Important Considerations
Below are sample elevator
pitches for two companies: WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores and JD Software
Solutions. For each company, you’ll find a “good” example and a “bad” example
of an Elevator Pitch. The good examples follow the formula on page 232 (excluding
introduction). Notice that this elevator pitch template works very well even
with two completely different businesses. The poor examples demonstrate common
mistakes in elevator pitches. Read these examples and the critiques that
follow, to avoid the common pitfalls. When you are finished with your elevator
pitch, make sure you’ve followed the formula and eliminated the common
mistakes. It should have a similar tone to the “good” examples in this section.
1. WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores
_______ Example:
Each WhirlyBird Yogurt store
will offer 10 flavors of yogurt and 25 toppings to people within a five-mile
radius of their carefully selected locations, ideal for people who want a
healthy meal or snack. As an example, now the 300,000 people who live and work
in Meadowbrook won’t have to drive more than five minutes to get great yogurt,
served by friendly people in a sparkling clean store. Frozen yogurt has been
the fastest growing category in over-the-counter snack foods for the past 3
years, with year-over-year growth rates of 17%. WhirlyBird’s founder, Ronald
Smith, has 10 years experience as a regional manager of quick-service
restaurants, where he learned how to run efficient, profitable stores. With
that experience, Mr. Smith is confident about opening WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores
at the rate of 1 every 6 months and building a business that is profitable from
year one and surpasses $25 million in revenue within 5 years.
______ Example:
WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores will
be poised to take over the competition because our products are the most
healthy and nutritious available. The difference is gluten-free products that
don’t have the toxins found in other yogurts. All of our yogurts contain two
forms of live bacteria: bulgaricus and thermophilus. Our founder, Ron Smith,
has been eating it for years and credits that with his ability to run three
marathons a year at age 45. As more people learn about the detoxifying powers
of bacteria-rich yogurt, WhirlyBird’s business will soar.
2. JD Software Solutions
_________ Example:
JD Software provides custom
online commerce and back-office solutions to businesses with less than $10
million in sales that can’t afford the high prices of big-name consulting
firms. These business customers will be eager to drive their sales and improve efficiency,
now that it can be accomplished with a fraction of the time and money required
by the big-name firms. Our founder, John DelMonte, has 8 years’ experience as a
senior project manager for EDS, where he learned how to manage projects from
start to finish using skilled independent contractors. With a market of over
8,000 small businesses in San Diego with revenue ranging from $1 million and
$10 million, JD Software Solutions will be cash-flow positive and profitable in
less than 12 months.
_______ Example:
Technology is moving fast and
JD Software Solutions is on the leading edge. All of our developers are Web2.0
certified and we have been developing Cloud applications that work
asynchronously since Ajax was first introduced. We can save clients thousands
of dollars using MySQL or if they’re tied to Oracle or SQL Server, we can
implement open source middleware to perform data transformations in real time.
We have that experience. Since the customer actually saves money over
alternatives, selling will not be difficult and the potential of our business
is unlimited.
