Protecting your ideas in a commercial enterprise

(FAO mods: This is a copy of a post from the event management forum, sorry for the duplicate posts but it's wild quiet in the event management forum, and I might get an answer here, feel free to move if you can think of a more suitable forum, or just lock/delete)

Hi there.

I'm in a bit of a quandary at the moment. A guy I know has just asked me to help him get punters into his new pub. I have had no problem helping before (Not him personally - just to clarify), but to be blunt, I have been ripped off (the ideas), received no numeration and once received no acknowledgment (Which is much worse imo)

I say intellectual property rights as I don't know what else to call it. Basically I have original ideas for nights. One of my most recent was a Live Movie Quiz. (Combining live onstage action with a actors with a quiz that was traditional table quiz meets buzz meets a few original rounds)

So I put my thinking hat on and have a couple of original suggestions for this guy, but how do I tell him without him going, "Very interesting, I'll think about it" and next month he stages my ideas while I receive no credit or money for them?

Would it be ridiculous to get him (and his partners) to sign a contract before we talk stating that if the nights go ahead I'll run them and get paid x amount or that they can buy the idea without anymore involvement from me for x amount, but under no circumstance can they do my idea without compensation.

This guy is friendly and I'd say hello to him in the street, but he's not a friend.

Sorry if this seems a weird question, but I'm just sick of getting ripped off and would like a little bit of protection.

Cheers,

Pappa

krd

You really don't have any protection.

If you come up with a good idea. If it's easy to copy, people will copy it.

If you've figured out a novel way of doing a pub quiz. And it's a success, every chancer will give it a crack.

You have to be really careful.

RATM

You can't have intellectual property rights on an idea OP.

The best way to play this is to forget about telling him your ideas. Frame it as a business relationship- say that you will get X extra punters in the door on X night and you want Y payment to do so. The way you get them in the door shouldn't be all that relevant so long as what you're doing is legal. He only needs to know that you're hosting a table quiz- the format of it shouldn't be of concern- what is of concern is bums on seats drinking.

A publican only cares about his bottom line at the end of the day and many are struggling to make ends meet as it is. If they cant realise that then move on and take your business to his competitors.

Mrs OBumble

I'm moving this to entrepreneurship and business management .. think it's a better fit there.

antoinolachtnai

The question is, do you want to be a promoter, or a consultant?

At the moment, you are neither.

A promoter is a person who organizes nights and then takes a proportion of the takings. This is a lot more than just coming up with the idea.

A consultant is a person who provides thinking or ideas for a fee. This might just be coming up with the idea.

Depending which one you want to be, you will go about your business arrangement in a very different way. You could sign a consultancy agreement with them and say you'll spend some time considering their situation and work up something for a fee.

You could have consultancy and a revenue split, but it is awkward, because you don't have enough access to the books. You could do a success fee of some sort.

But you have to agree all this before you start coming up with ideas.

AndyJB

Pappa Dolla wrote: »

(FAO mods: This is a copy of a post from the event management forum, sorry for the duplicate posts but it's wild quiet in the event management forum, and I might get an answer here, feel free to move if you can think of a more suitable forum, or just lock/delete)

Hi there.

I'm in a bit of a quandary at the moment. A guy I know has just asked me to help him get punters into his new pub. I have had no problem helping before (Not him personally - just to clarify), but to be blunt, I have been ripped off (the ideas), received no numeration and once received no acknowledgment (Which is much worse imo)

I say intellectual property rights as I don't know what else to call it. Basically I have original ideas for nights. One of my most recent was a Live Movie Quiz. (Combining live onstage action with a actors with a quiz that was traditional table quiz meets buzz meets a few original rounds)

So I put my thinking hat on and have a couple of original suggestions for this guy, but how do I tell him without him going, "Very interesting, I'll think about it" and next month he stages my ideas while I receive no credit or money for them?

Would it be ridiculous to get him (and his partners) to sign a contract before we talk stating that if the nights go ahead I'll run them and get paid x amount or that they can buy the idea without anymore involvement from me for x amount, but under no circumstance can they do my idea without compensation.

This guy is friendly and I'd say hello to him in the street, but he's not a friend.

Sorry if this seems a weird question, but I'm just sick of getting ripped off and would like a little bit of protection.

Cheers,

Pappa

Morning,
I agree with antoinolachtnai. You have the ideas that've worked in the past. So, if they bring spending punters in his door he should be expected to pay you.

As previously mentioned do you want to get paid for the ideas or putting the whole package together? It would vastly improve your chances of getting paid if you manage the whole event(s). You'll know who and how many have walked in the door and it's value to the client, and ultimately what it's worth to you.

Give the guy the highlights of the ideas and potential numbers they'll bring in. Then tell him you'll have a one or two pager covering your services and your fees. I wouldn't call it a contract but in effect that's what it will be. I'd even ask for partial fees up front. If he hums and haws at the mention of fees and or up front fees I'd walk and you'll be no worse off.

Either way what you should then do is visit similar places to promote your ideas/service. You don't have to charge a fortune, in the short term just prove that your ideas work and get reference sites to prove it.

Best of luck.