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Fri, March 29, 2024

Pitching Your Business Idea What Matters

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When Deepak Ratna Tuladhar, founder of Farm to Finger, took the stage to pitch his business idea, he fumbled as he started but within seconds the words flowed as he made his point in a lucid and precise manner. He had clearly been practicing his pitch. Great ideas do not always meet success. And often, it is not 'what you present' but 'how you present your ideas' that works wonders. Even mediocre ideas could be successful if one has the skill of pitching ideas effectively.Here it is important to remember that ideas are not the sole determinant of finding investors but ideators are. “It is important to be realistic in the presentation. Investors will only invest if there is good return to be made on the investment. Therefore, the financial viability of the project needs to be thoroughly presented. Many times entrepreneurs get overly passionate about their ideas that they overlook the financial rationale. In fact, investors like to see how an idea can be translated into financial profit. If this can be presented convincingly, any idea has the potential to sell,” says Siddhanth Raj Pandey, Chairman and MD of Business Oxygen, Nepal’s first private-equity fund. Having an idea is one thing and making others believe in it enough to invest in it is an entirely different thing. Investors are drawn to an idea that promises to beneficial. “If I had only shared about what we do, it wouldn’t have made much sense. I was recommended to give examples to accentuate my idea. We were making avocado available at far cheaper prices than what is available in supermarkets. I put forward the reasons that exemplified the difference. It must have contributed to my pitching,” says Deepak Ratna Tuladhar. How you pitch carries the ability of changing the mind of a potential investor. The art of pitching can often alter decisions. It is not just would-be entrepreneurs but also marketing neophytes who can profit from the knowhow of presenting ideas. A product becomes enticing when the buyer is aware of its benefits. The same thing applies to investors. Willem Grimminck, an initiator of One to Watch informs, "Ideas make sense only when they can be of some use to people. If there is a problem, we want to hear a solution. Moreover, as we are commercial investors, it should hold the promise of making money.” Pandey says, “The investment viability would be the foremost factor for me. Beyond that, as an investor, I would expect the investee to elaborate on how s/he plans to scale their business, the main growth drivers and how they plan to use resources such as money, people and networks to accelerate rowth." For Pandey, the modality of the presentation is secondary to the substance of the presentation. If the pitch makes economic sense, he will invest. Ujjwal Chapagain, Founder of Himalayan Rabbit echoes the same. He says that the presentation of an idea plays a certain role but investors don’t easily put in money only based on this. The business model is the primary aspect. The potential it has to generate profits, the expertise of the entrepreneur in mobilising human resource, technical knowledge and what makes them extraordinary in a similar market is equally important. “Investors are looking for complete sense of the business model and the capabilities of entrepreneurs to deliver and sell that sense to the market. Feasibility of execution is what investors look for. Even great sounding ideas do not sell just because of excellent pitching sans proper sense of viability of the business model and its marketing timing plus execution possibility,” says Sohan Babu Khatri, CEO of Three H Management cum mentor. The trick to make a lasting impression is often found to be in thinking from the standpoint of the audience. The attempt should be made to move your audience from within. Anything the audience can identify themselves with is hugely appealing. “Entrepreneurs should design their pitch keeping themselves in the shoes of the investor. It’s always recommended to do a bit of background study on who the investors are and what are their areas of interest. A good pitch should hold business sense and prove the technical and market viability aspects of the idea,” adds Sohan Khatri. Pandey also thinks there should be alignment of beliefs of the investor with the investee’s vision. Many investors make the mistake of talking about their company rather than their product objectives. "I was told that if you can't create a wow factor in the first 30 seconds of your pitch, it wouldn't make any sense after," shares Tuladhar. Khatri also recommends hitting the nail within 30 seconds and the best way to do that is to talk about the gains and pains of the target consumer that an entrepreneur is addressing.
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FEBRUARY 2024

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