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Business plan confidentiality issues 2

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rotw

rotw

Mechanical
May 25, 2013
1,143
CA
Hello,

I do have a question on subject topic, your help is appreciated.

I prepared a business plan to start my own business. Its a ~30 pages document which explains my business idea, the operational/sales aspects etc.

I am required to share this plan with facilitators/incubators because I must clear some paperwork.
It is part of administrative procedure to have the incubator give a positive advice on my plan so I can move on.

The problem is that I worry that my idea would be stolen and that confidentiality is not adhered too.
There is no legal protections in place and asking sponsors to sign NDA agreements would be tricky.

Any suggestions?
What would you do: Would you share your plan with them or would you take calculated risks and how would you do this?

Thanks in advance.


 
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Share the plan. You are dealing with non-engineers who have no desire to delve into engineering. Even if they pirated the plan, could they implement it? Not likely.
 
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Put a copyright notice on every page.
It does not have to be the most prominent visual element; it only has to be readable.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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I don't understand why you can't ask them to sign an NDA. Doesn't seem unusual to me.
 
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I think NDA is BS, especially for a business plan...just my opinion.

I like the idea of Mike, I think that's what I will stay with - plus accepting the risk as a necessary evil.

Ron, most likely they cannot implement it themselves, but if the plan ends up on the street it is not very nice.

 
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I think you should protect your idea right away, or at least file it for protection, e.g. as registered design or patent. That's what you'll have to do anyway one day this first obstacle (business startup) has been finished. Then, you could put this fact right away into your business plan.., shows you mean business and imo lessens your risks. I'd evaluate the required effort against possible consequences if your idea would be aired to the outside.
Best of luck!!

Roland Heilmann
Lpz FRG
 
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I dont have the luxury to choose my sponsors at the moment. But ok, I agree with you.

 
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NDA's are generally not considered BS in the professional world. They are very standard and widely accepted, and their use shows that you have some cognizance of the importance of IP and proprietary material.

Also, don't begin every sentence with an "I" or a "the". Sorry, recovering grammar nazi here.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
 
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Instead of counting the I's in posting, you should look around and learn to think more critically.
Some info you could read here

I will never go through the pain of enforcing an NDA at court. Its going to be extremely hard to prove the other party has leaked information about the business.

You seem to like paperwork for the sake of it.
 
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Oh yes, don't we all love paperwork. 30 pages of business plan is OK, but let's not pile on that last single document. Mustn't break the camels back.

"The problem is that I worry that my idea would be stolen and that confidentiality is not adhered too."

Well, you seem to be worried enough about the obvious to mention it, but not enough to do anything about it. Of course it's your choice to either do nothing or something. To have nothing at all is indefensible. If somebody wants your idea, all they have to do is to effortlessly take it from you, without any fear of recourse.

You don't necessarily have to be willing to go through the pains of defending an NDA, but it's akin to having a "Beware of Dog" sign in your yard to prevent a burglary. A crook will simply have one additional obstacle to consider before making a move against you and your enterprise. It's free insurance. It's something.
If you think your sponsors would be offended or think it's unusual, perhaps you should look to more professional investors. Desperation for funding and accepting "stupid money" can sink a ship just as quickly as no IP protection. Critical thinking.

If you have an idea that you feel good enough to bring to market, consult an attorney. It's been said a thousand times on Eng-Tips, the advice you receive here is worth every penny that you have paid for it. Best luck on the project.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
 
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"Some info you could read here"

Did YOU read the article at all?

Did you even notice the author put "It is best to have an NDA in place" in a takeaway box?

If your information is supposedly THAT important to you, then what possible reason do you have for NOT protecting it to the maximum extent reasonable?
> Locked PDFs only for soft distribution
> All proprietary information marked as such with both footers and watermarks
> NDA in place

The only safe secret is one that you tell no one at all. Even your bestie works with other people, and how many people really know what kind of person their besties are when the chips are down? A former company withdrew from a huge RFP because some idiot from another company left their proprietary documents on a table, and one of our idiots decided to take a long peek inside before turning in the document, AND, he admitted to opening the document. Their manager was very ethical and reported the entire matter.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Maybe you should read yourself the article again and apply it the context here. It is different case when you are dealing with sub-suppliers or whatsoever third parties as corporation and need to have legal protection in place. A corporation has the leverage and resources to enforce a NDA. They have people who have time and are paid to this stuff.

In my case, as an entity that is even not formed yet - there are more downside than upside and it complicates the process.


 
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ornerynorsk

quote/ If you think your sponsors would be offended or think it's unusual, perhaps you should look to more professional investors. Desperation for funding and accepting "stupid money" can sink a ship just as quickly as no IP protection. Critical thinking. /unquote``

I am 100% on personal funding. The "sponsor" are needed to give their blessing only because of work regulations.
That's why I used the words facilitator/incubators...

Don't assume, ask.

 
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OK, so do nothing; you asked what to do, and it's your prerogative to ignore answers that don't your preconceived notions.

It just seems silly to ignore something that at least provides a minimal level of protection. You must not think that your "secret" is that big a deal.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Didn't mean to start a pissing contest rotw. You do know that there is no such thing as "personal money". Regardless of what relationship the person holding the cash is to this venture, they are doing it because they hope to see a return on their investment. You asked for opinions, we gave them. Many of us on this forum have been around the block a few times and have gotten stung once or twice, hence the sharp edge to our advice. Don't know about the others in this thread, but in addition to the several day jobs over the past 4 decades, I've been owner/manager of 2 machine shops, an import trading company, and a bar/restaurant. There are battle scars, and fortunately, some profit to show for the effort. It's the nature of engineers and technicians to problem solve. It's in our DNA and we love it. So expect advice when you ask for it.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
 
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IRstuff, I used the idea to put a copyright note and sent my document accordingly - its at my own risk.
If it will not fly with this sponsor, and I would have to deal with another sponsor, I will think about the NDA.
Sorry if I appeared to have preconception ideas. Thanks for your help and guidance.


 
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ornerynorsk,

Keep in mind, I am not located in the US. When I first heard that based on local regulations/laws,"people like me" need to go through an assessment via a system of facilitators, (assessment means: sharing business plans, making presentation in front of panel, etc.), before you can proceed any further, I was a bit puzzled. This sounds like a trading system where the commodity is the "idea"...in exchange of the precious "laissez-passer". Overall, you can get upside or downside, the system will only get the upside. That's why I wanted not to be naïve about all this. These are very general statement f curse but I think its good to digress and put in perspective the big picture. Possibly the only protection which is of real value is registration via patent/intellectual property. I trust my idea to have an original character, means enough to create value (cash), but I don't see an underlying technical concept that would be a novelty such that I could go via the patent/IP route. Your comment are valuable. Thanks.

 
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Best wishes in your venture rotw.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
 
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