Don’t say you are going to be a 50 million business in three years. Most investors won’t even believe it. What’s more compelling than big talk is to show exactly how you will reach those millions.
What information about your company do you have that’s made you forecast such figures? Share what your assumptions are about, don’t just feel excited to use big figures. This is an error most founders and new entrepreneurs make. When an investor sees such figures, you have already defined yourself to them before the talk.
Investors and figures
You want to see investors take out their phones and begin punching numbers. This is a good sign. It means they want to see how you think and see if it matches:
- What you have indicated as your total revenue numbers
- What they know about your industry.
- Show your product
Never pitch for a real deal without a sample of your product. I have seen so many pitches where the entrepreneur doesn’t even show their actual product. I also know that for some businesses, showing their product is not easy to do, but know that once you are pitching for funding, showing a sample of your product is necessary. If you’re skeptical about showing a sample of your product to investors, then maybe you shouldn’t be pitching after all.
Even if your product is not yet built, show mock-ups. It’s amazing what a visual representation of your product and your business can do for the overall effectiveness of your pitch. Remember, investors want to see facts. You have to prove to them you mean business. Move them from their seats.
As a next step, I recommend that you join me at 6:30 PM West Africa Time for live streaming as we round up the Pitching the Business to Investors series.
