A pitch is one of the most crucial steps in the journey of turning your business idea into reality or simply scaling up or widening the scope of its operation and magnitude.
Stories do wonders
Every business idea begins with addressing a problem area or bridging the gap between the product and its end user. As humans, it’s natural to get inclined to a story that is involving and engaging, one that helps your investors connect to your idea. When you pitch business ideas uniquely and innovatively, it naturally inclines your prospective investors into funding your startup. Your story should enable investors to engage in it actively by establishing an emotional connection with them. Every successful startup is backed by a strong story or the why it started. You can narrate a story that discusses your challenges, inspiration and how far you plan to take your business.
Research well about your investors
When you pitch business ideas or present your plans to anybody, make sure you go through the background of your investors, learn about the kind of investor you would like to bring on board, configure on how they could add value to your plans or bridge the gaps that are impeding the growth of your business or startup. Never shy away from negative comments as they are just opinions, any negative feedback should be accepted constructively without getting demotivated or getting too sentimental about it. Try to talk to people who have worked with your potential investor, and inquire about their work experience to understand their chain of thoughts better. Research the kind of industries most investors prefer to invest in and the type of business model they operate in. These can be an outline of how you could make your pitch convincing, powerful and effective.
Prepare your pitch intelligently
This means that you must always keep in mind the requirement of the platform you utilize to present your pitch. There are three major kinds of pitches that most platforms adopt; depending on the participation level and factors such as duration of the event, investor participation, etc. The most popular way of proposing your plan is through an elevator pitch. This lasts for about 60 seconds in which the entrepreneur is required to culminate his presentation within the allotted time, making precision and brevity the most crucial ingredients of such a pitch.
If your start-up event organizer requires you to make a short-form pitch, prepare your presentation in a concise way that finishes within 10 minutes. You have to bring in the most essential elements of your business to persuade your prospective investors.
If you are lucky enough, you get the opportunity to bring a long-form pitch which should include all the details of your business starting from your revenue model to the workers you employ, your experience, details about the market demand, etc. A pitch with a long duration should not go beyond 30-40 minutes, as most people do not have a very long attention span and begin to lose interest if it appears monotonous. So, preparing your pitch efficiently can make a huge difference in helping you impress your favourite investor.
Have a smart business model
You can pitch business ideas by developing and presenting your business model to the investors in an interactive format for them to decide what will set you apart from other entrepreneurs. Curating your business model in a multifaceted manner will make a significant difference to your pitch to an investor as most investors are majorly interested in understanding your startup model alongside elaborate details about the finances of your startup. It should thoroughly present an intricate picture of your product or service, operations, market size, growth prospects, profit margins, equity model, gross and real value-added and other details that a potential investor may like to seek. Today’s world is data-driven as it presents all your progress or shortcomings in a concise and transparent interface, making it easier for your investors to decide on their investment plan and advise necessary amendments to the same.
Don’t forget to practice
Projection is the key to success. You must pitch a business idea in the way you project or present your investment plan will determine the course of your success at impressing a prospective investor. The more you practice your pitch to an investor, the better chances you have at making a confident, clear and alluring pitch. Keep reminding yourself about the power of your ideas and present them before your investors in a bold, interesting and empathetic style.
Seek feedback
It is not always necessary that you may get your dream investor to guide you, but participating in such events and working on your pitch to an investor helps you build networks and strategic alliances to expand the horizons of your critical thinking, clearing your path to build a bigger business plan for the future. You can always get in touch with the investors that you interact with for personalized feedback to understand how to improvise and reach out to a larger number of people by widening your business outreach. Perhaps, they may develop an interest in your business acknowledging your determination to grow and develop.
Revenue Model
Come with a robust and well-planned revenue model while you prepare your business pitch to an investor. Keep your revenue model easy to comprehend and flexible while pitching your business idea. Revenue models predict the future performance of your venture taking into account the fixed and variable expenses that your business may incur. Understanding the requirement of your target group and pitching your model based on that will certainly get you a deal!
Roadmap
Your business pitch to an investor should be clear on elements like revenue model, number of investors, equity, target group, projected sales, debt-to-equity ratio, etc. When you are ready with answers to all these queries, you make for a strong business pitch.
If you’re looking for investment for your startup, don’t give up – there are ways to make your business attractive to potential investors. By following the tips in this article, you can increase your chances of getting the funding you need to get your business off the ground. So what are you waiting for? Start pitching your business idea to anyone and everyone who will listen! And if you’re still not sure where to start, contact Mission Unicorn – we help startups find investors, and we’d be happy to help you too.
