Pitching your ideas to investors is crucial in ensuring that your small business idea will transform into a reality. It begins with a pitch. If you are unable to convince investors, you cannot expect them to spend money on you. They will look for other ideas that are better than what you are presenting. They do not want to risk their finances on something that has no guarantee of success.
You need to prepare well if you have a presentation coming up soon. You also need to understand why some ideas get rejected. These are the possible reasons why your pitch could go south.
You look terrible
Before you even begin speaking, you need to look at your appearance. You need to show seriousness in pitching your ideas to investors. If you seem disinterested, you can expect them to feel the same way. Yes, you have your own style of dressing, but it does not hurt for you to choose professional clothes for a few hours until your presentation is over.
You do not prepare what to say
You might feel confident that you know your presentation by heart. You are confident about your ideas, and you can explain everything off the top of your head. Although it is true, you need to understand that things will change once you see the investors. When they shake their heads in disagreement or if they seem frustrated, their reactions could impact how you move forward with your discussion. Therefore, it helps if you prepare what to say, especially the answers to possible questions, so your responses are meaningful and convincing.
You are arrogant
Your attitude also matters. Some of these investors are not only looking at how great your ideas are. They are also looking at how you behave while presenting. They want someone easy to work with, and not someone rude and arrogant. If you are overconfident to the point that you appear like you do not care what the investors think, they will feel it and could reject your pitch.
You panic in front of them
Imagine walking into a room and you have not yet set up the projector. The sound system is not working. There are no refreshments available for the guests yet. You will panic, and everything will start falling apart. It helps if you prepare ahead of time. Check all the devices that you intend to use. You can also purchase an AV media cabinet so that everything you need is in the same place. You do not need to look for cables and microphones when the investors are already around.
Now that you understand what could go wrong and how investors could turn down your pitch, you need to prepare. Even if you have the best ideas, they might still say no. They are considering various pitches, and you need to stand out; otherwise, they have a fallback, and they will take the risk with that person.
