How you pitch your company determines whether you get the right partners, favorable financing terms, super executives, and best shot at success. Your business plan should be about 20 pages, covering all aspects of your business. And yes, put in the hours to make it perfect, because you’ll be repurposing the business plan’s content in sales presentations, marketing collateral and white papers, recruiting pitches and your Web site. When presenting your business plan to financiers, your pitch needs to be concise, compelling, and complete.

BE CONCISE: Provide a simple explanation for why your business or project is a great idea, and how you’ll execute the steps to pull it off. You must be able to convince the money contingent that you have a sound execution strategy and pragmatic tactics for making your vision a reality.

The key questions you need to answer are:
–       Have you hired the right people?
–       Can you build/deliver your product or service? Will it fly?
–       Are you chasing big enough markets and can you reach them?
–       How much will it cost to build this business?

BE COMPELLING: Your opportunity should have the right deal, with the right price, at the right time, with the right product/service, and the right team.

The key questions you need to answer are:
–  What, exactly, is compelling about your business (your products/services, team, unique approach, intellectual property, etc.)?
–  Do you have high-profile advisory board members?
–  Have you already attracted customers (even those who’ve signed on for a free trial)?
–  Are your target markets tangible and accessible?
–  Could your product or service lead to an expanded line of additional offerings?

BE COMPLETE: You must have a trusted third-party review your pitch to ensure it addresses the high-level issues a financier might have. Ask anyone who can help – your startup-savvy attorney, advisory board, mentors, friends who have expertise in the specific market you are addressing or in business overall – to punch holes in your pitch. Be complete – it will help you gain the trust of all you pitch to.

By following the 3C’s, you’ll be well on the way to roping them in with those first pages. You will also establish that you’re a trustworthy person with a substantial idea as you make your financing pitch.

Christine Comaford, The Executive Coach
CEO of Mighty Ventures, Inc. and Business Accelerator
http://www.BusinessAccelerationIntensive.com

PS:  If you’re NOT at this point in your business and would like to be, you can attend one of my Business Acceleration weekends.  You can find these events all over the country – the schedule is up at http://BusinessAccelerationIntensive.com – and if you’re DEFINITELY ready, you might want to work with me one-on-one to nail your pitch. Reach out at http://smarttribes.wpengine.com/contact.