Recently, I was invited to judge a pitch contest for start-up entrepreneurs that will be hosted by the business incubator where I teach courses and workshops—-business plan writing, branding, selling skills and marketing. As I reviewed the list of questions that pitch contestants will address, I realized that those same questions mostly apply to those who already operate a business.

Every Freelance consultant and business owner should be able to answer pitch contest questions because when you think about it, selling products and services to clients isn’t altogether different from pitching a start-up to investors. So why don’t we flip the script and imagine that you’re an investor who’ll hear a pitch about your own business, delivered by your alter ego self?

An investor pitch outline is a useful guide to metrics and other critical elements that have a big impact. When business owners and leaders address these key performance indicators, a powerful enterprise will result.

Introduction–Who are you?

Introduce yourself with a 30-60 second elevator pitch. Give a brief overview of the type of solutions—products and/ or services—that the business provides and the primary benefits derived. Identify also one or two major client groups.

Purpose–What is the company’s reason for being?

Name the pain that the solution provided by your company’s products and services will eliminate. Paint a verbal picture to make the problem your products or services solve understandable to prospective clients. Give a succinct yet compelling description of the detrimental impact of not having your solution available, which could include loss of market share or dominance, diminished revenue, or even legal penalties.

Solutions–The value proposition that motivates clients to pay

What is the “fix” that resolves the pain or problem and therefore brings value that clients are willing to pay for? Describe or demonstrate how your solution resolves the pain and solves problem—how will the product or service directly address the problem and deliver the solution?

Detail two or three noteworthy benefits that your clients, or the client’s customers, will derive when your company’s solution is used. Benefits speak to most clients, whereas features appeal to technophiles. Overall, benefits are a more powerful sell, especially those that directly address the pain points you described. Be careful to limit industry-specific jargon so that your prospect will not feel intimidated.

Function–Prove that your product or service works

If you sell a technical solution, for example software as a service, explain in layman’s terms a brief summary of how the product works and why it’s useful. Include, as appropriate and helpful, product photos, screen shots, diagrams, drawings, etc.

Market reach–How much demand for your solutions?

Purely an FYI question and the answers you discover will benefit your business tremendously. Conduct some basic market research and reconfirm the size of your target market. Post-pandemic data could be available in some cases and that’s the data you want to examine. In order to make an intelligent plan for the future of your organization, you need to know, as confirmed by objective data, where your market is going and what’s trending.

If you’ve been thinking that a pivot might make sense, you’d be wise to know in advance what you can successfully pivot into—ideally, a sector that’s growing and that you have the expertise and contacts to enter.

Credible sources of business data include Forrester Research, Gartner Global Research, local trade journals, professional association research, the business section of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other newspapers that address business issues in depth and also business data published by the U.S. Census/ Business and Economy data. Show your potential investor that there is a growing and sustainable group of potential buyers for your products or services.

Business (revenue) model—How will you find customers and make money?

Here’s another FYI question that you should periodically revisit, especially in the post-COVID era. The shutdown caused massive turmoil for the independently employed, fueled by the hollowing out of major industries. The work from home culture (which is waning) has made accessing potential clients tremendously difficult.

Now seems like an ideal time to re-examine how you expect to make money over the next 12-24 months. Determining what clients are willing to pay to do business with you is another question you need to address. Price to profit.

Focus on how the company generates its primary revenue stream(s). Review and clarify the usual steps of the buying process, including how long that process usually takes. Think about the job title of the decision-maker on the client’s team, as well as the usual job titles of the end user of the product or service. Furthermore, consider who the key influencers might be in the buying decision process, the steps are needed to achieve a sale and the usual length of time involved in the sales cycle.

Go-to-market—What’s the sales strategy?

Update the strategy you’ll follow for lead generation, inbound and outbound marketing outreach tactics. Discuss how product and service sales are executed—at your company office or retail location, at the client’s office (because you work from home), e-commerce via your website or other platform.

Identify whatever strategic partnerships or consignment arrangements that are in place (or are being negotiated). Identify who is responsible for selling—is it you, Freelancer friend, or do you split the sales function with a co-founder, or has the company hired sales reps?

The team—Who’s running the show?

If your company has co-founders or a management team, name them and describe everyone’s role. Describe also the job titles and functions of any part-time or full-time employees. If certain functions are outsourced, e.g., accounting, legal, payroll, or bookkeeping, document and describe their roles.

The purpose here is to reassure the prospective investor that your company is well-managed, that your solutions will be delivered as promised and that the company is capable of routinely meeting or exceeding client expectations.

Financial projections—Show me the money

Absolutely, your potential investor will take a keen interest in the state of your venture’s finances. You, the owner, must clearly demonstrate that you are reasonably adept at managing the company’s finances (even if your real talent is marketing and sales). At the very least, learn to get comfortable with interpreting the Profit & Loss (Income) statement, the Balance Sheet and the Cash-flow Statement.

Hiring an accountant, as well as a bookkeeper who is more than a record keeper and has a feel for financial management, will be tremendously helpful regardless of your talent for handling finances.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: A resident of the New England Aquarium shark tank in Boston, MA.