The Internet has created millionaires out of many people who started out with nothing but a clever idea. The one thing they all had in common was a good plan, some investment and a lot of hard work. Your brilliant idea could make you the next dot.com success story, but you need to be clear about your plans, aims and objectives. This guide will give you an overview of the steps you can take to sell your great idea.

Things You Will Need

  • Computer

  • Pen

  • Paper

Write down your website idea. Explain how the site will work, who will use it, why they will use it and when.

Turn your initial idea into a formal business plan. There are lots of free templates available to download on the Internet. The U.S. Small Business Admininistration (SBA) has business-planning resources available (see Reference 2).

Make a list of businesses, investors or venture capitalists who will be interested in your idea. Research this carefully. There is no point in approaching a business that invests only in sports projects if your idea involves arts and crafts.

Decide what kind of deal you want. Think about how much you can sell your idea for and what other people have received from similar ideas.

Set up meetings with your potential investors and pitch them your idea.

Tip

Selling an idea is much harder than selling a ready-made project. Consider whether it would be better to establish the website yourself and sell later, when the site is a proven success.