BPI Sinag helps social entrepreneurs create the perfect pitch

Pitching your business to potential investors is hard. For social entrepreneurs, it’s especially difficult because of the pandemic. Investors simply want to make sure that they are investing in the right business, the right people, under the present circumstances.

Fortunately, BPI Sinag, the flagship program of the BPI Foundation, continues to champion social entrepreneurs (SEs) by providing free capacity-building webinars to help their businesses become more competitive amid the pandemic.

“Social entrepreneurs must have the skill to share their visions and plans,” said BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen Cammayo. “Attracting a good investor would not be possible if we are not able to communicate our stories and share our impact with these investors.”

BPI Sinag recently invited visionary entrepreneur and StartUp Village Director Carlo Calimon to give pointers to BPI Sinag social entrepreneurs on how to create an impactful pitch.

“For pitches, you want to touch the heart, you want to be able to hit their feelings and capture their attention by hitting the pain point,” said Mr. Calimon.

Make a winning pitch deck

The first step in getting funded by any potential investor is developing an effective pitch deck. “This is like your mini business plan. Pitching is always a good indicator of how organized and prepared you are,” he said.

Essentially, a strong pitch deck must contain the following:

• The story. One element of a successful pitch is effective story-telling. Story-telling becomes more compelling when it’s free-flowing and framed with a good beginning, middle, and ending that are relatable to the audience.
• Who you are. You should include in your deck your organization’s title, tagline, and logo to give the audience a glimpse of your business DNA. Show your asset. Describe who you are, why you are the best person to solve the problem, and why you are the best steward of the investor’s investment.
• What to solve. Focus on one major problem, create a persona that can best represent the community or people that you are helping, and explain how big the problem is. By sharing the pain of the problem with them, you can get their attention and give them an idea of your business’ potential.
• The vision. Introduce your social enterprise by showing your entrepreneurial oomph. Present your organization’s vision and explain how you intend to become a part of the solution.
• Your edge. From the words itself, discuss how your business can be of service to people. Highlight how your organization creates value, why people go to you, what you want to be known for, and what makes you stand out even more.
• The advantage. Competitive advantage shows your underlying magic and explains why you are ahead of the others. Putting in a competitive analysis in your pitch deck is an indicator that there is really a problem to be solved. The analysis should contain the competitive landscape and explain your distinct strength and advantage.
• The sustainability factor. Social enterprises have to be sustainable to get the support of investors. So explain how you aim to make money. Provide a simple financial projection and show how growth can become steadier.
• Market plan. It is important to define the company’s marketing goals and strategies to achieve them. You should present how you will be able to rise above your competitors. Discuss the current status of the organization, the traction that it’s been getting, and what you need.
• Purpose. End with a bang. Be clear why you are raising money and explain how you are going to use it.

In creating the perfect pitch, numbers and narratives are both important, but it is better to first know your identity, your purpose, and the kind of positive change you hope to give out to the world.

“It’s all about tailor-fitting your pitch towards your audience. In this case, pitching to investors, focus on the capitalist side. At the end of the day, they are looking for a sound business model. Your mindset should be: you are in a business, you are creating value, it’s just that your model involves the community,” said Mr. Calimon.