Successful pitching tips for entrepreneurs and start-ups

Pitching yourself and your business

Successfully marketing your business can make-or-break any business, especially those that are self-employed or freelancing.

Pitching covers a massive area but getting this right means understanding your target audience and communicating in a way that resonates with them.

Self-promotion can be daunting, but it's important to let people know about your business.

1. Define your brand. What makes you unique? What do you value? These things will help you build a strong foundation for communicating what you stand for.
2. Work on an elevator pitch – this means summarising yourself or your business in an interesting and engaging way in no more than 30 seconds.
3. Remember, self-promotion is an ongoing process. Keep learning, adapting, and improving your strategies based on your experiences and feedback.
4. Practice your pitch – your friends and family are a great support for getting your pitch together. And our EnterprisingYou’s advisors can offer expert objective feedback, helping you feel more confident.

Pitching for Funding or Investment -

Pitching as an entrepreneur to successfully raise finance can make or break your growth potential.

GM Business Growth Hub's Access to Finance team have had a lot of discussions with start-ups and early-stage founders around equity fundraising and have helped many of them with their first investment pitch decks.

What is a pitch deck?

A pitch deck is a short presentation showcasing your business plan, metrics, and vision to raise money from investors.

They often see founders needing help understanding a lack of interest in their pitch deck. This may happen despite a company generating early revenue.

Watch the video below for Ian’s top three tips for equity fundraising success or continue reading for Ian’s advice to help you with your deck and successfully secure finance.

Watch the video below for Head of Access to Finance, Ian Dixon's, top three tips for equity fundraising success or continue reading for Ian’s advice to help you with your deck and successfully secure finance.

Specifically, pitch decks often lack -

1. A demonstrable ability to identify and, importantly, connect with prospective customers who have the problem solved by the product.
2. Any understanding of the motivation required by customers to overcome the switching costs (both direct and indirect) involved in trialling/committing to the product.
3. Validation of the business's ability to deliver on promised value, quickly and consistently.
4. Evidence of the ability to embed the product into users’ daily business or workflow to maximise value creation and minimise any problems.
5. Any reference to the product’s natural ability to attract additional customers through use and viral referencing.
6. Consideration of any inherent friction in the product, leading to an eventually reduced churn rate
7. No reflection on the effectiveness of the current competition to replicate the above and tempt users away.

Learn how to deal with rejection -

Whether it’s raising awareness or funds, pitching is a challenging task, and it’s common to face rejection. The resilience to keep moving forward despite this rejection is one of the foremost qualities required to succeed.

• Understand that not all investors can comprehend your idea, no matter how great. Expecting everyone to be enthusiastic or interested in your proposal is unrealistic.
• Being aware of what investors are looking for is critical to future success. You must be able to clearly explain why your target market needs or wants what you are offering. This will provide the necessary insight to determine if and how your business can grow.
• Don’t let it get you down – it sounds easy in theory but know that another opportunity could be around the corner.
• Find a mentor or trusted advisor – having someone to debrief you after rejection can help you learn from the experience.