A grave mistake is to assume that if you get a 60-minute meeting, you get 60-minutes worth of attention. The typical attention span in a business meeting is 15 minutes. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must learn how to make the most of each clock's ticking. If you can earn the investor's attention in the first five minutes, you can be guaranteed that they will invest more time listening to you.
Let us think of it as a James Bond movie. Everyone who enjoys Bond movies treasures the sequences; the suspense, action, and unbelievable stunts. In the same way, you have to grab the investor's attention through your presentation.
An investor should see reasons why they should love your business in the first 5 minutes. Not the mid-5 minutes, not the last 5 minutes but the very first 5 minutes.
Here are three ways to pitch to investors.
A business pitch can take about 2 minutes to 15 mins. Unfortunately, it is not a lot of time to convince someone to invest in your business. It would be best to make each moment count by only sharing all the relevant information. Explain the specific benefits your product/services offer. Why your target customers will pick your product/services over the competition. And how your product resolves their pain points. Investors should be able to relate to the ideas you are selling to them.
Imagine pitching a butchery business to vegans!!! You'd agree that is dead on arrival. Do some research; What industries have they funded in the past? What business sectors interest them? What are their goals and target? This will give you a good sense of what they care about and increase your chances of bagging a good deal.
A successful pitch is delivered with comfort and confidence, so spend some time practicing your presentation and the tone in which you'll deliver it. You can write a mini-script or jot down a few themes per slide to guide your presentation. Practice in the mirror, perform the mock presentation for friends and family, or record it and take notes on areas you want to improve upon after reviewing the footage.
Finally, get through the entire presentation in 10 to 15 minutes so that there is enough time left for Q & A. The best business meetings are more conversation-like than presentations. It would be best to brief the investor on what makes your business compelling. But the quicker you can get through that to a two-way dialogue; the more meaningful the exchange will be for both sides.
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