How To Write An Excellent Elevator Pitch For Startup Funding

One of the most crucial parts of starting your own business is securing enough capital to get it off the ground and running.

Startup funding is the thing that is standing between you and the chance at having major success in your industry of choice. This is where your sales and marketing skills are going to be put to the test with an elevator pitch. You are going to have less than a minute to sell your business plan to investors, and a first impression is going to mean just about everything.

It is up to you to get the point across and make sure you are showing potential investors exactly what they want to see. They don’t have time for fancy slang and outrageous promises, they need to hear what the business is and exactly why it will be successful.

This means that in a very short time-frame you will need to get the message across perfectly on why your business is the one that is worth investing in. Startup capital is going to make or break the majority of owners who start new businesses, so make sure you put in the time and effort to get your elevator pitch right.

There are several key things that you need to focus on when preparing an elevator pitch, and it is essential not to rush any of these steps. You normally only get one shot and you must give it your best effort to score a goal. Keep reading below for essential advice you will want to heed when you are preparing your elevator pitch for investors.

Why Use An Elevator Pitch?

An elevator pitch is going to be used in every potential investing situation, and it is essential to get investors interested in the first place. Think of it as a television advertisement for you and your business idea.

You are going to have an average of 30 seconds to get all of the pertinent information across, so you need to prepare appropriately. This is where you sell them on the idea, yourself, and opportunity you are presenting. It helps if you have some showmanship and sales skills, but these things can be learned.

At networking events and other opportunities to meet business people, you are not going to have a chance for extended investor meetings. Your elevator pitch is what you will use to get people thinking and interested in your business idea. If you can do a good enough job selling your idea you will be able to take it to the next step and sit down for a full meeting.

How To Write An Elevator Pitch

There are many different ideas floating around on the best way to write an elevator pitch, and all of them have their merits. Some experts are now saying to keep it under seven seconds, while others still prefer the 30 seconds or less method.

READ ALSO: How to Catch the Attention of Your Future Investor 

If your potential investor doesn’t even have 30 seconds to listen to you they were never going to be interested in the first place. While there is no exact science to preparing the perfect pitch, the following should give you a good structure to build from:

You Need To Hook Them

It all has to start with a way to get the listener interested in what you are saying and have them wanting to hear more. One of the most common ways to start an elevator pitch is to ask a relevant question that relates to the products or services your business provides. If you sell tires you want to make it sound like a car cannot drive anywhere unless four of your tires are on it.

People at networking events are going to get hundreds of potential businesses pitched to them and have a hard time keeping track. The goal of your first two sentences is to show that you have a great solution to a problem and it is going to be a no-brainer investment. Take your time when coming up with your hook, first impressions can mean everything.

Be sure to practice it on friends, families, or even strangers on the subway to make sure it is getting your message across. The last thing you want in your hook is any type of filler speech or slang; your message must be succinct and to the point.

In order to be appealing and enticing, it’s important to have a well-edited text. There are many services and tools like Best Essay Education, WoWGrade, Hemingway, Supreme Dissertations, and Grammarly that will allow you to properly edit your pitch.

Sell Yourself Next

The next step is usually the most difficult for anyone who is preparing an elevator pitch. For a lot of people talking about themselves can be a tough thing to do. It can also be the opposite where you may like to talk about yourself too much. It is a must that you find a good balance for the next few sentences, this is where you tell them who you are, what you do, and why you do it better than others.

You are going to have a very short amount of time to get all the necessary information out and it is going to take some work to do properly. Start by writing out a longer, point-form, version of everything you want to tell a potential investor. Try to grade the different points on their relevance and selling power, then get rid of the ones that don’t make the cut. You will now have a manageable amount of information with no filler or subpar pieces.

Writing skills are going to be important here, so feel free to outsource if you lack in that department. You need to get all of the right info about you, your business, and its future growth in about 15 to 20 seconds of speech. Your end goal is to make them believe that they need you and the services you provide. If you are writing the pitch yourself there is no need to rush anything, take your time and do revisions as you go. Rome was not built in a day and neither will your elevator pitch.

You Have To Close Strong

In the last five to ten seconds of your elevator pitch, you will need to close with confidence and leave the listener wanting more. The way you sell yourself and your business here are just as important as what you are selling. The potential investor is going to be inspired if you show confidence and expertise in your area. It is a good idea to focus this on things such as growth and revenue as investors are going to be apt to remember more if it has dollar signs attached to it.

Here you want to bring out the big guns and tell them about your most impressive statistics and growth predictions.

“You never want to get overzealous with this portion and start exaggerating numbers. Honesty is always going to be key in dealing with anything business-related, and your elevator pitch is something you cannot afford to mess up by telling untruths.” — Daniel Goldman, Growth Manager at Pick The Writer.

Practice Makes Perfect

You may feel like you are in high school again practicing for some speech or presentation, but this is a very important part of the process. Practicing and perfecting your elevator pitch will not only make it sound better to investors, but it will also make you more confident about giving it. Start by practicing by yourself to get a feel for selling yourself in 30 seconds or less.

Use a mirror, record a video, whatever you have to do so you can critique your own work. Once you are happy with this stage you are far from finished; it is time to involve other people. Find a friend or family member you trust to be honest and see if you can practice on them.

Let them know to look for filler content or wording that is too fluffy while you are giving your pitch. Another set of ears and eyes seems to have the ability to pick up mistakes that you miss regardless of how hard you look. Once you are both comfortable it is time to start wooing potential investors.

The take-home message

It is very difficult, especially at large events, to be among the handful of people and pitches that busy professionals will remember. These events are going to be crucial to getting you investment opportunity some attention, so you better bring your A-game and not slack off. Perfecting your personal pitch is going to be what sets you head and shoulders above the throng of competition at these events.

You need to make yourself unique, presentable, funny, intelligent, interesting, and many other things to impress potential clients. You are selling your business to these people but a huge part of that is going to be the person behind it.

As the ambassador for your business, you need to put your best foot forward and do whatever you can to sell yourself. Take your time to get your elevator pitch done properly and get people you trust to review and critique it far in advance. When your pitch is even better than your idea it is still going to make potential investors listen.