To say that we are in the start-up culture era would be a gross understatement. Start-ups are popping up left, right and centre – and the entrepreneurs behind such companies are reaping in the rewards.
While there are all sorts of characteristics that define leaders, we would hedge a bet that something all of the founders of said companies have in common is that they can pitch. To obtain that elusive initial funding, or funding to take your business to the next level for that matter, pitching is a crucial part of being a modern-day business leader.
In fact, if you were to mull over some of the material for online business certificate programs, you would quickly see that pitching for investment is one of the most important things that you can master.
Unfortunately, pitching is by no means simple. It’s one of the toughest things that you can overcome and a lot of people are absolutely terrified of the whole process. As today’s title has hopefully given away, we will now mull over some of the best steps to overcome your fear of pitching once and for all.
Just have the answers
It sounds simple, but just knowing your product or service inside-out can help you quash a lot of the problems that investors face.
For a lot of people, it isn’t the actual presentation of your product which is the big problem, it’s the questions that follow it afterwards. Investors have the unfortunate habit of asking the questions that can really catch you out like a rabbit in the headlights. However, if you know your product and the numbers inside-out, there is absolutely no reason to be fearful about this. Furthermore, if you do possess confidence during this Q&A part of your pitch, you’ll do your chances of investment the world of good.
The power of practice
At the risk of stating the obvious, we really can’t highlight the importance of practice. If you study your pitch the night before it is due, you are asking for trouble.
Those entrepreneurs who continuously go over their pitch don’t just know it like the back of their hand, but they also iron out any issues. They can start to identify the weaknesses of their pitch, and slowly fine-tune it into something that is going to knock the socks off a potential investor.
Focus on your investor
Whatever you do, make sure this pitch is targeted towards your investor, and not you. A lot of pitching beginners will tell a story of how a product solves a particular problem. In doing that, they fail to realize that this problem might not actually be something that the investor appreciates, nor does the pitch explain to them what sort of return they are going to get on their money. The latter is particularly important during your pitch; you need to explain, in no uncertain terms, exactly how financially your investor is going to benefit.
Be yourself
Finally, we can’t reiterate the importance of being yourself. At a lot of these pitches, investors appreciate that they are investing mainly in the individual in question. You might have invented the perfect product, but if they don’t think you have the prowess to take it forward it’s going to be a no.
Make sure you express yourself and show them who their money is truly going towards.