Does your business have a new product it is considering designing and selling? This is a delicate time for the project, since you must protect it from exposure even before anything is complete. How can you protect your work and financial investment? Here are three of the most important ways to do this. 1. Nondisclosure Agreements. The first step in preventing an idea from being stolen by competitors or getting into the public domain is to ensure secrecy by those working on it.