Unit 4: Business plan bitch
Key unit competence
To be able to pitch a business plan
Introduction
You were introduced to a business plan in O level and the business model
canvas in S5 . The knowledge and skills you attained from there will enable
you to plan and prepare the projects of your own choice. This unit will enable
you to confidently pitch the businesses you want to start in your communities.
This unit will as well equip you with confidence to present your projects to
attract investors for funding your projects.
Introductory Activity
EAST AFRICAN YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS’ PROJECT SHOW
Muhoza and Mazimpaka were delighted to attend the East African
Young Entrepreneurs’ Project Show (EAYEPS) held in Tanzania in 2020
representing young Rwandan entrepreneurs. Participants included youths
from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi. The event was sponsored by
many international companies including MTN, Airtel, Mango, East African
Breweries, safari com, RDB etc.
Muhoza presented the Huza App project whose aim is to connect local
and international farmers with customers without physical interface
(online). She started this business while in senior 5 after realising that most
remote farmers have less access to bigger markets in Rwanda, from time
to time the business expanded to even support urban and international
agriculturalists.
Muhoza’s project was unique because it favoured both customers with or
without the internet since it provided a USSD (customers can use mobile
phones to access services of the business) as well as a web-based platform
(can use computers or smartphones.)
Before the actual event, Muhoza prepared 2 pages of her business project
and shared them with her mentors, families, and friends for feedback.
From the feedback, she managed to write a good presentation about her
business and started to practise. This practice involved pitching to her
ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR GENERAL EDUCATION | Senior 6 66
mentors and friends and gradually growing her presentation and pitching
skills.
This made Muhoza pitch her project excellently and became the lucky
winner of the show and was awarded a cheque of $20,000 to expand
her project. The second, third, fourth, and fifth were given $5000, $4000,
$2000, and $1000 respectively and the rest were not awarded any prize.
Questions
a) How is pitching a given project important to entrepreneurs? Refer to
the above case study.
b) What do you think enabled Muhoza to emerge as the winner?c) What steps did she use to prepare her business plan pitch?
4.1. Meaning and Importance of business plan pitching
Learning Activity 4.1
Patrick and Grace are having a conversation. Read it and answer the
questions that follow.
Patrick: I fear talking to people. I don’t know why.
Grace: But Patrick! You easily talk to me and your peers.
Patrick: I know, but I can’t easily talk to elders and leaders, yet I need to
tell the leaders of my sector about my business. You never know if they
can connect me to potential funders.
Grace: That’s a good idea, tell me about your business.
Patrick: It is a simple business, I create charcoal from used papers and sell
it to people around my community.
Grace: So, is that hard to explain to elders and leaders in your sector? I think
if you start talking first with friends and family, you will gain confidence.
Also, it can help to attract many customers and secure funds for investors.
Patrick: Thanks for your advice, Grace. I am really looking forward to
getting people who can fund my business.
a) From this statement said by Patrick in the dialogue above, “…I need to
tell the leaders of my sector about my business”. What do you think
pitching means? Relate your answers to the whole dialogue as well.
b) Why was Patrick interested in talking about his business to elders andleaders?
4.1.1. Meaning of a pitch
In business, a pitch refers to the presentation of ideas designed to attract
investors, get feedback to improve your business. Generally speaking,
consider pitching as a motivating action for your company. You might be
making a pitch for new clients, investments in your organisation, or even new
employees to come on board. The goal is to inspire the audience to join you
by sharing your vision for your work with them.
4.1.2. Importance of Pitching
It’s important to remember that a pitch to an investor may not strictly seek
startup capital. For example, a business may need an investment when it has
an unexpected but very profitable order beyond its current capacity. Such
a pitch is easier to make because investors feel far more secure with the
purchase order in hand.
◾ Business funding: a good business plan pitch enables an entrepreneur
to get funds for either starting up a business or expanding the already
existing one.
◾ Attracting investors: a good business plan pitch helps an entrepreneur
to persuade potential investors for both technical and financial
support.
◾ To share a clear picture of business: It enables the audience to
understand the business’ nature of operation and strategy
◾ Attracting customers: A well and persuasive presented pitch attracts
potential customers.
◾ Business positioning: Business plan pitching offers an opportunity
for creating a good impression to investors and potential clients.
◾ Boosting network: A well-presented business plan pitch persuades
the targeted audience. In this process, the entrepreneur increases the
level of his or her network.
◾ Communicate the brand message: A good pitching positions the
business brand well. Therefore, offering a good platform for sharing
the brand message with the targeted clients.
Application Activity 4.1
Your close friend has got a chance to pitch his or her business idea during
the Business Expo happening at Kigali Arena in two weeks’ time, but he/
she is hesitant. Write a letter explaining to her/him why she should go
ahead and pitch her business.ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR GENERAL EDUCATION | Senior 6
4.2. Preparation of a project pitch
Learning Activity 4.2
Using the project of your choice that you can start after school, prepare a
business idea pitch that you will present to the class. Relate to the previous
case study to easily help you tackle the activity. What would you do as youprepare to pitch your business idea?
4.2.1. Preparation required
Preparation required for the pitch at this stage are as follows:
i) Content preparation: A good pitching effort requires great supporting
documents. Once you have the basics down, it’s pretty easy to prepare
all of these documents as needed. A good business pitch requires a
business plan conveying a few things quickly: the mission and vision,
the problem you solve, the solution you provide, and the people you
do it for.
ii) Materials needed for the presentation like powerpoint presentation,
projectors, invitations to your audience, venue or place for pitching
iii) Psychological preparation: Business plan pitching has to be planned
well by the owners of the business venture. There are specific steps
that should be followed in order to have the best persuasive pitching.
Your business pitch should be clear, concise, and persuasive. It should
explain what your company does, what problem it solves, and why it’s
a good investment.
4.2.2. Steps involved in preparation of business plan pitch
i) Analysis of the audience: Knowing the audience, one is going to
present the business plan pitch to determine the presentation, content
selection, pitching techniques, approaches, and anticipation of the
questions likely to be asked.
ii) Select a topic: Select a topic based on the problem to solve, and the nature
of the audience/ potential investors. The topic should be phrased in a way
that will persuade the audience.
iii) Define the pitching objective: The right business plan pitching objectives
enable the team to convince potential investors. This means that one must
have in mind why they are pitching their business idea, and work towards
delivering a successful pitch that can make them raise the capital needed.
iv) Prepare the body of the business plan pitch: The content of the business
plan pitch is expected to be organised in a sequential way. This therefore
calls for having a clear and understandable body of it. The smarter and well
organised the content presentation, the better the chances of winning the
attention of the investors.
v) Anticipate the questions from the audience: While preparing for the
business plan pitching, one must anticipate the possible questions likely to
be asked by potential investors. Then, list them down and brainstorm the
appropriate answers to the questions. This will enable one to avoid being
caught unawares.
vi) Prepare the suggestions and conclusion: It is good if you list various
suggestions that make the business venture unique. The suggestions must
reflect the new thing the business venture will bring to the community.
Suggest to the investors the possible solutions to the problem to be solved
and how they will benefit from the investment.
vii) Practice pitching of business plan (Micro- pitch): The team that intends
to pitch, should get the time and practice pitching the business plan. This is
important because it increases one’s confidence and having an opportunity of
getting feedback from teammates prior to the actual day of pitching.
4.2.3. The key items to cover in business plan pitch
A business venture owner to be able to persuade potential investors must
take note of the following in his or her business plan pitch:
i) Business idea and goals: A business plan pitch must address the
business idea to be pitched for. This should be clear and precious so
that potential investors are able to understand it. It must also contain
SMART goals. These two aspects are very fundamental in the business
pitching process. With no clear business idea and goals, it means the
presentation content will be irrelevant to the audience.
ii) Problem identified: The business plan pitch is developed around
the identified problem. The business venture, therefore, comes to
provide a solution. This is what the investors love to hear. The problem
identified must be affecting the community, not a specific individual.
The business idea being pitched should be worth investing in.
iii) Solution: The business plan pitch should clearly show the innovative
and creative solution that the business venture will execute in
addressing the problem at hand. The solution should be unique and easy
to implement. The more convincing solution increases the chances of
persuading potential investors to invest their funds into one’s business.
iv) Target Market: A pitching team must understand the target market.
This calls for serious research and study, and where possible the
projected market share percentages. This is very important because it
will provide a guide on the financial projections. The profitability levels
of the business form part of the convincing parts of the business plan
pitch content. The beachhead market and general market segmentation
targeted should be catered for.
v) Marketing strategy: The business plan pitch should show and describe
clearly the market strategy to be used. This determines the profitable
probability level of the business venture to be invested in. The investor
would like to know the marketing strategy to be employed. Therefore,
it is very important to take time and make clear research and study
the marketing strategy. One may have a wonderful business idea, but
if the marketing strategy is poor, chances of profiting from the venture
become low, hence discouraging potential investors.
vi) Industry Analysis: There must be a part of industry analysis in the
business plan pitch deck. For example, if the business idea deals with
Renewable energy, therefore, make research on the energy sector and
have data to use in the presentation.
vii) Management Team: The capability of the team that will be engaged
in managing the business venture is very important. Include this on
the pitch deck. Potential investors wish to know if they invest in the
project, will the team manage to handle the funds and generate profit.
viii) Competition: Knowing and understanding the competitors is very vital
to the success of a business. Therefore, potential investors would like
to know if you really know the competitors. In a business plan pitch, it
is very necessary to mention the competitive advantage that favours
the business. The competitors’ weaknesses and strengths should be
analysed so that one is able to provide a unique solution that would
out-compete them.
ix) Current status, amount of money requested, and the projected use
of funds: This is a very important section of the business plan pitch.
The potential investors need to know the financial abilities of the team
in order to make informed financial decisions. The financial status ofthe business venture should be honestly shown.
Application Activity 4.2
During the vacation, you are contacted by a women’s association that
has a start-up business specialising in Biogas production. The business
aims at supplying this biogas to all low-income earning homesteads in the
village, at an affordable fee. However, they would like to raise capital from
potential investors to be able to do so.
Questions
a) Prepare a one-page guide that you will give to the association
highlighting the steps they would follow and the key items they
would consider to have a successful pitching and win the interest of
the investors.
4.3. Activities performed during pitching
Learning Activity 4.3
Referring to the case study about East African Young Entrepreneurs Project
Show (EAYEPS) in the introductory activity, analyse it again to suggest
techniques you think Muhoza used to pitch her project successfully andemerged a winner of the show.
4.3.1. Techniques used to pitch the business project
Capital is a driving factor in the growth and development of a business.
Therefore, it is very important to master the best ways and techniques of
persuading potential investors. The following are some of the techniques onecan use in a business plan pitching:
i) Writing only key points: It is very important to write points of the
pitch presentation points. Avoid congesting the pitch deck with a lot of
information.
ii) Avoid reading directly the content: Reading the business plan pitch
deck content in front of potential investors must be avoided. Speak to
the audience more about the product and services. This helps them to
gauge the confidence and mastery level of the person advancing for
the business venture they would invest in.
iii) Using visualisation, pictures, symbols, colours, tables: These attract
the attention of the investors and carry in a summarised and precise
way much information needed by the investors. The visual impression
is very important and selects wisely good colours
iv) Make it short, concise, and come to the point: Time management
while pitching is very crucial. In most cases, the potential investors
have no time for a lengthy presentation. It is, therefore, important to
make the business plan pitch short in order to fit into the tight schedule
of the audience. It should not be more than 10 minutes. The lesser time
spent during the presentation the better.
v) Reacting positively to questions: When conducting business plan
pitching, one must stay calm and professionally respond to any
question asked with the highest level of humility. Observing ethical
considerations as one is pitching is very important.
vi) Using body language, voice, and appearance: The salesman or the
team representative pitching must have all the needed communication
skills, the most outstanding are the use of body language, voice, and
appearance. Sometimes people underscore the importance of the
way they appear, while pitching, but this communicates a lot to the
audience. Use the easiest language. The voice must be appropriate.
Practising before the actual pitching time helps to perfect this.
vii) Trying to convince: Business plan pitching is all about persuading the
investors to buy the idea and accept to provide funding. Make sure
that this golden rule never goes out of the mind from the start of
the pitching up to the end. Pitching is all about convincing potential
investors to fund the business idea implementation.
4.3.2. The Real Pitching Process
For a successful pitching activity, one needs to put more focus on the following:
a) Greeting & thank audience for the attendance
b) Start with the Problem / gap identified after market analysis
c) Business idea and goals (Solution)
d) Target market
e) Benefits to the investors & society
f) Amount of money requested, projected use of it, and the anticipated
Returns
g) The call to investors
h) Thank the audience
4.3.4. Activities performed after pitching
a) Receive feedbacks
b) Integrate the suggestion & recommendations
In a nutshell, when preparing for a business plan pitching session, it
is important to know that there are three main stages one should go
through while planning to pitch for a business as shown in the belowtable:
Application Activity 4.3
Reflect on the problem you identified in the introductory activity, and the
solutions. Incorporate the above techniques and present your businessidea pitch.
End of Unit Assessment
I. Project Activity
You have been selected to represent your Sector as a S.6 leaver student
in the community to participate in Rwanda young entrepreneur’s
projects competition sponsored by RDB and Serena hotel and the
competition is to take place in 2 months’ time from now. This is the
only chance for you to get capital from sponsors / interested investors
for the project that you have been dreaming of for many years.
Required
a) Use your project and describe the steps you will follow to prepare
pitch for your project
b) Show the key items you will consider while preparing pitch for
your project
c) What techniques will you use to emerge the winner of the
competition so that you get capital for your project?
Make a simple report summarising how you will pitch the project youpresent during the competition.
II. Other Assessment Questions
1. In the community there are many start-ups that are competing
for a grant. Now, as a senior 6 student who has studied
business plan pitching, you have realised that one of the
start-ups has little or no knowledge of business plan pitching,
yet with a wonderful business idea that would change the
livelihood of many homesteads. By coincidence, this start-up
approaches you for help. The client, Twifashe Ltd, a start-up
that developed a state-of-the-art water filtration system that
is portable and uses solar energy for boiling the water in one
of the sections. The filtration device is designed to be used by
low-income earners who have no access to clean water and
like taking tea. The product depends on solar energy for boiling
water. While the start-up is self-assured that it will be able
to persuade clients to purchase its device, the owners are in
serious need of funds in order to start production and attain
economies of scale.
Required
The role of someone with Business plan pitching knowledge and
skills is to prepare a business plan pitch deck that Twifashe Ltd
can use to persuade investors to support the company.
a) Explain the meaning of a business plan pitching
b) Analyse the purpose of a business plan pitching to the growth
and development of a business.
c) dentify a given business idea and prepare a business plan pitch
deck for it.
2. Explain the steps involved in the preparation of a business planpitching.
