Perfecting Your Pitch - 7 Questions in 60 Seconds

“What do you do?”  It’s a simple enough question, and for many, the answer is simple and easy.  If you work at a job, for example, it’s easy enough to say, “I’m an HR manager for Sears,” or “I’m a cashier at the Piggly Wiggly.”  Even for some entrepreneurs the answer can be short and sweet.  But if you’re interested in truly communicating what your company does in order to gain interest from a potential customer - or more importantly, a potential investor - some thought needs to go into your answer.  In fact, whether you encounter a potential investor in an elevator and need to give your “elevator pitch” or you’re planning on attending a networking event, having your pitch prepared and memorized is a must.

When formulating your pitch, it’s important that it be clear and concise and that you’re able to communicate it in a likeable, passionate, compelling, credible manner.  Oh, and you need to do it all in a minute or less.  A tall order?  Maybe, but it can be done - no matter how complicated your business is.  Remember, you’re not presenting your whole business plan.  You’re simply answering some basic questions.  If you generate enough interest with your 60-second pitch, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to go into more detail later.  To help formulate the perfect pitch, here are the seven questions your pitch must answer:

1. What is your business idea?
In the most basic terms possible, simply state your business concept.

2. What’s the status of the idea or business?
Tell how long you’ve been in business - five years, startup, etc.

3. What market does the business target?
State who your customers are, and how your concept serves them.

4. What advantage do you have in the marketplace?
How are you different from whatever else is available? Tell why people will pick your company over others.

5. What’s the competition in the marketplace?
Demonstrate that you know who the competition is and where you stand in the market.  Do this without being too negative about the competition.

6. What revenue model will you follow?
Explain whether your business is strictly e-commerce, retail, wholesale, etc.

7. Who have you assembled as the team that’s going to make the business succeed?
hether you’re a one-man-show or a team, briefly describe the experience of your management team.

Note: If you are looking for financing, you’ll add information about what you need the money for, how much you’re looking for, and the projected return on investment.

You can change the order of these points to suit your strengths and make your presentation flow properly.  While it looks like a ton of information, two or three questions can sometimes be answered in a well crafted sentence, so it’s not that hard to get it into a one-minute pitch if you work on it.

Once you’ve formed your pitch, it’s time to practice, practice, practice.   The trick is to memorize it so well that when you say it the words come out naturally - not like they’re memorized.  You’ll only get one chance to present this mini-speech to any one person, so it pays to polish it and have it down pat.  In fact, your confidence in delivering the pitch is at least as important as the words you’re saying.

How will you know if your pitch is working?  People will start asking you for more.  When you hear, “How can I get more information,” you’ll know for sure your time has been well spent!

Do You Have a Business Plan? What About a Life Plan?

We talk a lot about business plans.  What should they include?  Should they be 50 pages or just 1 page?  Should you pay someone to create it, use a template, or do it yourself?  One thing you don’t see as much discussion about is what you need to do before creating a business plan.  Unfortunately this is a step that’s skipped by a lot of entrepreneurs, and it’s one that can have a very positive effect on the success of your business.  Luckily even if you already have a business plan, it’s never too late for this step.  It’s a Life Plan - and before making another business or personal decision, you would be wise to have one in place.

A life plan is exactly what it sounds like.  It’s like a business plan in many ways, but far more important.  A well-developed life plan can apply context to all other decisions, and it can serve to guide you through the ups and downs of business and life.  We become entrepreneurs because of the quality of life we believe it will provide us, and a life plan helps us define exactly what that life will look like.  This is important because if you don’t even know the kind of life you want, it’s going to be hard to build it.  Also, let’s face it - you’re guaranteed to have difficulties and challenges as an entrepreneur, and a life plan can help you to not just make it through them, but to glide through them and come out better on the other end.  How?  When you take the time to build a life plan and then use that plan to guide your decisions about the work you will do, you end up doing what you love.  And when you’re doing what you love, challenges don’t seem as big.  You get through them easily and are even grateful for the learning they provided.  Ultimately, the more satisfied you are personally, the more success you will have.

Here are the 5 steps to building a Life Plan:

1. Define your current life. You have to know where you are to figure out where you’re going.  Evaluate and grade where you are in the important areas of your life - finances, relationships, health, business, etc. This can be a difficult step for many people, especially if you’re not anywhere near where you want to be.  It’s not a time to beat yourself up though.  Use this step to create a snapshot of your life and imagine looking at it years from now marveling at how far you’ve come.

2. Define your vision. This step can be a lot of fun.  Write a description of your perfect life.  Don’t hold back and don’t be afraid to be bold and daring.  Remember, it’s your perfect life.  This is no time for doubts or pessimism.  You have nothing to lose by dreaming big, so go for it.  Later, you’ll plot backwards in terms of finances, quality of life, and your business plan.  This will get you to a set of plans for achieving your ideal life.

3. Define your skills. You now have a picture of your ideal life, so what skills do you have that will help you get there?  What are you good at?  If you’re great at sales or management, you’ll put down how those skills will help you in your business.  If your talent is in design or writing, that might be your focus.  For now, simply list your abilities and experience.  While doing this, don’t overlook the value of the hundreds or thousands of hours you might have put in as an employee.  You’ve gained valuable life experience in and outside business, and this can all help you build your perfect life, so list everything.

4. Define your ideal work situation. If you could design the perfect business to work in, what would it look like? Would you work part time or full time; at home or in an office; close to home or traveling the world?  Would you spend time interacting with customers?  Would your perfect business involve you managing employees?  Would it stay small or grow to a large company?  Would you do it forever or retire in 5 years?  Describe your ideal work environment and conditions, and just like step 2 where you defined your perfect life, think about the possibilities - not why it won’t work.

5. Define yourself. In this step, you’re going to describe your personal mission, vision, values, and goals.  Write out who you are and what you stand for.  What you wrote for each of the previous steps was formed because of who you are, so look deep inside and figure out what you’re all about.

At this point, you’ve got all the elements of your life plan.  You’ve described where you are and where you want to be; you’ve examined your skills and your ideal business; and you know your personal vision.  Now it’s time to put it all together into a plan that will guide you in building your business and the life you want.  This isn’t something you do and then file it away.  Use your life plan and refer to it often.  You’ll find that writing your business plan and running your business become easier when your priorities match your life plan, so never stop reviewing your priorities and comparing them with your plan.  More than anything, following your plan will ensure you’re doing what you love, and isn’t that the point of being an entrepreneur?

The Four C’s of Business Gems

If you’re familiar with the jewelry business at all, you know the four C’s of choosing a diamond are Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat weight.  When looking at starting a business, there are also four C’s to consider.  They are Company, Customers, Competitors, and Collaborators.  If you evaluate each of these areas properly, you’ll get a good idea of whether your business idea is a good one, and more importantly, whether or not it’s the right idea for you.  If you’re going to create a formal business plan, these steps will help to clarify the components of your plan as well.

Company - Consider what your company will look like.  What form will it take?  Will you need employees to make your idea fly?  If so, how do you feel about that?  (Having employees can be a big challenge.) How will you provide your products and/or services, and what will your day look like running this business?  Also consider what you want your company to represent and how you’ll communicate your brand to the public.  If you do plan to have employees, think about what you want your company culture to be like, how you will find and train quality employees, and what you will offer them in terms of benefits and working environment.

Customers - Who will your target market be?  It’s important to look at the demographics of your potential customers.  Are they men, women, young, old, etc.?   Also consider how you will market to this group.  Depending on the makeup of your target audience, you might use Internet marketing, networking, or traditional advertising.  It’s important to think about influencers too.  In other words, your purchasers might be women aged 28-36, but their pre-teen children might have influence over their buying decision, so how will you reach both groups effectively?  Once you have customers, it’s important to know how you’ll treat them - what your customer service philosophy will be, including your return policies.  It’s important to look at the whole picture - from your customer’s point of view.

Competitors - Chances are slim to none that you have no competition in your industry.  So it’s important to know who your competitors are.  Most importantly, you’ll want to know as much as you can about their strengths and weaknesses.  Why do their customers go to them?  What do they offer that appeals to consumers, and where can they improve?  Again, put yourself in the shoes of a customer and ask yourself why you would or would not use each competitor.  Then use this information to improve upon your idea to capitalize on the weaknesses of the competition.

Collaborators - This might be the most overlooked piece of the business startup puzzle.  You might not want to bring on partners, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider collaborators.  Collaborators are people who can help you build your business, and often you don’t have to pay them anything.  Organizations like S.C.O.R.E. (Service Corps of Retired Executives) and the SBA are there to help you with your new businesses, and they don’t want a dime.  Additionally, many new businesses can benefit from forming a board of advisors.  These are people with specific skills and experience who can advise you on important business decisions, and again, you don’t have to pay them.  The benefit to them is that they get to help a fledgling business succeed, and it’s prestigious to serve on an advisory board too, so that doesn’t hurt!

So, if you have a gem of an idea, remember to use the four C’s to evaluate it, and progress from inspiration to functioning business, armed with the knowledge that your idea is sound and it’s a good fit for you.

Analyzing Your Competitive Landscape

Every business plan should include a comprehensive overview of your business’ marketplace competition. Competition means there is a market for your business and, despite what some may argue, it’s healthy to have one or more competitors. Any business that provides a similar service or product in the same region may be viewed as a primary or secondary competitor. Your business needs to highlight and build upon the weaknesses of its competitors to increase its profitability and market share. The following provides a step-by-step process in creating your competitive analysis.

Identifying competitors: One easy way to locate competitors is to use a Google or Yahoo! map. Enter in your business’ proposed or existing address and search for nearby businesses of a similar category. For example, if you’re opening a pizzeria, you can search “pizza shops” or “pizzerias” in the same zip code or city. Through this easy process, you’ve identified potential competitors. If your business operates in a niche industry, the best way to identify competitors is to leverage established contacts and web research.

Understanding your competition: Now that you have identified your top competitors (aim to analyze at least two direct competitors), it is necessary to learn everything about these companies. What do I mean? Visit their website; call the business directly to learn more about the way they operate or what they sell; physically go to the competitor’s place of business; and research customer reviews. The latter step can be implemented by simply typing in “customer reviews of XXX” in your online search bar. Also, these reviews usually are posted on websites such as Yelp.com and CitySearch.com.

Pointing out their weaknesses and strengths (eloquently): Lesson to be learned – no bashing on competitors; it is unprofessional and makes your business look worse. When I say bashing, I mean using expressions such as “they suck” or “they have no customer assistance.” Every company has some element of customer service, so a statement like that is literally untrue. Now, the competitor may lack quality customer service, and such an observation would be a much more acceptable approach in pointing out a weakness in a business. When I am writing a competitive analysis, I always include one to two strengths and two to three weaknesses of each competitor.

Your competitive advantages: Ah, finally, we’ve reached the point of emphasizing your strengths. Truly use this section to emphasize why you’re a better business in a bulleted format (preferred) and include a few statements in paragraph form about how you intend to surpass your competition. Examples include greater industry knowledge, lower prices, friendlier and more attentive staff, larger inventory of products, and so forth. Your best bet is to underscore your own unique competitive edge that cannot be argued. Voila, you’ve completed your competitive analysis.

This is a Guest Post by Ellen Arndt, Director of Marketing and Research Writing for EPIC Business Planning.

Your Startup Business Plan: It’s Not An Option

Well, we are less than a couple of weeks into the transition of stepping into the driver’s seat here at Blogtrepreneur. So far, we are on track to attaining all of the goals we have set out to accomplish within the first month. One of the major goals was to begin the re-branding and re-juvenation of Blogtrepreneur. You are currently looking at what we feel to be the New & Improved layout and design of Blogtrepreneur.com and as you have noticed we are also posting fresh and timely posts 5 days per week! This has all been part of our mini-business plan that my brother and I put together prior to acquiring Blogtrepreneur.com, therefore we felt it may be perfect timing to share a quick overview of the mini-biz-plan.

Starting up a new business is challenging enough without going into it blind. A startup business plan is not just intended to persuade prospective investors or lenders; it is a vital tool for creating your game plan and helping you avoid costly mistakes.

When you’re in the trenches of starting up a new company, it can be difficult to stay focused on the big picture. We know this quite well as we juggle several business ventures both online and offline! New issues will crop up daily requiring quick decision-making that can affect the overall growth and success of your company–now and in the long run. A business plan takes your company’s mission and expands on it, giving you a set of logistics for getting it done. We often look at our mini biz plans as roadmaps and following them helps us avoid missing our exits on the business super highway!

If you haven’t written a business plan before, you don’t need to worry. It isn’t as daunting a task as you might think. Depending on the size and scope of your business, it can be a short document that lays out the basic who, what, when, where, why and how of your business. Even if you are just starting your own blog, it can really help you stay on track if you outline some of the goals that are important to you. Sometimes my brother and I have found it quite helpful to keep an evolving biz plan that allows us to update as needed. Any good business plan will have the following sections:

Executive Summary

A concise, powerful summary of your entire business plan; one or two paragraphs are all that is needed.

Company Description

This is your chance to ’sell’ your concept to the reader by providing a detailed explanation of what your company will do.

Industry Analysis

Writing this section will force you to do some much needed homework and look at your business as part of the ‘big picture.’

Market & Competition

Again, you’ll need to research where your company fits in the overall marketplace and discuss how you will compete against similar companies. This is where you will talk about you ‘edge’ over other companies, and what sets you apart from them.

Goals

It’s foolish to start a business without a set of guide posts to measure your successes. Setting goals will help you stay focused, and it will provide your investors, employees, and partners with tangible results that can reassure and inspire them.

Products/Services

This section is where you describe how you plan to generate revenues. This is what you are ’selling’ to your customers, and it needs to be measurable, marketable, and have an obvious value.

Marketing and Sales

You may have the greatest product in the world, but if you can’t convey it to the public, you will never make it off the ground. Your marketing and sales strategy should show that you have a good idea what your customer’s needs are and how to talk to them in a way that will elicit a positive response.

Management

Discuss the individuals responsible for running the business, clearly defining their roles, responsibilities, and the qualities that make them valuable to the company.

Operations

This is a description of your day-to-day operations and what it takes to make your business operate at an optimal level.

Budget

This should be a clear, thorough operating budget that covers all aspects of running the business. It should cover, at a minimum, one year of operations; but ideally five years.

Financial Requirement

A summary of how much startup capital is needed from your investors or partners. Be as frugal as possible but not unreasonably so. If you need something to run your business, don’t leave it off just because you are afraid of asking for more money. On the other hand, do you really need a Mercedes Benz to transport your clients around? Remember, a savvy investor wants to see that you can be wise with money.

Appendices

This is a collection of supporting documentation that your reader can refer to. It can include charts, projections, market reports, and even pictures of the products you plan to sell.

Regardless of the size of your business, you should cover all of these subjects in your business plan. If you are unfamiliar with some of these concepts, take a couple weeks to read up on them and at least grasp what they mean for your particular business. Part of being successful means being able to learn at every stage of the game; even long-time executives make it a point to stay up on new information, so you might as well get used to it now.

For some excellent pre-startup reading, I recommend the following books:

Start Up Your Own Business by Rieva Lesonsky

Entrepreneur’s Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture by Steven Gold

Writing a Convincing Business Plan by Arthur DeThomas Ph.D.