Small Business: Talking About Your Ideas

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  talk about your business ideas. 

There are far more benefits to talking about it than keeping it to yourself. The benefits FAR outweigh any possible risk. Here is what I'm thinking:

• Talk about a new business idea to a friend. Your interested friend will ask you questions about your idea. These questions will help you to figure out the details. Some questions will be Devil's Advocate-type things that will annoy you. Don't let them! File those questions away for later--you need to answer them, for yourself.
• Questions to expect: How much are you charging for that? Yikes, isn't that expensive? Where will you sell it? How are you going to make that? What is the packaging? Where can I buy it? Do you really think you can sell enough of those to make a living? What are the ingredients? What about people with allergies? Vegans? 
• Talk about your business idea on Facebook/Your Blog.  Your friends will respond with "likes" or they will tell you what they are thinking. You will be scared that someone will steal your idea. GET OVER THIS. 
• Your idea is yours. Make it happen. 
• There are always thieves in the world. Thieves, however, are lazy. That's why they are thieves; they don't want to do the work themselves. They will wait until you make the idea happen, and will THEN steal it. Maybe. If it isn't too much work. 
• Use this fear to get your ass moving on the idea, so the one ambitious thief in the entire world doesn't make it happen before you do.
• You will find a similar idea on the Internet, while doing searches for supplies/vendors/etc. You will think, "OMG! I stole someone else's idea!"  No, you didn't. Your idea is different from the similar thing. Find the differences. Also, there is more than one jewelry maker in the world, right? More than one soap maker?
• Talk to other business owners about your idea. 
• They aren't going to steal it! Sheesh! Would you get over this, already? 
• This friend will have questions that your non-business-owner friends didn't think of. 
• Questions like: Who are your vendors? Have you thought of this vendor? You might consider this product/approach/style/design. Did you hear about this new craft fair? That product would be perfect for it. Do you know about color trends? Oh, and here's another idea...

The end result? You will collect ideas, answer questions, figure out details, and will make everything happen faster. And when you make it happen, you make money. 

Talk about your ideas. Go  make things happen today.