In this video,
we will discuss the kind of information that will help persuade an investor.
We'll also learn about how conversations with a possible investor begin.
And, we'll review an example pitch,
which is a persuasive tool an entrepreneur can use in a first conversation.
Persuading people to give financial support to a business
can be very challenging.
No matter what kind of outside support an entrepreneur needs,
the entrepreneur has to show investors that the business idea is clear,
the product is strong, the opportunity is real,
the business owner is trustworthy, and the business will be managed well.
A strong business plan has a lot of this information,
but in most cases, a possible investor, a friend, a family member,
a bank, or a venture capitalist, will have a conversation with an entrepreneur
about a new product before agreeing to read a business plan.
Therefore, the entrepreneur must first start conversations
to get people interested in the new product or business.
These conversations can happen at anytime.
They maybe planned or unplanned.
Therefore, the entrepreneur should always be ready to give a short,
persuasive speech about the business.
In other words, the entrepreneur should be prepared to make a pitch.
A pitch is the words or speech an entrepreneur uses to persuade
someone to consider supporting a new product or business in some way.
Entrepreneurs often prepare different pitches of different lengths, so
that they can be ready for any situation.
They might plan a very short pitch, as short as thirty seconds, and
a longer pitch, maybe as long as twenty minutes.
In our work for this unit, we will focus on the elevator pitch:
a speech that outlines an idea for a product or
business in just thirty to sixty seconds.
Short enough to be given during the average elevator ride.
This kind of pitch is often written for
a general audience that could include possible investors,
as well as possible customers, employees, or even suppliers.
This pitch could also be used in a video shared on a crowdfunding website.
An elevator pitch is likely to have four parts:
a hook, a product description, an opportunity statement, and
a confident closing.
Let's look at each part in detail.
Part one: a hook.
A hook is something that attracts someone's attention,
like a hook with a worm that attracts a fish.
Often, the hook is about a situation that created the business opportunity.
The hook should be brief, just two to three sentences long.
Here's an example for the Best Bicycle Delivery Service.
"In my local market, there is so much traffic that it sometimes takes
people an hour to drive just a few kilometers.
Many local companies can't make deliveries because there is too much traffic.
In persuasive speaking, a hook might be an interesting fact, a question, or a story.
We will review these strategies in the next lecture video.