How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch

What Makes You Special?

You may have been called a special snowflake on the internet but that doesn’t always mean that your business is special (in a good way). In business it is important to have a unique selling point (USP) that sets you apart from your competition. When you specialize in a unique product that is actually useful you have far less competition for customers. This means that you (and your investor) will have to spend less on marketing and customer acquisition which means more profit. How many coffee shops do you pass on your way to work? 10? 20? Now how many coffee shops do you pass that sell coffee for dogs? I know which one I would rather stop in.

Ask All the Interesting Questions

Have you noticed that all these subheadings are questions? Did all my rhetorical questions about coffee and grilled cheese get you thinking deeply about your life? Asking questions is a tried and true tactic in presentations to engage your audience. If you go on and on about yourself the investor is sure to raise some eyebrows and will surely forget about you in the future. Remember that lenders are inherently selfish (they are using you to make money after all) so they are thinking in terms of themself. Asking rhetorical questions incorporates them into your pitch and they won’t have to lift a finger to figure out how they factor into your business.

Show Your Personality and Passion

Remember that investors invest in people, not businesses. They need to find someone they can trust to keep pushing their business forward as they’re too busy counting their cold hard cash to weigh in on marketing, design and product decisions. If you charm the lender with a perfect pitch they can’t resist investing in your business. Also remember when you’re in an elevator (or airplane, or waiting room or bathroom) you don’t have the data, spreadsheets and graphs on your sales to back you up- You must rely solely on your charisms to sell yourself. If you can make a great first impression with your passion and drive you can get your foot in the (elevator) door where they’ll think about investing in you down the line.

Ready to take your business to great heights but too acrophobic for an elevator pitch? One easy way to get and keep customers is by using a professional billing system. Easily create, print and send invoices using our site or app to make getting paid a breeze. With our fully customizable invoice templates you can elevate your business and go straight to the top of the small business world without the help of an investor.