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Developing business ideas for drone technologies
Developing business ideas for drone technologies

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2 The elevator pitch

In many cases, you will start with an elevator pitch and work your way toward a fully developed business plan (in much the same way you might start with a business concept and work toward a business model). Indeed, popular television programmes, such as Dragons’ Den or Shark Tank, focus primarily on the pitch. It is with your pitch that you communicate both your passion for your innovative and exciting project (your ‘why’), as well as your keen business sense and ability to realise a financial and/or social return on investment. An elevator pitch is never meant to provide the listener all the detail. Rather it is meant to persuade and make the listener interested and wanting to hear more.

As with business plans, there are many resources available to develop a good elevator pitch. Some key points Charantimath (2018) and other authors suggest incorporating into your elevator pitch include:

  • A clear and concise description of your business idea and how it takes advantage of a market opportunity. What ‘problem’ does your product or service solve?
  • Keep it simple – you want to remove all the industry buzzwords and technical language (although note the next bullet point). You want it to be simple enough so that the listener remembers it.
  • Tailoring your message to the listener. Is it a potential investor? Then communicate how you will finance your idea and what investment is needed, how you will use it and what realistic return on investment they could expect and when. Is it an expert in your field? If so, use technical language effectively.
  • Being clear about your target market – what does your business idea do that is different and better than the competition? What is your potential customer base, what are their needs, and how will you reach your customers?
  • What do you bring to the table in terms of knowledge, skills and experience?
  • Make sure you give the person listening a way to get in touch with you (e.g. a business card or other digital version, and collect their card/contact details, if possible), and aim to set an appointment for a more detailed discussion.
  • You may wish to have a prototype to hand to demonstrate your idea (clearly, this is not always feasible, especially in an elevator!).

Charantimath also includes an essential point: to refine your pitch based on feedback and results (more on this later in this week). In the following sections you will work through two activities to help you refine your pitch.