Pitching Your Product Perfectly – A Guide to Finding Investment

Most startup businesses begin their lives funded with friends and family money. Entrepreneurs will tap into as many generous relatives and good-hearted friends as they can find in order to get the capital they need to get their venture off the ground. There comes a point, however, when those funds run out, and you need to look to outside investment to fund further growth.

Securing investment for your business is not easy, and it requires hard work and proper preparation on your part. Being personable and enthusiastic was enough when you need Mom and Dad’s money, but serious investors will need to see more than that. A well thought out and practiced pitch, backed up by a solid business plan and marketing strategy, will go a long way towards convincing investors to back you.

Less is More

Practice your elevator pitch! Lengthy presentations do not impress, so keep it short, concise, and simple enough that it is easily remembered. Your potential investors can then can go back and repeat your key points to other investors.

Include points such as how your product either solves a problem or improves a situation, explain what specific benefits it has, and why people will buy or use your product over a competitor’s.

Talk like a real person and steer clear of trendy buzzwords and jargon unless you’re sure that your investor is very familiar with your industry.

Start from a Position of Strength

Before looking for investment, find ways to test your company’s viability with the means already at your disposal. Turning your ideas into a working business and being able to present investors with a track record and actual, real-world experience gives you a much better chance of securing funding.

Be Realistic

Not many investors are interested in funding over-enthusiastic businesses looking for millions of dollars to fund hundreds of different product lines. Walk before you can run. Prove that you can create, manage and meet demand for one excellent product. Develop strong marketing strategies and sales tactics for that one product. If you prove you can get it right with one product or service, investors are much more likely to believe you can do the same with more.

If you’re looking for how to verify accredited investors as required in Rule 506(c) offerings, visit VerifyInvestor.com.