PITCHING YOUR BUSINESS FOR INVESTORS | A Short Note for Small Startups
By: Idris Akura Kamaldeen
Tags: Pitching, Tips, Small Startups, Investors, Business

PITCHING YOUR BUSINESS FOR INVESTORS | A Short Note for Small Startups

This article is aimed at providing new entrepreneurs with fundamental tips for pitching a Small Startup business for investors.

Intro…

There’s no gain saying the fact that pitching a business is a difficult task especially for new entrepreneurs. This task is even made worse because of the limited number of investors available from which millions of entrepreneurs seek funding globally. The competition is tough, and investors are becoming wiser and more conservative with their funds.

The Tips...

Pitch with Truths

One mistake for most new entrepreneurs is - overstating their figures in order to impress. This strategy might have worked pretty well in the past but not any more - investors now look beyond figures!

The easy way to capture investors' interest is to speak the truths about your business. Don’t be intimidated by how others throw numbers around, stay with the truth and let your pitch revolve round the realities of your business.

Pitch to Win Local!

Communicate your strategy to Win Local, it’s important! Most investors are no longer interested in funding businesses that skewed their models for global at the expense of the local market. The reason is not far-fetched. Funding 'global' businesses comes with lots of risks and requires a great deal of conviction. Just like the saying goes, charity begins at home, any business that must go global should first aim to win local.

Why is it Important to Venture in this Business?

Its essential to communicate in your pitch, the importance of your business focusing on the existing gap(s) you wish to fill. Investors use this information to judge your contextual understanding of all the existing models of the business.

Communicate Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

Your strengths are what make your business unique from the pool of other businesses around. These might include, your business core values, nearness/access to low-cost resources (not known to your competitors) needed in the production process. Your strength is basically your Unique Selling Proposition. Identify your strengths and communicate them properly in your pitch.

Investors are more interested in your problem solving abilities - they want to see how you can turn your weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities for your business. Read more on How to Provide a clear and an unambiguous SWOT analysis for your business here …

Production/Marketing Strategy

Your production strategy should focus on least-cost factor combination. Remember, investors want to see you demonstrate your resourcefulness at getting the best out of the limited resources available to your business. So, pitch the cost low!

Your marketing strategy should further demonstrate your knowledge of the market and existing products. Investors are waiting to hear how you plan to launch your 'new' and 'unknown' products into the highly competitive market. Note that this strategy is crucial to obtaining your return on investment, you should research deeply and come up with an innovative way to market your products and increase your sales.

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This article was a short trip round some of the fundamentals of pitching a business for investors with special focus on startups.

I hope you found this useful.