What to keep in mind while pitching your business idea to investors?

After having spent sleepless nights pondering over the pros and cons of your idea’s & tiring through long days of non-stop work, there comes a point where you have crafted your idea to the most specific of intricacies but you need someone to trust you with it. Raising funds for an entrepreneurial venture is in itself a big venture! The stresses of being able to convince an investor to invest their big bucks into a few pages of your blueprint printed with the borrowed ink of a friend’s office printer can be something challenging! You might be profoundly confident of your technology, service idea or potential plan but the person sitting across the table might be unimpressed by the way you put it across. Investors look for people who have a solid pitch and can seamlessly explain their idea without them having to sit through a long and boring slideshow.

Here are a few things that one needs to keep in mind while pitching their business idea to the investors-

Can you orally sum up your idea in two minutes? Imagine by any chance you happen to meet a potential investor in a public restroom or in a lift or may be in a party! What if you two strike an enlightening conversation about your start-up but you are unable to summarise your idea in a few points and keep on jabbering while they move out physically or mentally? If you’ve spent so much of your time in working upon your idea then you should be confident and mentally refined to present your idea in a jiffy.

Do not make a long, boring presentation- Limit your presentation to the minimum number of slides possible. Be wise enough to make a presentation which exploits all the benefits of visuals and other media elements to attract the attention of the viewers while elucidating the idea in the process

Have a factually supported summary ready with you- The investors won’t be interested in your story or where from you got the inspiration for the fabulous idea which you have in hand, all they’re interested in is the plan. It is greatly advised to keep an updated and factually backed summary of the plan with yourself so that you’re the practical one and not the fanciful dreamer!

Forcing your investors into signing a Non-Disclosure agreement- It’s quite normal for budding entrepreneurs to believe that their ideas are a gold mine and might get displaced if not for a ‘bullet-proof’ NDA. But investors have a flock of start-ups asking them for pitching in into their ideas which means they come across a number of similar ideas every day, something which might turn them away from signing a Non-Disclosure agreement and thereby investing in your idea.

Body Language – Though you may not notice it, nut your body language speaks louder than you do. Every single gesture, hand shake and eye contact might bring you a step closer to the money or might push you two steps backwards. Do not make mistakes like crossing your arms amidst a discussion or being inattentive to the speaker by gazing at the ceiling too much! Every action of yours reflects your personality and those sitting in front of you will be constantly judging you!

Avoid being over excited about the whole process and do not fantasize about the great empire which you might build one day with your single idea! Stick to the ground and keep all your senses open.