Entrepreneurs must be able to effectively present their companies. To make your entrepreneurial dream a reality after developing your business idea and creating a business plan, you’ll need cash. Even if you don’t intend to seek investment, having a strong elevator pitch shows that you are knowledgeable about your company. Which is useful if and when you ultimately decide to look for investment.
Additionally, your ability to get finance depends on a 10- to 20-minute presentation or pitch that you deliver to your potential investors if and when you need it. As a result, entrepreneurs like you must possess the ability to sell their business idea to investors. And that is what we will be discussing in the piece. If you’ve ever thought about “how I should pitch my business idea” or perhaps how you should go about pitching your business, then this will be a useful read for you.
In this article, first, we will talk about what exactly is a business pitch and why it is important. Then we will talk about the key elements of a pitch, followed by how to successfully pitch business ideas to potential investors. Then we will talk about the skills required for a successful business pitching and end by talking about some useful tips to make your pitch successful. Let’s begin!
What is a business pitch?
Presenting your business ideas to investors can be known as a business pitch. A business pitch can be described as a brief presentation that covers your business/startup in a limited time frame. The pitch might take the shape of an audience-facing presentation with A/V. Or carried out in a room with just two investing prospect present. A pitch might also take the shape of a sit-down conversation with potential investors or employees. Why is it significant? This is because no good product or service can be sold more successfully without improved marketing or pitching.
Having a business pitch always ready is super important. Here’s Why?
- With a pitch, you will be able to persuade a crowd to trust your offering
- Our world is quite competitive and in order to get a competitive edge, you need to be able to present your business in a compact and effective manner.
- Moreover, how would you, as an entrepreneur, convince a buyer to buy your product if you couldn’t make a 5-minute pitch?
Key elements of a pitch
By attracting the appropriate investors at the right moment, the right business pitch can help your company grow. Here are a few essential components that must be present in order for you to make your presentation on your business ideas for investors a successful one.
1. A well-versed pitch summary
Your business concept and your story should be included in the first one or two slides. Since this will serve as your initial impression, make sure it is really imaginative and communicative. The first few minutes of your company pitch will captivate the investors and increase your chances of successfully obtaining capital.
2. An aspect of team building
Investors aren’t interested in your current ideas; they’re more interested in your plans for future expansion and your vision for it. And there is no question that you cannot develop without a talented and devoted workforce. Therefore, keep in mind that your pitch deck should include information on both your team and your business idea.
3. An effective solution that your business provides
Every company typically attempts to solve a problem, thus your product or service should be an original solution to that problem. The problem statement should be unambiguous. The issue could be one that has never been encountered before, be particularly difficult to fix, or have just partial success.
4. The financial aspects of your business
While estimating future revenue generation will have a good effect on investors, it is challenging for upcoming businesses to anticipate high-end revenue generation. However, doing so will increase the likelihood of a successful investors’ meeting. To have a proper elevator business presentation in your hands, you need to be familiar with the financials of your company.
5. Confidence
The next stage after learning how to make a pitch deck is how you deliver it and how sure you are in your concept and vision. You should be ready in advance because investors will test your mettle by probing tough questions. Additionally, you should not be afraid to admit your inexperience in place of providing inaccurate information. By doing this, you will increase your credibility and, as a result, your chances of winning the investment.
How to successfully pitch a business idea to investors?
1. Devise a plan and model for your business
You can’t just approach your investors with an idea and nothing else. If you want your investors to take you seriously then always have definite plans. Even the most intriguing ideas are meaningless. Investors invest, ultimately, to profit, therefore you need to show that you have the structure and plans in place to make that happen.
You should also define the kind of return on investment they may anticipate for them. If you are unable to demonstrate the precise, doable, and exciting outcomes that will arise from your business strategy, it won’t be very impressive.
2. Always make a presentation
Spend some time first creating your pitch presentation. The objective is to produce a pitch that is simple for you to work on and at the same time one that excites investors about your company. In light of this, you ought to have two versions of your pitch deck: one that is short enough for you to present in ten minutes, and the other is longer and has all the information you want potential investors to have access to.
3. Never stop practicing
Pitching to investors can become all the more easy if you never stop practicing it. Spend some time preparing your presentation as well as the tone you’ll use to give it. A successful pitch is presented with comfort and confidence. To help you organize your presentation, you can compose a brief script or make notes on a few themes for each slide. Practice in front of a mirror, give a fake presentation to family and friends, or record it. When you watch the video, make notes on what you can do better.
4. Make the pitch interesting with the help of a story
Pitch investors with an engaging narrative. It should speak to the issue you’re trying to solve for the client. This will immediately catch the interest of your investors. Try to put real stats here as well, especially if you’ve conducted any testing. Better still if you can connect your tale to your investors.
Additionally, you should also know the investing history of your investors. Which industries the investors had previously ventured into? What were the issues that their previous entrepreneurial endeavors had sought to resolve? Try to know about your investor’s business interests to better understand the goals of your investors. And based on this, modify your story if needed.
5. Present the solution your business seeks to provide
Discuss what makes your product unique and demonstrate how it seeks to solve the issue your company is trying to tackle. Keep it succinct, unambiguous, and straightforward so that the investor can explain it to others. Avoid using jargon unless possible investors are experts in your subject. Additionally, if you’ve conducted any testing in the past, including the findings here to support the veracity of your solution.
6. Define your intended market
Avoid saying that the entire globe is your potential target market, despite the possibility that this will be the case in the future. Regarding the intended market for your products, be honest. This will not only astound your audience but also motivate you to carefully analyze your roll-out approach. If at all possible, try to develop a user persona or maybe like your ideal client while talking about your target market. This demonstrates that you have carefully considered the target market for your firm and can help investors picture the potential clientele. It is also less complicated to address a small group of people than a huge audience.
7. Take into account the needs of your investors as well
Include facts in your proposal that responds to any potential objections investors may have. By addressing these issues early in your pitch presentation, you can prevent potential investors from being sidetracked and demonstrate that you’ve done your research and taken their demands into account.
8. Talk about the backbone of your business-your team
While pitching to investors, talk about your A-team. Investors believe in people, not ideas, so make sure to highlight your strength-staff, and why they are the ideal candidates to run your business. Share any skill sets that your team could be lacking as well. Most business teams are lacking crucial personnel, including those with skills in marketing, management, programming, sales, financial management, operations, and other areas. Let them know that you are aware of your limitations.
9. Be ready with pitches made for multiple occasions
There are many different scenarios where a business pitch is appropriate. While some pitches may take place during official company gatherings, others can be quick conversations over coffee or unexpected encounters at the gym. You should design various pitch templates that are customized for each audience and circumstance and contain the appropriate data. An hour-long pitch, a 10-minute pitch, and an elevator pitch should be among your minimum three available options. For longer pitch presentations, create slides (also known as “pitch decks”) to hold the investor’s interest and more succinctly describe your company.
10. Talk about your competition as well
Again, this is a crucial component of your pitch, and many individuals leave it out or don’t elaborate sufficiently on how they stand out from their rivals. The most effective way to convey your value proposition over that of your competitors is to present this slide in a competitive grid format, where your features and benefits are listed across the top, your competitors are listed down the left side, and boxes are checked to indicate which company provides each service. To demonstrate your competitive edge, you should be at the top in every category while your rivals are lacking in important areas.
11. Talk about the funding requirements of your business
Indicate in detail the amount of money that has previously been invested in your business, along with information about who invested. You should also talk about the ownership stakes involved, as well as how much more cash is needed to move it forward. Will you conduct other rounds of fundraising? Remind the investors of the qualifications of your management team to handle their expansion investment. Describe to possible investors what you require, reasons why you require it, what you’ll accomplish with it, and your goals.
12. Always follow up with the investors
Following a pitch, it’s a good idea to get in touch with the investors within 24 hours to see if they have any other questions or concerns, as well as to get their feedback if they have. A quick email or phone call will assist remind them of you and your proposal, demonstrate your sincerity and increase their willingness to eventually decide to invest.
13. Keep revising your pitch
Make a note of the aspects of your presentation that succeeded and need revision after each pitch meeting. The questions you addressed in your pitch, did the investors ask them? If so, you might want to clarify such slides by working again on them. If you observe that the same question is asked following each pitch, include a response in your presentation. As you continue, hone and improve your pitch to make it even more powerful.
Skills required for business pitching
In order to pique the interest of your investors in new business ideas, you should have the following skills. Basically, pitching your business idea will become easier if you possess these skills.
1. Problem-solving
Your business pitch should typically explain how your plan, operation, or item will help the stakeholder solve their issue. And to do that, you must have a problem-solving approach at all times. You should be able to assess complicated business issues using problem-solving skills and then use data, research, or technological expertise to provide suitable solutions.
2. Research
Any assertions you make about your company or product must be backed up in your pitch by solid data, which cannot be done unless you have research skills. Your ability to obtain and arrange reliable information to provide to your stakeholders depends on your research skills. You can obtain research from a variety of sources, including data that was internally collected or that was made publicly available by third parties.
3. Creativity
You must possess creative talents which will help you to produce original or cutting-edge ideas when your pitch tries to solve an issue. You can exercise creativity by asking yourself several questions to look at the situation from different perspectives. Another creative skill is experimentation, which enables you to explore several ideas until you find the best or most alluring one.
4. Communication
Writing or speaking clearly and simply are essential components of a business pitch. For that, you need to have good communication skills. You also need to have good listening and empathy skills because your audience can ask questions or have concerns. Negotiation and persuasion abilities can help you sell your idea because you sometimes need to make concessions to make sure everyone is happy. You want people to buy into your idea.
5. Public speaking
Speaking in front of a group is necessary for some business proposals, therefore public speaking proficiency is crucial. You must practice utilizing your tone of voice and body language to convey messages if you want to develop these talents. You may make your pitch more interesting if you know how to project confidence and engage your audience directly.
Tips to make your pitch successful
These are the tips you can use of you want to draw the attention of your investors in new business ideas and if you want to resolve your how to pitch my business idea question –
1. Make sure your pitch is a comprehensive one
You should include a business plan that will outline the specifics of the company, such as what you are offering, the need your product or service will address, your market segment, plans for advertising and operations, a budget, anticipated sales, and any other information from the market research you gather. When presenting your business plan, you should be thorough and open so that investors can see that you have done your homework and are a reliable company.
2. You should always use quantitative data in your pitch
Be as transparent as you can when describing current facts and how it relates to your business strategy. Share the number of current clients you have as well as the number of new ones you receive each month or quarter. Describe in detail how the business model will create income and how much you anticipate earning going forward.
3. Don’t hesitate to talk about yourself
It’s crucial to understand that investors put people and not ideas first. Keep in mind that most of the time the investors want to invest in you and your future endeavors. Therefore, don’t be hesitant to brag about the accomplishments you and your team have made, especially if those achievements have to do with what it takes to launch and grow a business. Tell (and, if feasible, demonstrate to) the investors why you’re the best people to run this business.
4. Always project a savings attitude
Financial control is one of a company founder’s most crucial traits. Gaining favor with the company will be easier if you know exactly where every dollar is going. You need to demonstrate to the investors that you are in control of the company and its operations. They should get the impression that you are a trustworthy leader who is enthusiastic about your mission.
5. Using visual and interactive elements can never go wrong
A simple method to add visual appeal to your presentation is by displaying data using charts, graphs, or infographics. Enabling engagement with your audience might help you sell a product or service to them while keeping them interested. This method helps them comprehend it and how it functions on a more practical level. Alternatively, you may even go ahead and make a demonstration video.
6. Always talk about potential business expansion opportunities
While pitching a business idea to investors, talk about the expansion opportunities your business is presented with. The most crucial part of pitching your business is to emphasize the business opportunity as well as how you plan to take advantage of it. Your company exists to fill gaps, but attracting the trust of investors will depend on the size of the market and how closely it relates to the product. You may present your ideas more forcefully by emphasizing the opportunities and challenges.
7. Make your pitch a multilevel one
Pitching a business idea to investors can vary depending on the investors. You can divide the pitch into longer and shorter versions with the use of a multilayer pitch. The condensed versions aid in introducing the fundamentals. The extended version aids in outlining the specifics and how the plan will be carried out.
Conclusion
Essentially, until you provide your pitch, you won’t know how well it works. Keep your cool and view each investor pitch as an opportunity to grow both personally and professionally. You’ll just get better and better, and you may use what you learn in every aspect of your business. So, if you want to get your company listed in your investor’s potential investment list, then follow the above-mentioned steps and tricks. After reading this, you must have got clarity on how to pitch your business idea, and you must have been able to devise a business pitch example in your mind. With this, we seek to help you get clarity on how to get business investors and how to pitch ideas to the company and potential investors.
Written By
Aparna is a growth specialist with handsful knowledge in business development. She values marketing as key a driver for sales, keeping up with the latest in the Mobile App industry. Her getting things done attitude makes her a magnet for the trickiest of tasks. In free times, which are few and far between, you can catch up with her at a game of Fussball.
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