3Nov
What to Include in Your In-Person Slide Deck

how-to-create-an-in-person-slide-deck

Start-ups don’t fund themselves. The first step is raising money from investors requires a great pitch and an awesome slide deck. Why is it important to have a bank of slide decks for different situations? Because every contact point with an investor serves a different purpose, a slide deck appropriate for each type of interaction is necessary. For instance, because an e-mail slide deck usually serves to book an in-person meeting with an investor, you are better off using basic information for it (just enough to garner interest).

The in-person slide deck, on the other hand, is of huge importance because you will need to close people with it. It also will serve no purpose if not executed properly. For this reason, it will have to be more elaborate and detailed. Here we explain to you what you should be putting in an in-person deck. At this stage, an investor has agreed to listen to you pitch. The following tips and suggestions will allow you to use your time wisely.

Follow a Structure that complies with your time constrains. Given that you have limited time to present and captivate investors, presenting with passion, simplicity and power is very important. We suggest that you organize your pitch deck in the following order as a general guideline.

1: Vision / Elevator Pitch

2: Traction / Validation

3: Market Opportunity

4: The Problem

5: Product / Service (Solution)

6: Revenue Model

7: Marketing & Growth Strategy

8: Team

9: Financials

10: Competition

11: Investment ‘Ask’

11+: Appendices***

You may have followed a slightly different structure for your deck and that’s okay. Just make sure you are going over the critical information that focuses on a lucrative market gap that your company will fill. Most of your time should be spent on The Problem, Product, Marketing and Growth Strategy, and Financials.

If ever you want to add additional slides and are not sure of their relevance put them in the appendices. Remember to use relevant hyperlinks directing you to the intended appendix in order to avoid rummaging through slides in front of investors.

Brand your slides

Don’t use any features that will make your brand seem generic or amateur. Clip art, WordArt Slide transitions and too much animation will tend to lower the quality of your presentation. Keep note that sometimes less is more. Use your company colors, embed your logo onto all slides, don’t use a pre-made PowerPoint template, and don’t be afraid of standard-looking fonts. Even if you are not a graphic designer or PowerPoint whiz, making a professionally branded slide-deck may be time consuming, but it is far from complicated.

Create a Narrative

Having great slides without great execution will get you nowhere. Creating a narrative or storyline will help you captivate investors from the very beginning. Investors have short attention spans, and the last thing you want is for them to lose interest just a few minutes in. You want to find a narrative that will elicit an emotional response from your audience even if the subject is somewhat dry.

You should understand how to engage the listener and couple your narrative with the right PowerPoint visuals. Some of the most effective presentations use the same storytelling techniques. You have to remind people of the status quo and reveal your path to the better way.

Different investors may have different styles, but if you are able to efficiently convince them of a profitable business opportunity you have done your job. Show them why the market opportunity is worth their time and money. In order to succeed at this you must rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Even if you don’t get the investment you hoped for, but managed to wow investors with your presentation, you will have created a lasting impression which will work in your favor next time around.

5Oct
What to Do When Meeting a Lessor

preparing-for-a-meeting-with-a-lessor As an entrepreneur you will have to set up meetings with many potential lessors, especially in the early stages of business development. The last thing you want to do when meeting a potential financer is to look unprepared and disorganized.

Here are a few steps you must follow before your meeting, this way you can rest assured that you’ve done everything in your power to yield the best outcome.

1. Research what sources of financing are available

This is pretty straightforward and a given. Spend time doing research on your lessor as well as the different forms of financial assistance they offer. Also establish which you believe is best for you and your business.

2. Set objectives for the meeting

Setting objectives prior to your meeting will set you on a clear path and will provide you with guidance and direction. It will also help you evaluate your performance once your meeting has ended. You should set objectives for loan amount, the type of loan/grant you want, interest rate, expected repayment schedule, goods ready to pledge (if applicable), working capital, response time required, etc.

3. Know the answers to their questions

It’s very safe to assume that you can expect the same lot of questions to be asked at almost all meetings involving financial assistance. For this reason, you must know the answers to all potential questions that will be asked. No exceptions.

Questions to expect include:

How do your ratios compare to the industry?
Where do your statistics come from?
What will you do if, during the first months, your sales are lower than expected?
Have you shown your proposal to potential clients? What was their reaction?
How will your competitors react? What will be your response?
How will your business survive if one of the founding members decides to leave?
Have you signed a shareholders’ agreement?
What is the credit policy in your industry?
Do you have contacts in your industry? What kind of relationship do you have with these people and how can they help you?
What have you done to help you ensure your success?
What property and goods are you ready to pledge?

4. Prep your negotiation skills

Good negotiation skills are crucial for successful entrepreneurs. Negotiation isn’t simply about getting your way. It’s having an understanding of what the other party’s expectations and needs are. The more you have an understanding of the gap between your respective needs, the more likely it is that you’ll leave the meeting a happier business person. If the offer does not suit you, you can always refuse the offer and justify your decision.

5. Summary

Once your meeting and the terms of financial assistance have been negotiated make sure that you’ve gone over a summary of all the details with your lessor. This includes a calendar with all important dates, rates, conditions and the next steps.

6. Follow-Up

Rule of thumb: ALWAYS follow up. Whether you receive the finances you would like or not, send an e-mail thanking the lessor for their time. Your paths may cross again and you want to make sure that you are on good terms.

These are all things you should take into consideration when meeting with a lessor. Remember not to show nervousness or a desperate need for money. We know, it’s easier said than done! However, if you prepare yourself well enough, and are aware of what you need in order to take your business to the next level, the outcome will work in your favor.

23Sep
A PME Success Story: Catching up with Revols

Daniel Blumer and Navi Cohen, founders of Revols, have reached and surpassed great milestones since we first met them in 2014. What started off as an idea to develop premium quick custom-fit wireless earphones is now approaching reality with shipping scheduled for early 2017. Earlier this year, in just two months their Kickstarter campaign raised $2.5 million (U.S.), breaking records and becoming Canada’s most funded project in Kickstarter history. We had the chance to catch up with the Revols CEO, Daniel Blumer, to talk about it his journey and what lies ahead for the company. He offers some interesting insight and some lessons learnt in retrospect.

Q: What helped you identify a gap in the market for your product when you founded your company with Navi?

A: Navi approached me with the idea of custom fit earphones and the whole concept was that custom fit provides this comfort level that is just so much better than a regular pair of earphones. That immediately struck a chord with me because myself, my wife, so many people, struggle with their earphones and are not comfortable. To me, that was the immediate compelling reason as to why we should go into this. Further justification came through doing the due diligence, doing the market research, seeing why people replace their earphones and why they buy premium earphones.

Q: You’ve had tremendous success with your Kickstarter campaign. It was the most funded Canadian project in Kickstarter history! Given that so many crowdfunding campaigns fail, what was your secret?

A: We spent around 3 months doing diligence, and learning about Kickstarter. We understood it. Some people think that you can just create a video and put it on Kickstarter. There is so much more to it. One of the biggest challenges which we saw right away was credibility. It’s not easy to be credible and show that what you are offering isn’t BS or a lie. You want to show that what you have is real, that it works, and that it can be trusted. For us one of the biggest things we did to succeed is that we hired a local PR firm and before the campaign started we went out to every single media outlet that would talk to us in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and did the process on them. They then wrote reviews on us. If they liked us they would write good reviews which would then translate to trust and credibility and more people would back it. There was a direct correlation between when the media would release their review and how much we would receive on the Kickstarter.

Q: This success, while great, must come with tones of pressure. How do you feel about this?

A: More pressure than I’ve ever had in my life because to me the part that I hate the most is being in debt to someone else. I don’t have debt I don’t want to have debt. When you think about it you’re happy and so excited about the success of your Kickstarter and having all this money to make your product. But I’m so anxious to just deliver to all our backers. We have 12,000 people that supported us. A lot of them are Montrealers, friends, family, and people that have an interest in helping another Montreal company. Until we deliver there’s this pit in my stomach.

Q: What stage of development are you at presently?

A: We’re planning on delivering in November and December. We’re getting there.

Q: You are a Montreal-based company, what is it like having a hardware company here?

A: Hardware is not easy to build here. The first year and a half we were only in Montreal. It was difficult in terms of cost, and in terms of the time it took to make all product versions. Something that has helped us tremendously is our relationship with the hardware accelerator, Hax. We moved to China last summer for 4 months and now we have people on the ground in China overseeing production. Now we can iterate faster at a lower cost in China which is a great advantage.

Q: What are some pros of being a Montreal-based company?

A: Montreal’s start-up community is growing a lot. You see it. You see it by the events and by the different companies coming out of Montreal. It’s impressive. There are many advantages of being in Montreal. Tax credit-wise, when you’re creating a company with a lot of R&D requirements, the Canadian and Quebec government are phenomenal at helping fund projects. You don’t get that in the States.

Q: Now that Revols is doing well and growing, in retrospect, can you think of lessons learnt or things you wish you would have done differently?

A: To me, one of the biggest learnings is with something we’ve experienced over the past few months when trying to do everything in house. We wanted to have control over all our projects. Looking back, it’s okay to outsource to a third party who’s more competent in a particular project. It would have costed more but it would have saved us months. It would have been worth it, so that’s what we’re starting to do now. If it’s not your core competency it is okay to outsource to a certain extent as long as you have a certain level of control.

Q: How has PME helped you in your journey?

A: PME has genuinely helped us because they came in relatively at the beginning when we didn’t have a lot of money. There are 2 components to PME. There’s the money itself. The money allows us to develop and grow without having to look elsewhere. Our valuation at the beginning was smaller and we would have had to give up a lot more of the company then. So, that money was sufficient in allowing us to go to the point where we now have a nicer valuation, we’re going to get more money and give up less equity. That is because of what PME helped us with. On the other side which is equally, if not more important, is the mentorship side. The ability to have access to mentors who are tremendously experienced in different fields and the comfort in knowing you can go to them is phenomenal. A lot of people don’t have that opportunity.

Q: 10 years from now where do you see Revols?

A: 10 years from now Revols will be a recognized brand name in the premium retail space, but not just selling earphones. Selling many different ear-related products with a custom fit solution.

Revols has come a long way in the past 2 years. We can’t wait to see what is in store for Daniel and Navi moving forward!

Pro-Montreal Entrepreneurs (PME) is a social business model created to help young entrepreneurs build and strengthen their business roots in Montreal. PME offers business plan feedback, a network of mentors, and access to sources of funding. Entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-40 can also get access to capital of up to $50,000. Don’t hesitate to contact us for any questions that you may have.

8Sep
The Impact of Teaching Entrepreneurship to the Youth

Innovation is an attribute largely commended as the biggest influencer of where our world is headed. Unfortunately, despite this fact, innovation is also a characteristic that education systems undervalues. Though still very important, schools seem to be putting almost all of their focus on traditional subjects. What is missing in many elementary and secondary curriculum’s are courses that will teach students to solve future problems, collaborate with others, take calculated risk and learn from failure (not just get penalized for it). The Quebec Government has seen the value of entrepreneurship education. The Secretariat a la Jeunesse has even added a division focused primarily on supporting entrepreneurial initiatives amongst the Quebec youth. Unfortunately, not all schools have developed, or even considered this approach.

There is a common misconception that teaching about entrepreneurship is synonymous to teaching about sales. In actuality, by participating in entrepreneurship activities kids can gain skills such as, autonomy, leadership, creativity, initiative, perseverance, self-confidence, sense of responsibility and solidarity. Most importantly, all of these are transferable skills that will give them necessary tools to excel whether they aim to be entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs. Often times educational institutions are criticized for not giving students the necessary tools to cope in the real world. Just think about it. How many things have you learned in elementary and high school that you’ve either forgotten or have never used outside of the classroom? What entrepreneurship-based learning does from the get-go, is that it teaches students how to recognize opportunities and how to act on them. This is not a skill easily forgotten when properly implemented into different facets of an educational curriculum.

Implementing entrepreneurship-based learning into an existing school curriculum can seem daunting, but lucky for schools there are existing programs like Junior Achievement and The Incubator that can help make the process easier. These resources offer easily understandable step-by-step guides and computer-friendly activities that will teach students about entrepreneurship. Schools should also consider the benefits of teaching traditional subjects with an entrepreneurial approach. For instance, sensitizing students to writing by having them write stories and read them to others. Such activities permit students to make decisions on their own. With teachers acting as guides, students can learn from trial-and-error and that learning from failure is important.

The goal here is not to teach students to become entrepreneurs or ways to grow the economy. If a student winds up starting a business and creating jobs, that’s just a bonus. The objective is to have them gain skills that are applicable to all of their future endeavours. What entrepreneurship-based learning does is that it instills confidence within students early on. They are thus able to see that they can accomplish whatever they set up to do. When a young person realizes that they hold the key to their futures, this equals to limitless possibilities.

31Aug
Comment créer un slide deck pour un envoi courriel

La communication par courriel et l’étiquette s’appliquant à l’usage de cette plateforme font partie intégrante de la pratique concrète des affaires. En tant qu’entrepreneur, vous devrez préparer et envoyer de nombreux slide decks par courriel avant de rencontrer tout investisseur en personne. Les informations présentées dans ces nombreuses diapositives peuvent vous sembler si redondantes que vous songez à créer un slide-deck unique dont vous pourrez vous servir pour toutes les occasions. Ne le faites pas! Bien sûr, il vous faut plus de temps pour personnaliser vos slide decks, mais n’oubliez pas que vos investisseurs potentiels ne veulent que l’information qui est pertinente pour eux, qui correspond à leurs besoins et intérêts à un moment donné. Quelques règles de base s’appliquent lorsqu’on envoie un slide deck par courriel pour susciter l’intérêt d’un investisseur. Soyez concis, concentrez-vous sur l’essentiel et allez droit au but.

Voici la structure à considérer pour un jeu de diapositive concis, centré sur l’essentiel et qui va droit au but :

Identification du problème

Dès le départ, l’investisseur doit connaître le problème. La façon dont vous le décrivez est des plus importantes. Vous devez être précis, clair et facilement compréhensible. Cette section doit mettre en place les dynamiques qui introduiront votre produit ou service comme solution.

Exemple: Les personnes souffrant d’embonpoint — 66,7 % de la population des États-Unis — refusent de monter sur la balance parce que voir leur poids réel leur parait trop déprimant. Il est donc impossible d’imaginer comment ces personnes pourraient arriver à perdre de 9 à 20 kg (quantité moyenne qu’un Américain souffrant d’embonpoint cherche à perdre). Le problème c’est qu’il est pratiquement impossible de perdre du poids volontairement sans les évaluations de la balance.

2. Solution — votre produit

Ne tentez pas de compliquer les choses en expliquant toutes les fonctionnalités de votre produit. Réservez cet aspect au slide deck à présenter lors de la réunion en personne. Pour les diapositives qui accompagnent un courriel, il est préférable de mettre l’accent sur l’expérience de l’utilisateur.

Exemple: SOMA indexe le poids de départ de l’utilisateur à zéro. Ensuite, l’appareil enregistre tout simplement les différences ascendantes et descendantes de poids sur une base quotidienne. L’utilisation quotidienne de SOMA par rapport aux balances régulières est de 87 % contre 14 %.

3. Équipe

Si vous avez plus de cinq employés, vous ne devez pas tous les présenter. Il suffit de mentionner les personnes qui gèrent les opérations. Poste, domaine d’expertise, réalisations passées, alma mater (le cas échéant, ou si pertinent) sont tout ce qui est nécessaire.

4. Créer de l’intérêt et présenter des données sur le produit

Même si vous n’en êtes qu’aux premiers stades de développement de votre produit cette section devrait être incluse. Votre investisseur potentiel ne s’attend pas à ce que la performance de votre entreprise soit au même niveau que celle d’une entreprise prospère, vous n’avez donc pas à vous soucier de cet aspect. L’objectif de cette section est de montrer que les gens veulent votre produit. Vous devez vous concentrer sur ce qui concerne les canaux d’acquisition de clients qui ont été testés, le coût d’acquisition de nouveaux clients, le taux de rétention, l’engagement des clients, etc. Si vous ne disposez que de peu d’informations, vous pouvez fournir des données économiques concernant ce que vous offrez (combien de clients vous avez, combien d’inscriptions par trimestre, le coût des marchandises vendues, les fournisseurs, etc.).

5. Volume du marché

Le marché dans lequel vous entrez en compétition représente un des éléments les plus importants pour influencer la décision d’un investisseur. Que vous cherchiez à vous insérer comme concurrent sur un marché important ou dans un créneau peut donner aux investisseurs une bonne idée du retour auquel ils peuvent s’attendre pour leur investissement. La taille du marché, la taille du marché cible, et le potentiel de croissance sont des éléments essentiels.

6. Concurrence

Même si vous prétendez être le premier dans votre secteur, vous aurez possiblement de la concurrence! Et même si personne ne vend le même produit que le vôtre, mentionnez des substituts potentiels ou la concurrence indirecte.

7. Coordonnées

Il va sans dire que les noms, numéros de téléphone — incluant les numéros de postes ainsi que les courriels de tous les principaux décideurs de l’entreprise doivent être inclus.

Ce slide deck ne devrait pas demander plus de deux minutes de lecture à l’investisseur! Sur le plan esthétique, assurez-vous que les couleurs sont bien choisies et subtiles. Rappelez-vous que le but de ce courriel est seulement d’attirer l’attention de l’investisseur et d’obtenir une réunion en personne. Vous ne vous attentez pas à ce qu’ils décident d’investir immédiatement, il s’agit ici de se concentrer sur les faits qui attireront les investisseurs et d’élaborer. Cela vient plus tard!

31Aug
How to Create an E-Mail Slide Deck for an Investor

E-Mail communication and etiquette is an integral part of business practicality. As an entrepreneur you will have many slide decks to prepare and send by e-mail prior to an in-person meeting with investors. Though you may find the information in your numerous slide decks redundant and contemplate one deck for all occasions, don’t. While it may take more time to customize your slide decks, keep in mind that your potential investors will want information catered to their needs and interests at a given time. When sending a slide deck by e-mail to spark an investor’s interest, a few rules of thumb apply. Be concise, skimmable and to-the-point.

Here is how you should consider structuring your concise, skimmable and to the point slide deck:

Problem Identification

At the very beginning the investor should know what the problem is. The way you articulate your problem is key. It should be specific, clear and easily comprehensible. This section should be building momentum for the introduction of your product or service as the solution.

Ex: Overweight people-66.7% of the US population refuse to step on the scale because their actual weight is too depressing, making it impossible to conceive how they can lose 20-40 pounds (the average an overweight American seeks to shed.) The issue is that voluntary weight loss without the feedback of a scale is essentially impossible.

Solution/Your Product

Don’t attempt to complicate things by explaining all of your product’s features. Leave that to the slide deck for the in-person meeting. For an e-mail deck, focusing on the user experience is your best bet.

Ex: SOMA indexes the user’s starting weight at zero. It then simply records upward and downward movements of weight on a daily basis. Daily use of SOMA vs. regular scales is 87% vs. 14%.

Team

If you have over five employees you do not have to introduce all of them. It is only important to mention the people heading the operations. Position, field of expertise, past accomplishments, alma mater (if applicable or useful) are what is necessary.

Traction and Unit Economics

Even if you are in the early stages of your product development this section should be included. Your potential investor will not expect your business’s performance to be at par with that of a successful business, so there is not much to worry about in that aspect. What this section should do is show that people want your product. Areas you must address should be with regards to: the tested customer acquisition channels, the cost to acquire new customers, retention rate, customer engagement, etc. If you do not have much information you can provide some of your unit economics (How many customers you have, how much sign up per quarter, cost of goods sold, supplier, etc.)

Market Size

The market you are competing in is one of the greatest influencers of an investor’s decision. Whether or not you are competing in a large or niche market can give the investor an idea of how much return they can expect from their investment. Market size, size of target market, and growth potential are the essentials.

Competition

Even if you claim to be a first mover, you still have competition! Even if no one sells the same product mention potential substitutes or your indirect competition.

Contact information

This is a given. Name, phone number with extension, and email, of all key business decision makers is to be included.

Your e-mail slide deck should not take more than two minutes for the investor to read! Aesthetically, ensure that your chosen colors are well selected and subtle. Remember that this is only to get an investor’s attention and to book an in-person meeting, not for them to invest. The key here is to focus on the facts that will attract investors to you, don’t worry too much about elaboration. That comes later!

29Feb
Mentorship for Entrepreneurs

PME funded business Main & Local talks about their experience with mentors.

There comes a time in every entrepreneur’s career when they are unable to make a decision or simply don’t know what to do, and require a certain amount of guidance. Asking for guidance is perfectly normal, but you must make sure you ask the right people. That is where mentors come in: a mentor is a successful professional that has experience in your industry, and helps your start-up by providing counseling and guidance.

Why do I need a mentor?

Getting a mentor can help you avoid some failure and will significantly shorten your learning curve: if you are unsure about which direction to take, you can ask your mentor instead of trying to do it yourself, and possibly doing it wrong. A mentor will also guide you. Sure, you are your own boss, but you still have to deal with investors, customers, and suppliers, so having a relationship with a mentor will increase your circle of confidants. Being an entrepreneur can also get quite exhausting emotionally and mentally: when you need support, you will always be able to turn to your mentor. If you are too emotionally invested in your start-up and can’t see things objectively, your mentor will be able to provide you with a fresh perspective.

Where can I find a mentor?

Note that some mentors work for free, under a volunteer model. Here are some examples of organizations that can help you find a free mentor:

ProMontreal Entrepreneurs: we match our mentor’s experiences to the needs of our mentees, and forge long-lasting relationships.
Yes Montreal: To apply to this mentorship program, you must be referred by a business coach. Yes Montreal mentorship provides entrepreneurs with a continuous mentorship relation for at least a year.

Other mentors require money for their services. The argument here is that mentors who have a monetary incentive are able to give better advice, and have better connections that they can introduce you to. Again, here are a couple of mentorship programs that function according to the paid model:

Highline: this organization offers a paid package where entrepreneurs can benefit from office space, mobile education, and access to a variety of mentors.
DreamIT: DreamIT is an accelerator that offers 3 to 4 month programs that include funding, training, and mentorship for experts across the United States.

I want to be a mentor. What’s in it for me?

Above all, there is the altruistic experience of helping a young entrepreneur seeking guidance and sharing your knowledge. Although this is a little cliché, changing an entrepreneur’s life can very well make your own life better. Furthermore, you never know where the relationship will take you: you might be pleasantly surprised. Many times mentors learn as much as the mentees do!

Apart from benefiting your own karma, mentoring will also benefit your career. Mentors are seen as more respected, knowledgeable professionals. You will improve your reputation in the business world, and will likely make new contacts that may be able to help you in the future.

Sounds tempting, right? If you are interested in becoming a mentor, why not consider ProMontreal Entrepreneurs. Our simple online application will get you mentoring young entrepreneurs in no time.

13Oct
Mastering Your Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is an ice breaker that will hopefully lead into a deeper dialogue about yourself and your start-up. It should be delivered in 60 seconds, the average time of an elevator ride. Your main goal in this pitch is to convey important information about yourself and your business, and encourage questions and interest from your prospect. Since you have a tight time frame, you should rehearse your pitch a lot! Ideally, your elevator pitch should be separated in 5 parts:

Who you are: “My name is Katherine and I’m the Program Manager at ProMontreal Entrepreneurs.”
What you do: “I provide coaching and information on the entrepreneurial ecosystem for start-ups in Montreal. I also manage a start-up fund.”
Elaborate: “I have guided [business name] since their very beginning, and I have helped them with identifying investors and setting them up with amazing mentors. Years later, they are one of the most competitive companies in their field.”
Leave them wanting more. Elevator pitches are meant to be short, so don’t try to pack in too much. Just enough to peak curiosity and hopefully have a follow-up meeting.
Closure: Stay in touch. Give out a business card and send them an email about something that helps them. “I really enjoyed meeting you. Here is my card, I’ll be sure to send you the address to that restaurant I was talking to you about.”

These are the basic guidelines for a successful elevator pitch. Here are some dos and don’ts to help you build a good pitch:

State some names: universities, awards, business name: you need to give the listener something to remember you by. You should try to say your business name a few times in your pitch.
Show your excitement and enthusiasm about your start-up. Be positive. State your goals, accomplishments, and positive experiences. Don’t say negative things about past projects, employers or other start-ups.
Be confident
End with a question. Your elevator pitch is not a one sided monologue, it is an interaction. After your presentation is over, ask a question to the person, including them in the conversation.

Don’t

Sound rehearsed. Your elevator pitch should sound like a conversation, not a prepared speech. Be natural
Don’t hesitate to develop different versions of your Elevator Speech for different situations and audiences.
Speak for too long. Your pitch should be one minute long at the most. The more you talk, the more chances you have of boring the other person.
Don’t forget to include your competitive advantage also known as your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Try to sell your product. This is where people will lose interest in you. An elevator pitch should, once again, be conversational: you don’t want to put any pressure on your prospect, or make them feel like you are trying to close a sale.

7Oct
All About Pricing

Your vision is amazing, and your product is great. However, making a great product and selling it are two different things. And without sales, your dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur won’t go very far. The first step, and one of the most delicate in an effective sales campaign, is to price your product. When it comes to pricing your product, here are a few things to consider:

What is the customer willing to pay for my product?

Pricing the product is not only about you, but also about the customer. Find out what your product is actually worth. You can use surveys and customer research to accurately price your product.

Furthermore, you have to consider your competitors’ pricing. If customers are willing to pay $5 for your product but can get it from your competitor at $4, why should they buy from you? Price your product accordingly, for it to be competitive on the market. If your product is vastly better in quality than your competitors’, you can justify raising the price.

What kind of pricing strategy should I choose?

As the price of your products goes down, you will access a larger market, but will have to increase sales. Consequently, when the price of your product goes up, your market will be much more reserved, but you will have to sell fewer products to make profit. Balance this relationship until you have found your ideal customer base. You can always adjust your prices in order to meet your customers’ needs.

Decide on a pricing strategy. There are two options to choose from: market skimming, or market penetration. Market skimming involves introducing your product onto the market at a high price to account for potentially low initial sales. If your business is new and relatively unknown to the public, this may be a good strategy. As you establish your customer-base and production costs start to decrease, you can begin to lower the price of your product incrementally (i.e. skim the price). However, be sure that you can justify the high price with quality and add-ons (customer service, support, shipping, etc).

How do I want to sell my product?

Consider different options when it comes to selling your product. You can bill your customers with one-time payments, but also with monthly or yearly subscriptions. This will allow you to not only make the sale, but to keep the customer coming back and renewing. Depending on what kind of product or service you are selling, you should consider different payment plans.

Create different options for your customers to buy: three is ideal. You can have a basic, upgraded, and premium option. By doing so, you will attract a larger market by selling your basic version but will still be able to make sales to people who want a little more with your premium option. Consider a computer: you can buy the same brand for $400, $1000, $2000, etc.

Discounts, benefits, bundles.
This is an important step in pricing your product. You need to create some kind of initiative for customers to buy your product. You can do this in different ways:

• Discounts: Discounts are good to attract a boost in sales or new customers, but they should not be overused. If your product can only sell during discounts, there might be something wrong with the product or the pricing.
• Bundles: Again, don’t overuse this. By promoting sales in bundles, your sales will inevitably go up, but your profit per item sold will decrease. Balance your prices and bundle quantities accordingly.
• Benefits: This can work in two ways. You can create some kind of monetary benefit (buy five and get the next one free kind of deal) for your regular buyers in order to secure a solid customer base. The second way, which is a lot harder to achieve, is to create a social benefit. In this case, customers will partly be buying your product for the social status it gives them, and not only for the product itself. Think of expensive watches, cars, etc.
In order to sell your product at a high price, you have to ask yourself: have I given the customer a reason to pay more for my product? In order to sell your product at a competitive rate, you need to bring something that your competition does not offer. This can be clear differences or perceived differences. Let’s say you are selling coffee for example: if your coffee is simply better than anything else on the market, this is a clear difference that will allow you to raise your price. If, however, your coffee is average but has a fair-trade policy as well as an environmental one, this is a perceived difference.
Remember that once your pricing is done, it is not set forever. You will often have to change your prices due to competitors, supply and demand factors, and discounts. Do your research, evaluate your product, and set a price!

30Sep
Angel Investors

Sometimes, big venture capital firms are not the answer to funding your start-up. A good alternative is angel investors.

Angel investors are usually wealthy individuals who want to invest in a start-up with their own money in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equality. Contrary to popular belief, angel investors are not that hard to find. Here are a few places where you can start your search:

Your personal network. An angel investor can be anyone with enough money to be able to believe and invest in your start-up. Ask your friends, family members, or other connections: maybe they happen to know such a person.
Attend events such as the International Start-Up Festival, where angel investors can often be found. The goal of these kinds of events is to facilitate the connection between entrepreneurs and angel investors. Make sure to print out some business cards and rehearse your elevator pitch!
Browse online directories to find angel investors near you. The biggest and most important directory of angel investors is AngelList. With the growth of the Internet, angel investors are now easy to find: check out some local sites like Anges Quebec, and connect with an investor you are interested in.

You may be wondering why you would want to trust an angel investor? Although they are individuals rather than firms or banks, angel investors do have their benefits:

If your Startup is not in the Tech industry, a VC investor will be hard to find. Angel investors however, tend to invest in many different verticals, so you can broaden your start-ups financial access.
The selection process and due diligence is done relatively fast, so you can expect your money to arrive quickly. Also, it will most likely arrive in one large payment, as opposed to meeting certain benchmarks for installments to be made.
Angels can be more accessible when larger firms: since you are dealing with an individual, it is easier to build a connection and see what they are interested in. Remember they can be living a block away from you!
Angel investors are more likely to take big risks: as they either have experience with entrepreneurship or have a personal relationship with you. They understand the implied risks and will not constrain you as much as financial institutions would.

Sounds like a good deal, right? However, despite their benefits, angel investors also have disadvantages:

As they take a lot of risk and invest personal money, angel investors expect a very high rate of return, sometimes over 25%.
Since they are investing their own money into your start-up, angel investors will want to be kept informed of all of your company’s actions and decisions. You investor may also feel entitled and will want to take an active role in your start-up’s decision making process.
Your investor’s money is not a loan, so you don’t have to repay it. Although this could also be an advantage, it will lead you to lose money if your start-up is extremely successful. You will have to give your angel an equity for the deal, which could add up to a lot of money in the long run.

Angel investors are good alternative if you can’t, or simply don’t want to deal with big venture capital firms. However, make sure you pick your angel investor wisely, and consider all aspects and consequences of the deal before you make a decision. Remember that although angel investors seem like a sweet deal, it may lead you to losing money or losing control of your start-up in the long run. As always, do your research.