Eureka! You’ve just manifested a brilliant business plan and are excited about its enormous potential. You truly deserve a pat on the back! However, having a unique business idea is not just enough; you need business funding to let the concept flourish and become a revenue-generating machine. Many entrepreneurs have potential business ideas but lack proper funding. Without funding, ideas will never develop into fully-functioning projects. You need to continually look out for investors who can finance your idea to transform it into a plan.
Are you now wondering, what happens when you meet a potential investor who agrees to listen to you? For starters, you’ll just have a few minutes to impress him, and that’s where a proper business pitch comes into the picture. It is your pitch that will be the deciding factor of your success or failure. Hence, it is of utmost importance to plan your presentation pitch well in advance, as unrehearsed presentation and lack of confidence might impact your performance. You could envision your aspirations slip away from your hands if you fail to impress the investor.
Here is a list of tips worth considering while you prepare yourself for a business pitch. It will undoubtedly help you to impress the investor and close the deal.
Advanced planning is the key:
Start preparing from today itself, even if the pitch date is scheduled for the next month. It is crucial that you prepare in advance to ensure that you make it on the D-day. From project preparation to personal grooming, start from today to make it count.
Do thorough research about your investors and tailor your pitch accordingly
It is not a cool strategy to pitch the same content to multiple investors. You need to customize your pitch each time you pitch to a different investor.
Conduct a bit of research about your investors and try to learn about the various ventures that they’ve invested. This research will not only help you with a better insight into their interests but will also improve your chances of preparing a presentation that might help grab their attention. Hence, if you tailor your pitch accordingly, there are higher chances of success.
Walk your talk
It is not just the idea that might interest the investors. Remember, you need to impress them first with your ability, persuasiveness, and efficiency. For a successful project, it is imperative that the investor and the entrepreneur get along well. The investor would certainly see whether you are capable of handling the project and taking it to the next level.
Make it an interesting story
Everyone loves stories, investors too. A presentation that is dull, boring and full of valuations, numbers and facts will disinterest anyone. It will fail to keep the attention of the investors. Create an exciting storyline and start your pitch with a teaser, to make the entire presentation more memorable and exciting. Tell them how your idea can address a particular issue effectively with a tale full of examples. There are chances that they will not blink an eye throughout the pitch. Remember, factual information, valuations and other essential details are necessary, but an effective pitch is not just about it.
Discuss the core issue you want to solve
Your potential idea should address a particular subject and its solutions. Make sure to discuss the issue with facts and figures and a dash of confidence. Explain the challenges users face while dealing with the problem and tactfully show how your idea solves the issue. It will present a real-time scenario and make your pitch more effective and superior. Also, highlight the fact that your solution would address an appealing market.
Practice until you reach perfection
You might be a great orator with an impressive personality. However, nothing makes you perfect than practice. Try as many mock-pitches as possible. It would be even better if you can get your family, friends, neighbors or subordinates to be your audience. Later, ask them to write feedback for you to evaluate and work on the suggestions they give. There are a lot many advantages to this exercise. It’ll not only make you feel a little more confident but will also help you get rid of your nervousness. Also, it might train you on how to address issues that might arise during the actual pitch. For example, during the mock-pitches, your audiences might just throw a few questions that might leave you baffled. It might make you realize about certain loopholes in the pitch and will give you enough time to work on them.
Work on minor details each time you give a mock-pitch. Record your presentation on your smartphone and later watch it and check if your body language is composed and confident. Also observe, if you look comfortable while pitching and how do you react when someone questions you. Mock-pitches are best to strengthen your presentation to an altogether new level!
Be realistic and foresighted
When you give an actual pitch in front of the investors, it might not be as smooth sailing as you would’ve expected. They’ll interrupt you a lot with their questions and suggestions. Hence, it is important to be watchful while pitching.
Despite the disruptions, ensure that you take a glance over the presentation from the audience’s point of view. It will give you a more realistic version than anything else.
Unleash Your Business Potential
Indeed, investors are keen to know whether an idea has a business possibility or not. Project your business potential backed with thorough market research.
Highlight the problem area first then explain your resolution and later discuss the demand for this solution in the market. During the discussion, make sure to share your research data about the impact of the problems. Explain how your idea with unique features addresses each of these problems.
Impress them by showcasing the market possibility. Here, you need to convince the investors that there is a considerable demand for the solution that you offer. If possible share insight into the total addressable market and the fair share of the percentage that you think you can obtain.
Introduce other tools than mere PPTs:
PowerPoint presentation is excellent, but to create a profound impact, you must use additional presentation tools. Use videos that explain the issue and solutions you offer to the market. Visuals will be appreciated by them and will give you a bonus point to the presentation. Also, you can add infographics, images and other tools to make your pitch more convincing and compelling.
Make a difference
Investors will inevitably ask you questions, and there’s no doubt in that. However, you can have a scoring point here if you include some anticipated questions in your pitch itself. Further, avoid some common claims that other business owners make – to claim your idea has no competition. Instead, stress on the differences that make you unique as compared to the competitive landscape.
Show a Prototype if you have
Nothing impresses the investors than a practical experience of the product you offer. If you are still in the product development phase, make a prototype ready and show it to them during the pitch. A practical demonstration of the product will create a significant impact. You can even hire a developer who can design an impressive 3D rendering of the product to show the investors.
Conclusion:
A business pitch is crucial in monetizing your idea and requires some efforts from your end. The whole game is all about impressing the investors. Use the tips mentioned above and do your best. Make a short yet impressive pitch that covers all the aspects of the business idea. Answer all their questions calmly and surprise them by your foresightedness.