Pitching Your Business

How to Create a Strong Pitch

When you’re starting your own business in the entertainment industry, or if you’re looking for funding for a particular project, you’ll need to create a business pitch that’s memorable, effective, data-driven, relatable and ultimately better than your competition’s. To do this, there are a few things you should keep in mind when crafting your pitch so that you hit all of the points investors will want you to cover.

1. Master an Elevator Pitch that Creates Interest

It’s important to remember that before you can pitch your business or project to someone with all of the hard facts and number crunching, you have to get them interested in your mission, brand, product, services, or idea first. To do this, you’ll need a killer elevator pitch that catches their interest and has them sticking around for the larger business pitch.
Check out these articles to find out how you can master the art of the elevator pitch:
• How to Create an Elevator Pitch – Forbes
• The 7 Key Components of a Perfect Elevator Pitch – Bplans

2. Include Specific, Factual Data in Your Pitch

If you’re just starting out, this might be a bit tricky, and you may need to utilize data that’s unrelated to your company or project, specifically (such as data for business ventures like yours, and data about the marketplace and how your project could thrive in your industry). Once you’ve established your business or begun your project and are looking to gain investors, you can focus on the factual data you have available about your venture. Investors do not want to hear hypothetical predications or revenue goals; they want to hear about your current success and failures and how you’re working (and succeeding) at improving your bottom line. Showing that your business has demonstrated success will answer an investor’s number one question: Will investing in you pay off?

3. Provide Proof that You Can Maximize Your Budget

Being able to manage your business or project budget and put that budget to good use is a crucial part of getting and keeping investors’ attention. Once they’re interested in your elevator pitch and you can provide them with hard data about your past and predicted success, you should be able to break down your budget management strategies to show how you got to where you are and how you can continue to manage your budget effectively. Being able to prove that you can manage money – and use it effectively – will make individuals and corporations more likely to invest in you and your project or business.

4. Cover Your Bases by Having the Right Team Members

In any business, there are things that one person simply does not know how to do or doesn’t have the talent for. If you’re the creative mind behind your business but have a partner taking care of the “business” side of your business, make it known in your pitch. It’s better to be upfront and treat your team members as resources during a pitch. Showing that you’ve identified your own weaknesses and made up for them by working with individuals who have the skills you might lack to be a success will demonstrate to investors that you’re aware and have your bases covered to ensure your success in every area of business.

5. Address Your Competition, and Highlight How You’re Different (Or Better)

Ignoring your competition will get you nowhere. You can’t pitch an idea for a business or project that’s already out there and not make a case for how you’ll be different, stand out, or produce better work than your competition. Including an action plan to face your competition head-on will show investors that you’re going to be a strong competitor that fights to be successful in your industry.
For more advice for addressing your competition, see: Pitch Better: How to Talk about Competitors.

6. Tell a Story that Makes a Connection

Whether it be an emotional connection or simply a story that can resonates with investors or individuals in your industry, having stories that you can use to illustrate the importance or relevance of your project is a great way to make your pitch stronger. Telling a story can make your business venture more relatable and memorable, especially if you can relate it to the individuals you’re speaking to during your pitch.
Want more advice for perfecting your pitch? Check out these resources:
• How to Deliver the Perfect Business Pitch: 8 Tips Inspired by ‘Shark Tank’
• 6 Steps to the Perfect Pitch: Learn to Succeed with Investors – From a Guy who Failed
At The Los Angeles Film School, our Entertainment Business Bachelor of Science program is designed with your ambitions in mind. If you’re planning on starting your own business in the entertainment industry, want to tackle a project that will require a business pitch, and need to incorporate the best business strategies into your plan, we can help!