Starting a company which sells ideas

We have a plan to open a company to sell ideas. Basically, what we would do is to collect business opportunities and write a business proposal for each. Then the opportunity and the proposal will be offered as a complete package to the customers.

It'd be good if you give some comments on the feasibility. (I'm talking in general, not just about Germany or Munich)

In addition, do you know of any company doing the same business as mine?

Thank you,
Kamelot

consulting companies?

whatever you call it. Normally you have an idea and you go to consulting companies and ask for market research and so on...

But here we have the idea, we study the market, we do research, and everything. What you need to do is ... just pay and do it!

sounds good to me..

good luck

I can offer you my consulting services for a fee.

Kamelot: I have to admit to really, really, being tempted to take the piss on this one. First thought: is this your first product, then?

Second thought:
So, let me get this straight: all I have to do is contribute my money and my effort? And you do what, again?

Third thought: sounds a lot like the poetry racket. No money in that one, I can assure you.

I assume you're sincere, but you have a helluva selling job in front of you. You might do well to take a good, hard look at the folks who are going to be coming up with these ideas, and put 'em on a scale with other big idea people, see how they stack up. Wish you luck.

p_g

Sounds like you would need a fair amount of working capital to prepare Turnkey Packages for the business community.

In which market ?

Tailored for SMS or sole traders ?

If these opportunities turned out to be gilt edged why would you not follow them yourselves ?

Don't want to pee on your parade but you need to think of all of the above and much more besides but Good Luck in your venture.

this what venture capitalists are about . they look a new idea,product ,invention to invest in.unless you can make a good idea into something looking productive and well presented that the VC might be interested in investing in.

After you tell people the basis of the idea and what you'd be doing, what stops them from executing it themselves? Thereby taking your business op idea and writing their own business plan / doing the research?

Sure you can contract it up all you want but it might get complicated.

BizOpps
Get past these pitfalls first.

That is a cool link.

Some friends of mine started a power washing company and did pretty well for a while. Then I think they decided they didn't like power washing for a living... so when one got a job as a commuter airline pilot they sold the power washing business. Of course, this means the name, yellow pages listing, equipment, and most importantly CLIENTELE.

do i understand this correctly you want to collect business ideas (from where?) and sell them on after writting a format . I think a better idea would is to offer a business proposal for anyone who brings you a idea . make a package thats presentable to the venture capitalists.the problem with starting a business is starting capital,cash flow etc. i found the germans don't like to pay out for anything.why not suggest that you will do the business proposal for free on condition that you get a small share on the company .

the person that referenced the Venture Capital community was on the right track. This is what they do. Entrepreneurs find venture capitalists (or the other way around if you have a GREAT idea and connections) and invests time, money and expertise...now if you had connections with the American VC community and could "scout" ideas for them you would be on to something.

I would also check out the local universities as there is usually a department in theschool that looks to capitalize on good ideas (at least in the US).

There's a magazine called "Die Geschäftsidee" which basically researches business opportunities in all sorts of fields and gives people hints on how to get started and what to expect. Haven't seen it for a long time, but I think it is run by this guy:

http://www.normanrentrop.de/

I actually think that you could sell the research of various business's as the ins-and-outs of the prepakaged idea or the "is it worth it" idea. Not sure what the ROI would be, but would definitely be sellable. The prepackaged "idea and research" is selling info that many would actually buy, but not as a "just pay and do it!" thing.

Thanks for the replies.

Now I know what you (and maybe venture capitalists ) think about my idea.

Let me tell you my little story and why I came up with this idea: After graduation from university, I started seeking for a business opportunity as I was obsesed by running my own company. I created a forum for my friends to contribute their ideas and there were brilliant ideas - I took the one I like most and based my company on it. Yes, I could follow only one of them.

If you were me, what would you do with the other 'brilliant' ideas? why don't you think of making money out them? Ignoring is stupid.

So I've been thinking of HOW to sell them. However, just the ideas aren't enough to make people believe. They need data, they need details, they need research - that's why we gotta provide a 'package'.

IP = Intellectual Property. Your 1st step is to try to protect the idea(s). Ideas are really "a dime a dozen" -a unique and protected idea has value. You need some barrier to entry, otherwise the idea will be, um..."borrowed".

ermmm Dreamer seems appropriate on this thread

Oh Kamelot, I think you should take a specialised industry and focus on that; rather than offering it to Tom, Dick and Harry. 2 birds with 1 stone springs to mind. You sound like you got the right stuff. Good luck

Errrrrrrmmm hang on a minute ...


So you started a forum, nicked some ideas and now want to SELL them as YOUR ideas?

Right!

(What about the original idea owners?

I wonder if they're still friends.

ideas are dime a dozen . the hard part is putting the idea into action. for that you always need starting capital plus various skills . If you think that if you have a good idea is the way to riches then think again. I also think that you won't find noone that will buy a idea . One question were you going to share any proceeds with your friends if you sell any of your ( sorry your friends ) ideas

Firstly, if these ideas are so good why not realise them yourself? There is a lot more money in that than selling on a packaged business proposal (which would be nigh on impossible to value).

Secondly, how are you going to place a value on the ideas you sell? Are you going to base it on the time you've invested in developing the idea and doing the research, or on the expected future cashflows (discounted, naturally), or maybe just have an off the shelf price.

Thirdly, your customers are going to have to go searching for finance once you sell them your ideas. Are you going to go to include a pre-arranged financing package with the product? I think that is where the real value add would be. However, that would mean you building strong relationships with a couple of banks which are willing to lend to start ups.

And regarding the financing, VC require an IRR of around 35% (often higher for start ups) and this makes financing very expensive. The best, cheapest and easiest way to finance start ups is through bank loans, due to the low interest rates in Germany, and generally the level of support they will give you, and the fact that they are generally in it for a little longer than VCs (they see it as building a relationship for the future).
Moreover, VCs are increasingly moving away from seed capital (see the switch by Apax, which was Europes leading seed capital house, to a more mature PE fund model), and in Germany the seed capital market is relatively undeveloped anyway compared to the UK and USA.

Personally, I think there may be a market for your product, but there probably needs to be further value add, beyond the idea, market research and business plan.

Good luck.

Many years ago I went to a one day business training jobbie run by the government. I assumed it would be a waste of time, but went so I could get 40 quid a week towards my first business for a year.

This guy basically said to a room full of us - "I am not interested in those of you out there that THINK you have invented the next Dyson vacuum, or the next cats eye, or the next paperclip etc. Sure it is possible but the barriers on you having a 100% unique and successful new product are huge. It might already be patented, it might be too costly to produce, the demand might not be there, it might be too expensive to market, etc etc".

Much better he said if serious about business, simply to enter an existing busy marketplace as a new player and take market share from the others. As a new player you will be keener, faster moving, better on service and so on.

I personally think the single hardest part of starting a new business is getting out of bed on a Monday morning and actually getting the thing running. It is never the idea. Obviously if you have a good idea then it might help you get out of bed, but to make money you dont need an original idea, just the balls and enthusiasm to have a go. I would argue in fact better NOT to have a new idea, because if you work in an established market then your customer base will already fully understand the product, and your market research and viability studies have been proven by the existing players.

wow, thanks JE...that sounds like pretty good advice. (not being sarcastic, really mean it)

thats tough even when you have a 'normal job' or are unemployed

Must admit I cannnot see how this would work in reality. Say you get 20 great ideas, do the research etc, and want to sell each as a package.

How much information does the buyer get?

Ideally you wanna only sell him "Package #17" but no-one is gonna pay a dime unless they know what is inside? So you disclose to them the full details - at which point they are also then not gonna pay a dime?

It is an impossible situation. Even if you get them to sign a non-disclosure agreement (unlikely) unless is it a patented idea you still got no chance.

To be fair there are similar (ok it's a loose similarity) companies that are out there in the market. These (often called consultants) approach already established companies and say that they have a great idea which would benefit that particular customer. Assuming that the target company has some interest in the rough idea, then the next step is a non-disclosure agreement binding the parties together for confidentaility. If you follow this model then once this is signed there some degree of protection (although I wouldn't feel that secure with just that). You are then in a position to flesh out your great idea to see if they still have interest. At this point no money has changed hands. Assuming large target corp wants to go ahead then you gain commision by executing the idea with the company... eg you may be the middle man in an M&A joining 2 interested parties together, you may be the agency that plans and executes a large mkting campaign etc etc...
Have been approached by such companies in the past, normally felt that they were just trying to flog me something. The key to this is, and in my opinion where the companies that approached me failed, you need to know the in's and out's of the cats arse when it comes to understanding your target company.
Unless you know their business upside down and inside out you will always be in a weak position and will be in danger of talking bollocks, pretending to understand their workflows and processes. As with my example above, when I was approached their first error was to approach me. I was a sales manager and had next to no influence in any strategic decision making... but I said all the right things just so I could learn as much about their idea as I could... problem was I was not allowed to sign an NDA on behalf of the company I worked for, so whole thing died...

Good luck to ya!
8LGM