Evan Carmichael explains why pitching ideas to big companies fails: they want execution, not concepts. Bundle your idea with a plan to implement it, or partner with a consulting firm. Target smaller, ambitious companies instead, they'll actually pay for ideas that help them grow.
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Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. Welcome to another edition of Ask Evan. Today I'm going to answer a question from one of our forum readers about how to sell ideas to big companies. So he wrote in saying, "Hi, I have two questions related to two different ideas. Number one, how do I approach an existing company with an existing product and with a marketing idea for their product which would open up a huge new way for them to sell and reach more customers?" Number 2, how do I approach a company with an existing product with an idea to modify their existing product and give them a whole new range of exciting spin-off products with, of course, recognition and payment for it? Thanks for the help. So this is a really tough one, I'm going to be honest. Approaching a big company— so I don't know what, you know, the company is or who you're trying to go after, but an example, say I have a great idea for Google to expand their business or Microsoft to expand their business. The value is not so much in the idea, it's in the execution. So for me to go to Google and say, "Hey, I've got this great idea for you to expand your business," chances are a couple of things. One, they've probably already thought of it, or somebody on their team have thought of it, and they've either decided to do it or not do it for whatever reason. But two, even if you gave them a new idea, the value that you're going to be able to bring is not the idea, but helping them actually implement it. So you got to think about what value you're bringing to the process here. So really you got to think about the execution side of things and can you bring anything extra that's value-add beyond just an idea. Now there are some strategy consulting companies who just go in and give ideas and don't do a lot of the execution. And so, you know, partnering up with one of them is a potential avenue. But really I think you're going to have a hard time with this one. Because the value you're bringing in just an idea going after a big company is going to be really hard. What I try to do is see, is there anything else you can add to the process? So if it's just an idea and then they have to do all the work, that's going to be hard to get paid for. But if there's an idea that then you can then add something onto and provide a partnership or part of the execution, then And that's something that potentially you can get paid for. So an example, I work with big companies. I work with Microsoft, I've worked with Google, and we've worked with huge, huge brands. And I give them ideas, and the ideas they come to me looking for is how do I reach more entrepreneurs. And they're not just coming to me for the idea. I help them with a plan, and I help them execute it. And I can help them reach more entrepreneurs because that's what I do. Right? So I'm seen as an expert in that field and they're willing to pay me to do it. So for you, are you an expert in your field? Do you have any kind of support system under you that they don't have themselves? The more you can build that up, the greater the chances are of them being able to say, yes, you know, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna pay you to do it. If it's just, here's an idea, I want you to pay me a lot of money for it, but then you have to go do all the work, it's honestly gonna be really, really tough to get any money out of it. So try to think about the value-add that you can bring. And maybe it's not going after the big company, but a slightly smaller company in the same field who wants to become the big company. This was one of the biggest challenges I faced early on in my career with one of my businesses. We were trying to sell the company and we thought, let's go after the number one player because they're huge and they have a lot of money. And we actually didn't— the biggest acquisition that happened in our field was not the number one guy, it was the number four guy because he wanted to become number one. The answer may not be going after the huge guy, but going after a smaller guy who's in the same field who wants to try to become the big guy, try to become number one. And if you're dealing with a smaller business, you may have a greater chance of being able to help them and also sell your idea. So hopefully that helps. Maybe not the news that you wanted to hear, but it's my honest opinion. So for those of you watching, if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up below. I'd also love to hear what you have to think. If you want to leave a comment on the video or if you have a question, for your own business, I'd love to hear it. And, uh, seeing those always makes my day when they come in. So thank you, and I'll see you on the next episode.
