The perfect pitch really does exist but don’t think that you are going to walk in front of potential partners or investors and sway them in your direction without putting in the time to craft something truly remarkable. Here are 5 tips when structuring what could be the key to your business success.

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Tip 1: Define the Problem Clearly

So many entrepreneurs stand up to pitch or turn on their video at the moment of truth and try and sell. Pitching is not selling your product or services, it’s selling the solution to a real problem. The best way to frame a problem is nestle it clearly in a personal story that resonates with your audience. There are two keys truths in the previous statements- you need to actually HAVE a personal story to tell and you need to KNOW who is in your audience.

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Tip 2: Define the customer accurately

Unless you sell toilet paper, not everyone is your customer. If you can define who needs this solution you are providing down to not only the classic demographics of age, income bracket and country but also psychographics you will show potential investors and partners that you are solving a problem for a real customer base and not just the next bright shiny thing (because entrepreneurs love to do that!)

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Tip 3: Bring Data

If you have positioned your problem clearly in a convincing manner by telling a personal story, back up the customer profile and the need for the solution with data. It’s a delicate but highly compelling proposition when both are present. Reference your sources and make sure they are credible sources of data.

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Tip 4: Have Your Numbers Ready

I cannot emphasize this enough. So many entrepreneurs have one slide dedicated to a few thumb-sucked numbers and when they are interrogated, those numbers don’t survive the questioning. I have seen numerous entrepreneurs mess up the structuring of the pitch but land investment because they simply knew their numbers and how they got to them.

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Tip 5: What’s The Ask

Be very sure that by the time you have taken your audience through your pitch, you know what you’re going to ask for, and more than that, what you are offering in return. Be prepared for some push back and have an option B and C ready but ensure that you have defined what you’re going to be using the investment for- and not an educated guess, have an OpEx or CapEx budget ready with each line item accurately laid out. This shows that you are not going to be careless with taking other people’s money.

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