Ever since I can remember I had the dream to start my own organic soap
company. That was the reason why I took this job in the first place. But there I
was working in the marketing department of a big brand as a junior administrator
and instead of being excited to work for this famous company I was frustrated
about how things were handled. I felt completely lonely with my ideas to make
a positive impact. I spent the entire next weekend studying different pitch
formats. I figured that it would be best to follow the requirements of one of the
big startup accelerators if I could pitch to one of them I could certainly
pitch to the marketing director. I opted for a pitch deck which is based on the
following six elements: the problem, my solution, the business model, the market
the competition, our team. Okay so the problem: well most body soap brands not
only lack a truly refreshing smell but more importantly they also sell in cheap
throwaway plastic containers which often lasts not more than a month. New modern
consumers however see body soap as a lifestyle choice and they want to have a
solution that not only works but also smells incredibly refreshing and is
environmentally friendly my solution I call elements it's an organic soap which
comes in four fantastic flavors water sky earth and fire in the first order
customers get all four flavors and a beautiful glass jar and with a click of
a button they get refill packs sent to their home in sustainable carton
packages
the business model is the result of our understanding of the lifetime value of a
customer my customers will be very loyal as they made a clear lifestyle choice to
buy it the first purchase someone makes is therefore just seen as an investment
we make into a long lasting relationship it will cost customers 25 US dollars and
they get a beautiful glass jar and the trial set of all four flavors the money
we make later from selling the refill packs and sustainable paper bags for 15
US dollars similar to the famous razor and blades business model the market is
enormous in the beginning we will target urban women aged 20 to 30 years living
in the United States they are well-educated they care about the
environment and are interested to express themselves through lifestyle
choices based on my research they spent on average around 50 to $100 on body
soap each year as there are around 15 million women in the US who are in their
20s living in urban areas the total market opportunity is at least 750
million dollars a year once we capture some of that we will expand to other
consumers and go global our competition are big brands they own the market and
they've been telling consumers over the years that body wash comes in a cheap
plastic bottle which ends up in the ocean or on a landfill smaller startups
like ours might compete with them in some segments but we rather consider
them as allies as we fight for the same thing educating consumers to make a
switch to a more sustainable soap the team that's me and my brother who
currently studies biochemistry but soon he will have his degree and since he's a
real nature freak he is full on board to help me develop a winning formula my
strengths are communication organization and a clear understanding of what girls
my age want it took me until Sunday night until I had what I thought was the
perfect pitch few days later in the office I saw the
marketing director and took the initiative I asked him to give me three
minutes of his time so I could pitch to him but instead of hearing me out he
just said why don't you pitch it next Monday at the board meeting the old guys
are always open for new ideas from the young people within the company maybe
they will fund a prototype and do a market test then he added with a smile
the biggest secret of getting funding is this ask for money you'll get advice ask
for advice and you'll get money I was completely blown away I should present
my idea to the board and I knew exactly what to ask for I couldn't sleep that
night I was too excited about what the marketing director had told me the next
morning when I went through my pitch again I wasn't sure if I was really
prepared I called my former teacher he had already started several successful
companies the next day we met and I pitched my
idea to him after he listened to me my teacher got really excited and said if
they don't buy your idea on Monday I'll offer to finance you to get started
oMG I was so excited and so thankful on my way home I reflected on my situation
I wondered if I really want to pitch to the board and carry on working for the
same company which makes me feel miserable after all I only worked there
to gain enough experience to start my own business I realized that actually I
don't want someone else to buy and sell my idea I want to try making it myself
it was clear to me that this is my chance to finally get started I called
my manager thanked him for his time and told him I'll quit my job to start my
own thing
how about you did you ever try to pitch your business idea
write down your idea and follow the different stages like described in this
video and post it in the comments below or even better why not make a proper