ideas and inspiration

[-Si-]

Hi All, 1st post.

I have an amateur interest in Web development, and an idea I think could be a sound basis for a business.
Now I don't feel i have the necessary programming skills to develop my idea to its fullest potential, so the obvious choice is to find like-minded people with the skills.

My question is, what can I do to protect the 'idea' and stop someone I barely know from taking my spark of inspiration and going it alone?

I understand that there is always competition and imitation, but is there anything I can do to minimize that? Or stop someone from leaving half way through a project and taking all the code?

I would love to hear of any experiences or advice you have had.

[tracknut]

Typically this is done by contract. If you're in an employer/employee, it's an employment contract that states that anything developed during the time of employment is the property of the company. If it's a partnership arrangement you'd want to develop a non-disclosure type of contract with a lawyer that allows you to divulge your business plan to these folks and remove their permission to use it or divulge it to others.

Part of the issue you have to recognize is how you're going to enforce such a contract, in either of the cases. I would definitely get a lawyer involved = this is not easy to do yourself.

Dave

[Reli4nt]

All sound advice. One thing I'd like to add though.

The idea isn't worth much at all. Execution is really what matters. If you look at any of the successful online businesses you'll find that they weren't the first of their kind or original ideas at all (eBay, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, even MS). What makes a business is the execution which, if you are good and your commitment strong, no one can really steal from you. So I'd relax a bit, get a good contract to protect my time spent on the project but I wouldn't fear the theft of the idea.

[businessservice]

Use trademarks, copyrite your material, only speak to people who you can trust, buy all sub domains including hyphenated domains and use NDA's