Here’s a Chance to Win $10,000 for Your Small Business

Is your business pitch on point? Need capital infusion? The 22nd annual Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit has officially opened its highly anticipated Elevator Pitch Competition and is ready for submissions.

Inventors and entrepreneurs across the country have a chance to $10,000 at the 2017 Entrepreneurs Summit, which is set to take place May 17-20, at the new Marriott Marquis Houston. If you have been eagerly waiting on the space or opportunity to pitch your awesomely innovative and creative business, product, or service, to decisions-makers that know just how to make things happen, here’s your chance! With less than 1% of venture capital and angel dollars from majority investors funding minority businesses, the Elevator Pitch offers the opportunity to get in front of funders, who are seeking black founders with great products and services in need of capital to grow and scale their businesses.

Win $10,000 in Two Minutes or Less

Get your pitch down to two minutes or less, then email Black Enterprise with a YouTube video submission of you pitching your product or service.

Please, be sure to include your name, e-mail, and phone number. In the subject line, write: 2017 BE Elevator Pitch Competition. Then, sit back and watch your future unfold.

There will be 10 semi-finalists selected from these submissions. If you’re selected as a semi-finalist, you’re then granted the opportunity to pitch to a panel of expert judges. From those 10 semi-finalists, the top-three finalists will be selected to pitch again–this time, with a curtailed, 30-second time limit in front of business experts, investors, and a live audience, for the chance to win a $10,000 cash prize and coaching.

Some words of wisdom, when pitching for potential investors is to always come prepared, and know all of the reasons why one would want to purchase your product, in addition to understanding the demographic to which you will be selling the product too. Make your product dance!

Six Pitch Perfect Things You Need to Know:

Prepare an introduction about who you are and who your team members are.
Share information about your market and your competitors–everyone has someone.
Explain what product, service, or technology you are offering, as well as the problem or pain you are solving, and your solution.
Discuss your business model and how it will you make money.
Show how are you going to acquire new customers and keep any existing customers happy.
Breakdown what will you use the money for, or how it will help your business grow.

The ball is totally in your court. If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank and said to yourself, “If that was me, I’d knock it out of the park,” this is the competition for you.