End Goal: The Elevator Pitch #

In this step, you want to define exactly what your business does and you will use the elevator pitch as a tool to accomplish this. Too often small businesses or entrepreneurs set out to conquer the world. They want to do a million different things, right all the wrongs in the world, and become a huge success.  What they fail to realize is that every journey to success starts with small, actionable steps.  A business plan should have a razor sharp focus.  You want to be completely dialed in on one specific path and master it before you try to expand into something bigger.

Refine your idea: #

You need to fully refine the business idea before you move any further. What exactly is it that you are selling and why do customers want to spend their money on it?

Service Vs. Good: #

What are you selling?  In most cases, this is pretty self-explanatory.  If you are selling T-Shirts, then you are selling a good.  If you are an accounting service, then you are selling a service.  But sometimes there is some crossover that you need to address.  A plumber, for example, may sell physical goods like water heaters, sinks, showers, fixtures etc. but when you really think about it, what he is actually selling is a service.  Even though he does sell physical goods, his performance and reviews will ultimately be determined by the service he provides, the efficiency he offers in performance of his duties.

Is this a new service/good or is it already an established marketplace?  – Is your idea brand new or are you doing something that has been done before, or maybe even many times before.  It is not necessarily a bad thing to jump into a saturated market, particularly if you are doing things slightly different or better in some way, but it is important to know if what you are doing has been done before.  Research as much as possible here into your particular good/service and determine if this is something relatively new or if it is already established.

Prototypes/Drawings for new Products: #

If you are trying to market a new product, you will want to refine your idea as much as possible, without breaking the bank.  Do your best to put together some type of CAD (Computer-aided design) drawings, prototypes, even just sketches of how it will work.  Don’t be afraid to work on it as long as it takes to really get a good idea put together.

Intellectual Property: #

Now is a good time to familiarize yourself with intellectual property, particularly if you are making a brand new product.  You want to make sure that you have an original idea and that your physical product is not infringing on any patents.  You will also need to explore intellectual property when it comes to naming your company and branding, you don’t want to infringe on any trademarks, but we talk about this in further depth later on in the branding step.

Competitive Advantage: #

Why your product or service over someone else’s?  Why should people spend their hard earned dollars on your business rather than a competitor? You need to ask yourself these questions. Even a brand new product has competitors. After all, people have lived for thousands of years without your product, so what did they use before?  Location, skill, brand recognition, technological advantage, excellent customer service, pricing; all of these are considered examples of competitive advantage.  What will set your company apart?

Does it really solve a problem or provide a solution? – Does your product or service really fill a need in the world?  Oftentimes, people will create wonderful new inventions that fix a problem that doesn’t really exist.  Or will provide a service that is just not needed in the world.  Really ask yourself before you waste a bunch of time whether the world really needs your product or service.

The Elevator Pitch: #

Finally, The Elevator pitch is something that should be revisited often throughout the steps as aspects may change slightly after each step as you learn more and more about your business. It is similar to a thesis statement on a paper. An elevator pitch is a very brief (no more than 30 seconds) way of introducing your business.  It is called an elevator pitch because that is about the length of time you would ride in an elevator with someone.  It is important to be able to deliver an elevator pitch about your business right away because this will help narrow the focus of your business and make sure you are ready when an opportunity presents itself.

As stated before, businesses suffer from trying to do too much.  Have you been to a restaurant and the menu had over 100+ items and you think to yourself, they can’t possibly be doing all of this the right way. It is just too much.  Same goes for your business, ESPECIALLY, if it is your very first business. A narrow focus lets you perfect what is best about your business.  Be great at a couple things and expand as your business picks up and you master each aspect of your business.

When we talk about creating the elevator pitch you want to focus on the three C’s.  Credible, Conceptual, & Concrete

Credible – Spell out who you are and what makes you qualified to run this business

Conceptual – High level speak only, the nitty gritty comes later

Concrete – Tangible and easy to grasps concepts

You want to start with just a brief introduction of yourself, your business, and add a little bit about why you are credible.

“Turtle Promotion LLC provides promotional and marketing materials to small businesses.  We are currently focused on the production of T-Shirts which we manufacture ourselves and stuffed animals which are manufactured overseas.  We hope to scale in the future to offer more products but for now want to keep our focus narrow on two main products.  The first iteration of the products will focus on promotional products for Turtlesmith Podcast and Turtlesmith website.  Sales are done exclusively through our website.  The products will represent the brand identify of Turtlesmith and help to advertise the various podcasts.  The cofounders of the company John and Scott have several decades of business experience between.  Scott bringing the tax and small business development and John bringing his knowledge of product development and overseas manufacturing.  While T-Shirts and particularly stuffed animals are a new venture for the pair, together with their vast experience Turtle Co. LLC is poised to have a promising entry into this exciting field.”

If you can get to this point and truly hammer in what it is your business does in a short time frame, then you will have an excellent start to your business.