Preparing for a business pitch: your essential guide

Preparing for a business pitch: your essential guide


So, you’ve spent years learning about business theory and you’ve developed some great ideas. Now it’s time to persuade others to back your plans and finally get your career off the ground. However, it’s not enough to simply have innovative entrepreneurial concepts; you must also be able to communicate your objectives to investors and other parties who can enable you to realise your ambitions. To help you along the way, here is your essential guide to preparing for a business pitch.

Research and rehearse your presentation

Firstly, make sure you give yourself enough time to put a convincing case together. To win over the people listening to your pitch, you’ll need to have all the relevant information and facts and figures to hand. It’s vital that you come across as well-informed, professional and organised, so a thoroughly researched, informative presentation is a must.

Depending on the nature of your pitch, you may need to provide everything from detailed product information to projected costs and revenues. Once you’ve put your talk together, test it out on your friends and family. This will help you to iron out any imperfections and enable you to test the timing.

Make sure you look the part

As well as sounding impressive, you’ll need to look the part when you step into the limelight. So, ahead of the day, make sure you have suitable clothes on standby. Think about the display equipment you will use too. You might want to use a projector, whiteboard, flipchart or lectern. If possible, practise using the equipment ahead of your pitch. This will help you to avoid any potentially embarrassing technical problems. Bear in mind you might need to make tweaks to these presentation accessories before you stand up in front of an audience. For example, the flipcharts available on the Furniture At Work website are height adjustable. By making sure equipment like this is set up exactly as you need it ahead of your talk, you can reduce the risk that you will be thrown off your stride.

Keep it succinct

Especially if you’re passionate about your business idea, you might be tempted to cram as much information as possible into your pitch. This is a mistake though. People have limited attention spans and if you waffle on about your concept for too long, you could lose their interest. It’s best to distil your message into a succinct speech that focusses on the most interesting and enticing points. The key is to pique the interest of your audience. If you succeed in doing this in your presentation, you will have the opportunity to explain your plans in greater depth further down the line.

Getting ready for a business pitch can be daunting. However, by following the advice in this guide, you can avoid many of the mistakes that fledgling entrepreneurs tend to make and boost your chances of success.