You’ve come up with a great idea for a new product but do not have the funds to get it off the ground alone. If you have noticed many people’s recent success with crowd-funding, you might consider following suit.
Not only will it give you a way to judge potential demand for your project, but it can help you stay focused to repay the faith those willing to back you showed. It can be particularly useful if you do not have the track record to convince banks or investors to put up the money.
Yet before you tout your idea to the world, there is one thing you need to do:
Get some protection
You’ve seen how quickly the internet can take an idea it likes and spread it to millions of people. That can be a great marketing tool to help you find customers. Yet what if one of the people that sees your idea is not interested in buying it from you but replicating it and selling it themselves?
They might already have the infrastructure to make it happen far faster than you can. Before you know it, they are marketing your product while you are still crawling toward your funding target. They could also file for a patent and retain the right to keep it if they file before you, even though it was originally your idea.
Protecting your intellectual property before exposing it to the world is crucial. If you do not, you could lose out on your money-making opportunity and let down your crowdfunding backers.
If you have a big idea, get legal help to understand more about protecting your intellectual property. That’s the best way to protect your brand, your business and your future.