The idea and the plan are worth very little without experienced partners and wealthy investors willing to risk time and money to make them commercially viable. History is littered with examples of inventors and entrepreneurs who missed the payoff boat after opening the door for someone with more market savvy to profit from their innovation. Obviously, you don't want to become another example of that phenomenon. You will have to realize that, particularly in this economy, an idea cannot stand on its own, no matter how good it is.
Investors invest in people first, then market, then concept.
Even though you will have to give away some of your baby to outsiders, however, you can work at retaining a big stake in your new venture by doing some work ahead of time. You may have an idea and a plan, but if you haven't proven that the concept is viable in the marketplace, you'll have no clout at the negotiating table. Your investors will want a controlling interest in the venture because they will be bearing most of the risk involved in making your business real. She recommends that you raise friendly money to bootstrap a beta test site so you can show investors that you have signed up your first customers. Next, you can substantially reduce the risk for your investors by researching the market, determining realistically how much demand there is for your product or service, and doing financial projections that show how long it will take you to break even and make a profit.