Pitching Your Business Model

It would be ideal if everyone with a great idea were able to go to their bank and pull enough money out of their account to start a company that same week; but ideal and real are rarely the same. The truth is, entrepreneurs need some help to get things going in the right direction.

For a new business you need a lot of things, and each of these things requires quite a bit of money to buy. The main thing that is needed is a location.

Whether it is a small one room office or a large warehouse, a company needs a place to call home and it is your job to find it. What kind of location you need really depends on what kind of business you want to start up.

If you want to get into consulting, a small office will probably suffice as the majority of your work will be done at the clients’ work place. If you do want to consult, however, you need to make sure that your office is in a nice location.

Appearances and first impressions are the key to success for any business person. If your office is located in a shady part of town, has old and beaten down furniture in it, and smells musky, clients will assume that your work is a reflection of your location.

If you have a nice office building that’s interior and exterior are well maintained, and you have nice art hanging, people will think that you are successful at what you do, which allows you to purchase nice things and rent out a nice building. Though consulting is typically done on location with the client, the first meeting will probably be at your office so you want it to leave a good impression.

If you have an idea for a restaurant that you want to start up, you not only need a great location, but you need everything that goes into making the eatery. That means tables, chairs, booths, silverware, dishes, glasses, and a kitchen stocked with a huge freezer, refrigerator, stoves, ovens, a pass, etc.

And all of these must be purchased all at once; you cannot wait until the business makes enough money so you can buy these things, they need to be bought before you even open your doors. This venture will cost you a small fortune, if not a bona fide one.

You need help, and to get that help you need to find a person, company, or bank that is willing to loan you the funds, or partner with you to make this happen. It is your job to pitch it to them and make them believe in the project as much as you do.

You need a business model, a vision, and a projection of how much money you expect to make in a given time period. All of these things are materials you need to have prepared before you walk into a meeting with the people who have the money you desperately need.

When you go in there, make sure you have a location already chosen. Tell them all about it: where it is, how big the building is, why you chose that location, and how it will draw in customers.

You also need to let them know what you need to do with the building. You will probably need to knock down walls and/or put up new ones; you may need to move around some plumbing, and gas lines to accommodate the kitchen and bar areas; and you need to make the bathrooms appropriate for a public restaurant setting.

You need to show them a floor plan complete with how you are going to paint it, the flooring you will use, light fixtures that need to be installed, and what tables, chairs, and booths, you need to purchase. All of these things have a price tag attached to them and you need to be prepared to tell the people funding it what the total is going to be.