Presenting your business idea to anyone you come across requires you to keep in mind the ‘time factor’s within which you should be able to provide them with all the information on your product or service. Therefore, it is important to have a three-minute pitch because you should always be able to explain what you and you company does, in a very crisp and concise manner, so that the person who is listening to you can understand because time is limited for everybody.
You don’t know where you might find a potential investor or a client, customer, business partner or vendor. For this reason, it is very important for every entrepreneur to have a 3 minute pitch so that while meeting anybody socially or professionally you should be able to get across your message about what the company does in a 3 minute span.
Thus, follow these steps to build in your three-minute pitch because clarity of communication is the key.
The Introduction: Introduce yourself and your brand. Your name and the logo and tagline of your brand are the key elements of your introduction. Keep it short and straight because your logo itself will tell the audience about your brand.
What is the problem you’re solving & your solution to itIJ
All products or services are present in the market because they are a solution to some or the other problem. Introduce your product or service to the audience and highlight the problem that you are solving through it. Remember, you are not in the business of Convincing. You are in the business of discovering who has the problem your product or service can solve!
Who is it forIJ What is the target marketIJ
You need to be very clear in your thoughts about who is your target customer because this is the foundation on which your product is built and will serve its rightful purpose. Remember, the best way to sell something is not to sell it. However, earn the awareness, respect & trust of those who might buy.
What is your marketing strategyIJ
Enlighten the audience with your marketing strategies. Be precise and sure about your marketing strategy because “you can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything!”
What makes your product or service unique or differentIJ Can it be copiedIJ
Highlight the features and usability of your product in brief and the unique feature it carries which gives you a competitive edge.
What is your growth potential or projected growthIJ
When talking about your expected growth, never be vague about your hopes on customers buying your product or using your service. You should supposedly be able to model the likelihood that customers will be into it along with being confident about your analysis & statistics.
What is your finance structureIJ How are you planning to raise itIJ
Clearly list in numbers what is the debt-equity ratio you are planning to raise and how. Also, if your setup is not a company but any other form of business setup then, what amount of capital you are raising and how. Be numerical, state the numbers and facts and proceed to the next point.
Why nowIJ
As you wrap up your pitch, make an argument as to why is now the right time for investors to invest their money in your businessIJ Why is now the right time to raise funds and grow rapidlyIJThis is your chance to make a call to action to the audience. Now that you’ve presented your business idea, summarise your pitch by highlighting three points of your presentation that you think are best to leave the investors wondering about your business idea.
The writer is Amol Arora, VC & Managing Director, Shemrock and Shemford Group of Schools