From the very beginning of your business, you likely know that you’re going to have to make a pitch at some point in time. After all, it’s a must when you’re trying to get the financing you need to create a real success, but the act of making the presentation is tough. Here are three mistakes you don’t want to make.

1. Ignoring the Research: If you’re about to make a scheduled pitch, the single best thing you can do is make sure you know to whom you’re pitching. Understand the past investments the individual (or company) has made, and make certain there’s no conflict of interest in terms of other investments. Feel free to customize the presentation to meet those stated goals of your investor. Take a look at the Twitter feed. Understand the inner workings of your investors’ business so you can better tailor your presentation.
2. Poorly Demonstrating Market Opportunity: We’ve mentioned this in previous blog posts. No one wants to invest in a company that has little to no market opportunity available. Just because you have fifty of your closest friends and family members interested in your product doesn’t mean it will actually sell. Let your investors know (almost immediately) how your business can become really big. You want a look at the big picture here to present to your potential investor. If there’s no addressable market, you’re already out of the game.
3. Having Too Much Information: If you’ve packed your PowerPoint with fifty slides or your business plan is more than a hundred pages in length, it may be time to boil things back down to basics. Boring is out. Investors want exciting pitches with information they can sink their teeth into. At most, you have an hour, and that’s only if the first ten minutes go well. Information overload can be just as deadly to your presentation as not having enough data.

Attend iFestival, and you’re going to have a chance to make those pitches that will get your company off the ground this year!