I have a great website idea and need advice?

The site would be a self-service app. Anyone have experience with this type of thing? Is there anything I can do to protect my idea from people just ripping it off and making their own version of it? Also, I don’t have much experience in web design. I wouldn’t mind hiring someone to do the work, but I don’t have a lot of money to put into it so I’d have to hire someone cheap. How can I find someone cheap and trustworthy?