Last week, I met with a client for a discovery call. They were interested in developing a mobile app but had no idea where to start. And unfortunately, they had already lost part of their starting capital… I’ll explain more about that in a moment.
They had the passion and the means but no direction; a deadly combination for a business or start-up idea.
Here’s why:
1- When passion is uncoupled to a strategy, you end up with unfulfilled dreams
2- Extra funds are often wasted when they aren’t planned for in advance
3- Advertising that you have both makes you a target
As I mentioned earlier, the client had lost a large portion of their starting capital; they asked for a quote based on a dream… bad idea.
Predators come in all forms and they are just waiting for an opportunity to take your idea or your money (or sometimes both) and run away with it! Here are some simple and low cost ways to avoid this:
1- Get a basic NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) template and request that it be completed before each discovery call (Save these in a cloud drive like Google Drive or Dropbox for free)
2- Record your discovery calls/meetings (Many web conferencing platforms have this feature now with their most basic license, but you can also record the meeting with your computer or mobile device and have it transcribed for free. Just let the other party know that the session is being recorded)
3- Do your homework before committing to anything (Research them for free on Google and be sure to look for sources beyond their own company website. It’s hard to claim legitimacy when no one else has heard of you.)
4- Write down your ideas and save a copy to the cloud drive (This helps to document your original idea and provides a time stamp. Wrote your idea on a napkin instead? Take a digital photo (or scan it) and save it to the cloud… and create a folder there while you’re at it!)
All of these steps can be taken to protect your idea and help prevent you from making a catastrophic mistake.
Trust me, big business and big tech have similar systems in place to protect their intellectual property and so should you!
Want to learn more? Ask in the comments of message me directly!