In a recent 7 day span, I was invited to judge two pitch contests for entrepreneurs who had successfully completed a 13-week business plan writing workshop presented by a woman-centric business incubator and business development center that has operated in New England for 25 years (and is also an SBA affiliate). The entrepreneurs were either in start-up or scaling (i.e., expansion) mode.
I was excited to be a judge and privileged to meet nearly two dozen forward-thinking, focused, resourceful and determined women who expect nothing less than success and are taking decisive steps to bring it about. Based on the business concept pitches I heard, I encourage those who are evaluating whether to launch a business venture to include the following information:
- Name and describe your product or service and the problem(s) it will solve
- Identify your best customer groups and explain why those customers will pay for your product or service
- Identify your primary competitors, list the competitive advantages that your product/ service possesses and explain why customers will prefer your offerings
- Create a business model that outlines how you’ll acquire customers, where and how the product/service will be delivered and how the business will make money
- Explain why you are qualified to make the proposed business successful
- Develop a business strategy and marketing plan that includes:
- sales and distribution strategy
- pricing strategy
- product positioning strategy
- branding strategy
- content marketing strategy strategies
- social media strategy
- PR and advertising strategy
- Detail the business pre-launch and launch (start-up) costs
- If investors or borrowing will sought, present a (realistic) break-even analysis and 24 month revenue projections (P & L and cash-flow)
- Detail the potential investor return and the loan payback schedule
Thanks for reading,
Kim
Photograph: Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope April 24, 1990
