SO... WHAT IF THEY STEAL MY IDEA (DOES ANYONE CARE?)?

I don't quite understand the terror of someone stealing your idea. If there is a good way to do a quick and cheap first test of ideas and businesses, it is by telling everyone you can... (obviously, without revealing the secret of Coca-Cola).

DO YOU THINK SOMEONE IS GOING TO STEAL YOUR IDEA?

And if they steal it... do you think that someone is going to execute it like you (as we have seen, the real key!), that you have been thinking about it for months, looking at its pros and cons, its evolution scenario, how to reach customers... etc.? And, above all, if your idea is so easy to copy that by counting its mechanics anyone can do it... don't you think you have much bigger problems? 

"If you have an apple and it is stolen, you don't eat; if you have an idea and it is stolen, there will be two people who will have it... but only one will really know how to execute it".

IN SUMMARY...

If you want to get filthy rich with your idea, you must not only be clear about its value, but understand who will be willing to pay for it, how you are going to get your proposition to market, how to design a lean and innovative cost structure, how to react when your competition attacks your niche... in a word, you must design an innovative business model... and after all this, you still have to pay the bills, think about the future of your company, take care of your employees... and have a life.

• Have I discouraged you? Great! I've just done you a favour by sparing you one of the unhappiest times of your life, entrepreneurship is not for you (which is not a bad thing at all... a lot of damage has been done by those 'Everyone should be an entrepreneur' slogans...).
• With each objection, have you thought about how you are going to overcome it and have you reached the end of the article wanting more? Great! The reality is that entrepreneurship is one of the greatest challenges to human capacity, and you are prepared to face it and fall down... and get back up again...