How to Sell Your Idea: 6 Steps for Success (2026)

You have a great business idea—a device that trains pets to do housework. You’ve tested a prototype on your own pets, and it works better than expected. You, however, already have a full-time job and can’t devote the time needed to get your idea off the ground. Instead of starting a business, you decide to sell your idea.

Selling ideas is big business. The global intellectual property market is expected to reach $27.74 billion by 2033 as entrepreneurs who don’t have the resources or interest to develop their idea sell it to someone who does. 

Whether you have a genius new product or service idea, here’s how to sell your own idea—and how to protect your intellectual property from being stolen during the process.

How to sell an idea

1. Research your idea
2. Develop your idea
3. Identify prospective buyers
4. Protect your idea
5. Choose a monetization strategy
6. Prepare sales materials

Truly new business ideas are surprisingly rare. Many large companies have full-time employees focused solely on innovation. They’re intimately familiar with the business’s industry, target audience, and technical capabilities, and odds are high they’ve considered an idea like yours and passed on it for some reason.

This doesn’t mean you can’t sell ideas—you’ll just need to set realistic expectations and boost your chances with a persuasive sales pitch. Here’s how to sell your idea in six steps.

1. Research your idea

Do a little research to see if your product or service idea has already been tried. 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a good place to start. You can search the database to find existing trademarks that could be similar to the idea you’re developing. 

From here, ask yourself:

• If there are problems with your idea, can you fix them? Many promising ideas fail due to issues with production, distribution, or product usage. They can be too expensive to make and ship, not work for the intended application, or face regulatory barriers. If you can solve the problem that has kept an idea off the market, you can sell your novel solution along with the original idea.
• Can you improve on the application of your idea? Let’s say the market doesn’t currently offer an affordable laser cutter specifically designed for baking—audiences are using high-priced all-purpose laser cutters instead. If your cookie-specific product could retail for $80 instead of $800, you can pitch your idea for a focused application of laser-cutting technology.
• Could a related idea provide more value? Try running a search for the general concept related to your idea. If you Google “custom cookie cutter machine,” for example, you’ll find instances of bakers using 3D printers to create custom versions of traditional hand-held cookie cutters. Then ask yourself the first two questions again: If you can create a low-cost 3D printer designed for cookie-cutter production, you might be able to sell this idea instead.

2. Develop your idea

Potential investors often balk at purchasing unproven ideas, so provide proof of concept and supporting research. You don’t need to develop a full business plan, but you do need enough data to demonstrate profit potential. 

To develop your business idea:

• Research target audiences. Target audience research demonstrates demand for your idea. If you have a gaming app idea, you might compile data about gaming app usage and who buys similar apps, how they use them, what they’re willing to pay, and what factors motivate purchases.
• Research competitors. Research successful app companies to identify the going rate for your product idea. Competitor research also helps you determine what makes an idea successful and identify audience needs that existing solutions don’t meet.
• Build and test a prototype. A prototype proves a product is manufacturable and lets you demonstrate innovative features. You can also use prototypes to test your business idea under different conditions to gather real-world performance data.
• Calculate production costs. An idea isn’t worth much unless it can make a profit. Use your prototype and industry research to calculate production costs at scale.

A cost-benefit analysis helps outline your findings to potential buyers. It outlines how much time or money is required to develop the idea, and the benefits they’ll get from doing so—whether that’s potential revenue or cost savings from developing the product themselves. Entrepreneurs use this to determine whether the idea is worth investing in. 

For example, if you’re pitching an app idea to investors, you might estimate development costs of $150,000 and expected revenue of $300,000 by the end of the second year through your subscription model plan. 

How to value your idea

A valuation defines how much you think the idea is worth. It’s not just an arbitrary number—you need to analyze different factors to come up with an accurate valuation figure. This ensures you’re not underselling yourself or pricing out potential investors. 

To value your startup business idea:

• Look at comparable deals. Research other businesses, services, products (both digital and physical), or apps similar to the idea you have. How much did they sell for? What unique or patented features do you have that the competition doesn't? 
• Conduct a market size analysis. Calculate the total market size and estimate how much you could capture. If the market spends $1 billion annually and you can realistically capture 0.5%, that’s $5 million in annual revenue. With a 20% profit margin, the business could generate $1 million in profit.
• Use a cost savings valuation. If your idea helps businesses save money, value your idea based on how much money they’ll save after buying your idea. For example, if your advertising algorithm could save businesses $10,000 per year through tighter targeting over five years, that’s $50,000 in potential savings. 

3. Identify prospective buyers

Once you’ve determined what you’re selling, you’re ready to find companies or entrepreneurs interested in purchasing or licensing your idea. Known as outbound lead generation, this process involves researching the market for your idea, identifying and listing potential buyers, and researching individual prospects.

Say you have a one-click dumpling delivery app idea—here’s what your lead generation process might look like:

• Research the market for your idea. Identify industries that could profit from your idea and read up on them, consulting trade publications, industry overviews, and market databases. Your goal is to learn about the industry’s major players, current challenges, and emerging trends.
• Identify target prospects. List potential buyers for your idea. For an app concept, you might find investors by browsing app stores (like the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store) and identifying developers of similar apps. You could also use business intelligence tools like D&B Hoovers and filter by job title on LinkedIn once you’ve found the decision maker at your target organization.
• Qualify your leads. Research your potential buyers to determine a prospect’s likelihood of conversion, considering company size, current products, and purchase history. Although large companies typically have bigger budgets, reaching their decision-makers is often difficult—so it can help if you have a personal contact at a business. Similar product lines and a history of purchasing ideas from inventors and entrepreneurs can also be a promising sign.
• Research qualified leads. Gather information on qualified sales prospects, keeping your limitations in mind: If your qualification process generates 500 promising leads, apply stricter criteria to arrive at a number of targets you can feasibly research and approach. Then identify decision makers, review sales and profit trends, and read up on mission, vision, and values. You’ll use this information to customize your sales pitches later on.

Bear in mind that this stage might take longer than you think. It’s best to cast a wide net and follow connections that lead you to an investor. 

Take it from Evan Quinn, co-founder of Hiyo, who secured $1 million in funding before having a tangible product to pitch. “The people you think are gonna invest, usually actually don’t. And the people that you don’t think are gonna invest, are actually the ones that do,” Evan said in a Shopify Masters interview. “It’s really leaning on those that do say yes, [and] tree branching off of them.”

4. Protect your idea

Companies and entrepreneurs can steal new ideas. 

As Cassidy Caulk, the founder of Kindred Label, said in a Shopify Masters interview: “You could have the best idea in the world, but if people then go and rip it off, the one thing you can do on the front end is try to protect yourself.”

Protect your intellectual property before beginning the pitch process. Here are some options:

• Use a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). An NDA is a legal document that protects the confidential information you share with the signing party. Include what’s considered confidential, the purpose of the disclosure (e.g. evaluating a potential sale), how the receiving party should keep it safe, and how long the non-disclosure lasts. 
• File a patent application. Patents establish ownership of an invention and grant the owner exclusive rights to produce or sell the patented idea. Filing typically is complicated, so contact a patent attorney for help.
• Apply for copyright or trademark. If your idea could be considered an original creative work or a branded element (like a logo or phrase), you could try protecting it by filing for a trademark or copyright.

An IP attorney can identify any industry-specific considerations you need to protect your idea. For example, if you’re selling an idea for a new food product, you’d need to protect your ingredient lists, recipes, and production processes. 

Again, this can be a lengthy process. The average time frame between filing and registering a trademark is around 11 months. It’s much longer for patents—around 26 months, according to the USPTO. 

What is intellectual property licensing?

Intellectual property licensing is a legal agreement that gives someone the right to use your IP, whether that’s a trademark, patent, or copyright. In return for licensing your IP, you’ll receive compensation in the form of fees, commission, or royalties. 

There are two main types of IP licensing to consider:

• Exclusive licensing. With this model, only the licensee can use the IP in the agreed territory or industry—not even the owner. For example, if you’re licensing the idea for a new soda drink and you give your licensee exclusive rights to sell in Europe, nobody else can sell there.
• Non-exclusive licensing. With this option, multiple people or companies can sell your IP—including yourself. This tends to have lower monetization potential as licensees are competing against each other for sales. 

5. Choose a monetization strategy 

You can request a one-time upfront payment in exchange for the rights to your idea. 

Alternatively, take royalty payments to earn a percentage of the price of each item sold. This can range by industry from 0.1% to 25%. For example, you might sell a new product idea and agree to 3% royalties. If the business you’ve sold the idea to generates $100,000 in revenue, you’d be entitled to $3,000 in royalties. 

If you can’t decide between the two, consider a hybrid approach. You could discount the upfront fee in exchange for royalties—for example, $5,000 upfront and 1.5% royalties on future sales. This can be a more attractive option for investors who don’t have the cash to buy your business idea upfront. 

Important terms to consider when negotiating payment terms include:

• Term and duration. How long will you receive payments for? Longer terms often justify higher pricing, especially if you’re giving an exclusive license for the idea. 
• Annual minimum. This guarantees a yearly payment independent of sales volumes. They’re often combined with royalty agreements, meaning you’ll earn at least the value of the annual minimum and additional payments when total royalty earnings exceed that threshold.
• Milestone payments. Some buyers prefer to trigger payments when they hit certain milestones—for example, after landing their first 100 clients, seeing the app prototype, or passing regulatory approval. 

6. Prepare your sales materials 

Prepare an introductory letter, a sell sheet, and materials for a professional presentation. Here’s an overview of each:

• Introductory letter. An introductory letter is like the cover letter you submit in a job application. Use it to introduce yourself, explain your reasons for outreach, provide your contact info, and outline next steps—including how a business can reach you and how (and when) you’ll follow up with them.
• Sell sheet. Create a sell sheet—a one- to two-page document that identifies the market for your product idea, describes the need it meets, outlines its benefits, and provides information about legal status, such as a copyright or patent pending.
• Presentation. Include data about target audience needs and details about your proposed business model, such as cost-benefit analysis, estimated production costs, and sale price. Keep it concise and use graphics. Use the information you gathered during the lead generation process to customize your sales pitch for each potential buyer.
• Follow up. Prepare an immediate follow up to send within 24 hours to thank them for their time and reiterate the cost-benefit analysis. If there’s no reply within a few days, reshare early prototypes or market research summaries, or create a sense or urgency—for example, “Other people are interested in this idea!”—to regain their interest. 

Common mistakes when selling ideas

Selling an innovative idea doesn’t come without its challenges:

• Incomplete NDAs. Without a watertight NDA and IP protection, a potential buyer could steal your idea or develop a competing product. Make sure your contract specifies exactly what is classed as confidential, how it can be used, and the duration of the agreement. Clarify that simply viewing the idea doesn’t grant ownership rights. 
• Overvaluation. You might lose potential investors if you’ve overpriced your business idea. To avoid this, research industry benchmarks to find out what comparable ideas, products, or professional services have sold for. 
• No prototype. It’s hard to tell an idea, but easier to show it. Create a simple prototype or visual mockup to show investors what your idea looks like in the real world. This helps them understand its feasibility and market fit.
• Poor timing. Even the strongest ideas can fail if you’re presenting it too early in the development process. Start outreach once you’ve done your research and protected your IP. Then time your pitch when buyers are most likely to act—for example, if it’s an idea for a holiday product, begin outreach in Q2 or Q3 when brands are finalizing their holiday plans.