How to protect my business idea without a patent? don't want to waste money

The only way to protect your business idea is by using a patent. With a patent you get a set of exclusive rights granted by the state to you the inventor for the invention idea for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of the invention.

The patent search is an expensive process but you could make your life easier by doing a preliminary search on Google.com/patents. If this database does not hold your invention idea its likely it doesn't exist. Just to be sure you could hire a patent company to do a wider search so you are free from future conflicts. Keep a record of the search for future due diligence.

Submitting the patent does cost a lot of money depending on your idea. For example a board game may cost $7,000 for filing an application through an attorney while the patent search may cost another $1000. The bare minimum Government filing fees are $730 for small entities and $400 for micro-entities so this is the absolute minimum you would expect to spend.

unfortunately there is no easy way to protect your idea which is a shame because it does hold entrepreneurs back because of the high cost. If you really believe in your idea and an exist patent does not exist you should take a calculated gamble because it might pay off. Alternatively you could sell your idea if you want the quick money. Be prepared to be as sick as a parrot if your idea takes off the the company makes millions.