If you haven’t heard the term before, an elevator pitch is a short description of your business idea that you could deliver to someone in the time it takes to ride up a few floors in a elevator.

i.e. If you got into a lift with your perfect investor and had just a few moments to get them interested, what would you say?

Crafting a Great Elevator Pitch

1. What does your business do? Keep it simple. If you can’t state what your business does in one sentence you need to be more precise.
2. Who are your market? Who are you going to sell to. ‘Everyone’ or ‘anyone’ is not a good answer, an elevator pitch is about precision - who are your most likely customers? Give an indication of the size of this market. Why does this market need or want what you have to offer?
3. How will you make money?
4. Who’s on board? This will include your team, mentors, backers and even potential customers who have expressed an interest.
5. Who are your competitors? Every business has competitors. They may be other companies, other solutions or even just the status quo. Answering this question will give your prospective investor some idea of the kind of market you’re playing in.
6. What makes you different? What’s your USP (unique selling proposition), why is it relevant and is it lasting?

The easiest way is to start by writing your answers to these questions out. Don’t worry about how it sounds at first or even how long it takes.

Once you’ve written your answers, it’s time to edit. Try and get each section down to just one or two insightful sentences. If it’s good, you’ll get the chance to explain in more detail

Even if you never get stuck in a lift with your perfect investor, being able to give precise answers to these questions will help with everything from attracting mentors to hiring staff and developing business partnerships to selling to customers.

More than anything though, precise thinking leads to precise decision making in your business.