Mobile applications have revolutionized the way we live, work, and interact with other people. Our mobile phones have now become an integral part of our lives, and staying away from phones even for a few hours is not possible anymore. With millions of mobile applications available in the market today, finding a new idea and making it innovative is not easy.
It is important to pitch your idea to potential investors and ensure the presentation is error-free. Many budding entrepreneurs are trying to answer the most common question, how to sell an app idea. The answer is to convince the investors that your idea has some potential and show a clear pathway to achieving it.
When pitching your idea, clarity and a deep understanding of the market and your target audience are required. A simple idea and a well-crafted pitch can easily secure the funding necessary to create and launch the application on the Play Store. Poorly executed scripts can increase the chances of rejection and sabotage your chances of securing financing.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Pitching Your Idea
Not Conducting Proper Market Research
Before pitching your app idea, you should have answers to questions like How big is the market? What are our competitors doing? What new offerings are we providing? And Who is our target audience? Without proper market research, your mistake can cause you to lose credibility.
Market research serves as a foundation of an app idea. It helps to understand any landscape the app is operating in. Market research not only pays attention to knowing who the target audience is but also understands their pain points and how they can be solved.
- Validation: It helps to confirm whether the idea is truly viable or not.
- Target Audience: Help to identify the target audience, users, and their needs.
- Competition: It reveals what competitors are doing and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Lack of Clear Value Proposition
Think of your pitch as an elevator pitch. The first thing the investor will be looking for is what value you are proposing to them and what benefits them. A clear value proposition will help you offer the perks that you are willing to showcase. Cut down the external noise and focus on what one will get if one invests in the app idea.
- Clarity: Investors get a lot of pitches. A clear value proposition will help to get the attention of the investor.
- Differentiation: Showcase what you are offering differently in a crowded market. Highlight your competitiveness easily.
Overhyping or Underestimating the Idea
If you want to convey your pitch idea, be passionate about it, but don’t be over-excited. Many entrepreneurs claim huge things, but when it comes to delivery, they fail to do so. There is a fine line in maintaining the right pace while not leaning into any one side particularly. Being in the middle will help you go a long way.
- Missed Opportunity: Investors and partners might not grasp the idea’s actual value if it is not conveyed properly and effectively.
- Loss of Credibility: Exaggerated claims may end in loss of credibility if they fail to deliver the quoted outcomes.
- Lack of Vision: A pitch without any vision does not articulate effectively and leads to unconvinced investors.
Not Proper Attention to the Business Model
When pitching your idea, it is easy to get so busy with the product that you no longer give the required attention to the business model. Innovative applications always keep it as the last thing to be figured out. However, not having any clarity about the business idea can lead to pitfalls.
Your business model serves as the blueprint for your application. It helps to answer the fundamental questions related to building the application.
- Investor Confidence: Investors are not just interested in calm confidence, but they also want to learn how they can make money from the idea that you’ve created. A well-thought-out business model gives them the confidence to pour the money that has been asked.
- Sustainability: No business can survive forever on Venture capital money; hence, it is important that the business can become self-sustainable in the long run and continue on its own.
- Realistic: Highlighting the idea’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can help ensure it has more power.
Poor Presentation skills
Presentation matters the most in this digital era. You only get one shot in big meetings, so you’ve to make sure you deliver the right pitch directly to the investor. Many entrepreneurs suffer from poor presentation skills and, hence, fail to secure funding from investors. Work on your skills to be more confident and learn to present the right way.
- Credibility: You’ve to build good credibility in the market and learn to deliver the correct wording in the meeting.
- Excitement: Show your passion during the meeting and create a dynamic presentation that excites everyone and encourages them to invest.
- Eye Contact: Engage with your audience by making proper eye contact; do not be hesitant or afraid before speaking your mind.
Importance of Feedback
When pitching your idea to investors, be open to feedback and show willingness to make changes to the product. You can learn a lot from receiving and implementing the correct type of feedback. Do not be too attached to your prior idea that you show unwillingness to adopt new opportunities.
- Attachment: You may be emotionally attached to your idea and feel afraid of changing it, which may make it difficult for investors to trust you.
- Overconfidence: You may believe in your vision very strongly, but investors may fail to see it, which can lead to a downfall.
- Investor Concern: Investors may also question your ability to run the company if they feel you are not able to make the right decision.
Conclusion
Pitching your idea to an investor is an essential step in your entire founding journey. You need to present the right approach and create the right influence to convince investors to invest in your idea. Staying honest and passionate about your idea helps you gain more trustworthiness and turn the idea into reality.
