The Big Idea Blog
- Make It Happen with Mel Robbins
- You Vote: Monday's Million Dollar Ideas
- The Crunch on Small Business
- Tuesday's Viewer Favorite: Plain Mary
- CNBC Original: The Entrepreneurs
- A Day Made Better
- You Vote: Tuesday's Million Dollar Ideas
- Web Extra: Matt Friedman
- Be On The Show: Is the Wall Street crisis affecting your small business?
- Don’t Share Your Big Idea Because Investors Will Steal It (And Four Other Stupid Misconceptions)
- StartupNation's Home-Based 100
- Thursday's Viewer Favorite: Poolside Pong
- You Vote: Friday's Million Dollar Ideas
- Web Extra: Richard Machowicz
- The Five Points Kickboxing Success Story
- StartupNation's Vendor Matching Service
- You Vote: Thursday's Million Dollar Ideas
- Katie Hacker's 5 Action Steps for Success
- Introduction: Unleash The Warrior Within
- Tuesday's Viewer Favorite: Shape Up Shoes
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Question:
I have an idea but dont know how to get it started. What steps did you take in getting our invention started???
- Lisa H from Defiance, MO
Cynthia's Answer:
Build it and they will come...
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Question:
I have a biz idea to do with the funeral business that I haven't seen even a thought about. I'm afraid to breathe it because it isn't patent-able, I don't think. I don't know how to protect it. Where do I start?
- John S. from Mahwah, NJ
Cynthia's Answer:
We're receiving a lot of questions about getting patents for ideas. You'll probably want to trademark your name. This is something you'll want to address with an attorney. Go to the USPTO website and research patent information, look up attorneys... do your homework. Meet with a patent attorney in your area, you can usually get a free, confidential consultation and they can give you an idea of what you can and can't do.
Rather than worrying so much about someone stealing your idea - put your energy into making it come alive. Most ideas remain just that - ideas.
- Cynthia
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