You’ve got less than a minute to deliver a stellar elevator pitch that will pique a potential investor’s interest in your business. Tick, tick, tick, tick … How would you react in this situation? Would you be calm, cool, and collected or would you be at a complete loss for words? Unfortunately, too few business people are prepared to deal with such a situation.
“You should always be ready to succinctly discuss your business, because you never know when you’ll get the opportunity to talk to someone who may be able to help you financially or provide you with resources,†says Black Enterprise Small Business Editor Tennille Robinson.
If you’re an aspiring or established entrepreneur who can’t use $10,000, stop reading now. But if the idea of $10,000 gets your attention, you know what to do: Register for the 2010 Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo and enter the 2010 Elevator Pitch Competition. The deadline to enter the contest is Friday, April 30. (Click here to enter the competition.)
So how do you get the most out of this small window of opportunity? Meet Marcus Evans, founder and CEO of Never Forgotten and last year’s winner of the Elevator Pitch Competition at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo. Evans, 30, started his Herndon, Virginia-based full-service gravesite care and maintenance company last spring. Evan video-recorded pitch was enough to get him into the finals with four other entrepreneurs. (Click here to see Evans’ video pitch submission.) When they all pitched live before a panel of judges at the 2009 Entrepreneurs Conference in Detroit, Evans came away the winner.
Out of the more than 30 entrepreneurs in last year’s competition, Evans was the last man standing. So what did he do that floated him to the top while some of the other participants couldn’t seem to get any lift? Evans pointed to these slip ups:
Insufficient research: You can’t just say “I have this idea and I think it’s going to work because I’m a smart person.” Anyone can do that! You
need to research the industry your company is going to be in and provide some hard numbers in your pitch. An investor really doesn’t care about how much experience you have, they want to know the numbers–how profitable is the product or business? What are the typical numbers? You should also include expected sales and the size and percentage of the(Continued on page 2)
market you’re going to be a part of. Show them you’ve done the research and didn’t just pull the idea out of a hat.
A weak organizational structure: You want to make sure that you have a strong opening–something that will get the judges’ attention right away. From there you should talk about the business, the industry of the business, how you’re going to market the business, and then close it out strong. Marketing is essential. A great idea can only go so far by itself. You should be able to explain what mediums you’re going to use to promote your business and include any possible partnerships.
Rambling on: Get to the point. Be clear and concise and don’t try to memorize everything you’re going to say. Instead, create an outline in your head and just bullet-point the areas you want to hit. It’s okay to ad lib. You should also time yourself because you want to make the most of the two minutes. If you have to take things out, then do so, and avoid unnecessary detail. Your goal is not to create a sales pitch but to hook the audience and judges by explaining how your product or business solves a problem or fills a void.
By not committing these errors, Evans successfully pitched his business before a live audience, including a panel of judges, and won a state-of-the-art laptop computer and other products and services from Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference sponsors. Black Enterprise and conference sponsors have up the ante for the 2010 edition: This year’s winner will receive a $10,000 cash, in addition to other prizes. (Click here for more information, including contest rules.)
“This is one of the largest prizes we’ve ever given to an elevator pitch contestant,†says Robinson. “In light of the current economic times, where capital can be hard to come by, this is a substantial amount of money to help someone who may be just starting out or is looking to take their business to the next level. It will be interesting to see who comes out and fights for it.â€
The first thing you have to do to get your elevator pitch off the ground floor is register for the 2010 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by ExxonMobil and submit your entry! Why should you register and submit an elevator pitch? How’s $10,000 in cold hard cash sound? Click on the Events tab at the top of the page, select Entrepreneurs Conference, register for the conference, submit your elevator pitch, then meet us in Atlanta at the Marriott Marquis, May 16-19, and show us that your pitch is on point!