Making a pitch Attracting capital is a primary step towards growing a business This requires winning the potential investor’s attention with a glitering proposition. Before preparing your pitch, become familiar with the basics of the art of the business pitch. Everyone is trying to get funded by a potential sponsor so pitching a business in the right way is the key to success. The key principles of pitching your business idea successfully to investors are a follows: Keep it Simple Less is always more. Your pitch has more value if it succeeds in selling your business’s key strengths in as little time as possible. Keep it short, sharp, focused and to the point. IPresent them your business idea in 15 minutes or less If they don't grasp your concept in a short time span, investors may presume that customers won't understand it either. Give Them Facts Try to spark confidence by presenting them with real, tangible data when it comes to: future predictions or growth figures since the company started.  If your business lacks a solid track record you may be deemed as a big dreamer. Be prepared to show how your: cash flow, track record and real-world experience make your business functional before you seek investment. Be Future-focused and Realistic Keep your projections for future revenue and profitability as realistic and reasonable as possible. Show investors that you have a good understanding of reality with three versions of financial projections: best case, moderate case and worst case. Base each of these models on figures, that is: past and present performance data, industry and competitor analyses and a series of well-thought-out, defendable assumptions. Investors prefer to put money into a well-run company with solid growth than a startup which tries to sell itself on large profits. Don’t Be Greedy With Your Expectations You will need to show that you are a fiscally responsible manager who knows how to: maximise profits and minimise costs. Give yourself some flexibility in your operations and marketing budgets, but avoid being excessive. Do not ask for a huge salary or expensive perks. Investors want you to be in a position where everything is on the line. Don’t go too far with your business  Investors may be reluctant to fund a business that plans for rapid expandion as many small companies don’t have the skilled staff and management systems that a larger business requires. When you present your plans for future growth, show your potential investors that you’ll be able to run your business efficiently while it grows in the course of time. Prove that your business can crawl before you say it can walk. Be open to ideas If an investor: raises concerns or doubts about your business or makes a suggestion that sounds odd to you, don’t ignore it or take it personally. Be open to investors’ feedback. If you can, try to address any negatives If you can't, at least learn from it. See how you can use their ideas to improve your business. Strive to learn from the people who know what you don’t know. Then build a team of reliable experts. Generally, the smartest leaders in the world are those who are surrounded by smarter people. Overall, pitching your business to investors is not an easy endeavor but not impossible either. Be brief and realistic, provide well-grounded facts when making future predictions and embrace other people’s ideas, suggestions or concerns.