It’s not uncommon for freelancers to have bigger business ideas. Believe me, I know. I have dozens of things I’d like to setup and pursue, but there just isn’t enough money or time in the day to do everything.

In the end, we have to be choosey. I often choose to setup new blogs or content sites because I’ve been able to monetize them well. I know another freelance writer who setup a sort of network connecting professional / specialist writers to prospective clients. Others choose to expand from a single freelance writer into managing a team of employees or contractors to handle more writing projects. Still others choose to partner with other professionals like designers and programmers to create a comprehensive firm offering website design / content, well-designed marketing materials, and such. I even know a writer who not only launched an all-out niche content network, but who then pursued an offline business related to that specialty area.

Do you ever think about moving beyond freelancing? What’s your big business idea?

We Can’t Do It All

Sometimes, no matter how good you think a business idea is, you just can’t pursue it. Maybe it would require a large up-front investment that you can’t afford. Maybe it would be a full-time job in itself, and you’re not able to abandon your other work to make the time for it. Or maybe you just have so many ideas that it would really be impossible to pursue everything (*raises hand*).

So what can you do with that business idea? Does it have to just sit at the wayside gathering dust? Maybe previously, but not anymore.

Note: The following opportunity is currently only available to U.S. residents. Sorry to everyone else, but I figured I’d tell you here so you don’t read ahead just to find out at the end.

In Steps SubmitBusinessIdeas.com

Now let me be up front with you here. The owner of SubmitBusinessideas.com has been a client of mine for a few years (although the project itself is new). I very rarely talk about specific clients here, so I hope you’ll forgive me this once. I wouldn’t be promoting the site to you if I didn’t think it offered real value to this audience (and it doesn’t cost a dime, so I’m not trying to sell you anything).

SubmitBusinessIdeas.com is a new service setup by a couple of successful Web developers and their team. They have decades of real-world, online and offline business experience, and I feel rather confident in their ability to launch successful projects (watching them do so in the past).

Here’s what you do:

1. You visit the site.
2. You fill out the form on the left side, giving your contact information and your business idea (I submitted a fairly detailed idea as a test, and it went through just fine, so don’t be afraid to get into the meat of your idea – although I suggest backing things up before sending just in case).
3. You press the button.
4. Yay! You just submitted your business idea.

What? Why would I tell you to give your business ideas away? Well hold on. Now here’s what happens after you submit your super businesss idea:

1. The folks with SubmitBusinessIdeas.com receive it and review it. They judge each idea on its own merits (why I suggest giving some details and not just a one-liner), but also in relation to other ideas submitted (nobody can do everything, remember?).
2. Each month they expect to choose 2 – 5 business ideas from the submissions.
3. If they want to pursue your idea, they estimate that you’ll hear from them in about 7 days. Those chosen ideas will be contracted, and then they develop the idea (they take on all of the financial and legal risks – while they may ask for your input, you’re not technically a part of the company and won’t be involved in running it in any way – no commitments on the end of your busy little self).
4. If the business idea does in fact prove to be profitable, you’ll be paid 15% of the profits, even for taking your hands-off role. Think of it like a finder’s fee for bringing the idea to the people who had the ability to turn it into reality. And by the way, you’ll earn that 15% for the life of the project.

Seems simple and relatively painless, right? So what’s the catch?

Well, obviously when you contract the business idea out to them, you have to give up the right to pursue it on your own. However, if they don’t choose your idea, you can pursue it on your own if you choose to later. In other words, you own the right to pursue it until you’re contractually obligated not to.

Really, that’s all there is to it. There’s a new way to profit from the business ideas percolating in your head, even if you can’t do something with them yourself. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s an interesting idea and a potentially great opportunity for those who don’t want to change what they’re doing now, but who also don’t want their good business ideas to go to waste. And hey, worst case is that it doesn’t get chosen, and at least you had an excuse to flesh out your idea a bit (another good reason to save your submission notes).

Just don’t submit ideas unless you’re willing to potentially part with them (if you have your heart set on eventually pursuing something on your own, keep that great idea to yourself for now). Ideas aren’t published on the site publicly when submitted, so you don’t have to worry about others randomly seeing them and “stealing” them. They’ll only be published on-site after they’re actually developed (so down the road, you’ll be able to see the types of projects they’ve taken on, and you can see how they tend to setup the businesses).

One more quick note: while they’ll accept any kind of business idea, they do prefer Web-based business ideas. Share ‘em if you got ‘em.