company. That was the reason why I took this job in the first place. But there I

was working in the marketing department of a big brand as a junior administrator

and instead of being excited to work for this famous company I was frustrated

about how things were handled. I felt completely lonely with my ideas to make

a positive impact. I spent the entire next weekend studying different pitch

formats. I figured that it would be best to follow the requirements of one of the

big startup accelerators if I could pitch to one of them I could certainly

pitch to the marketing director. I opted for a pitch deck which is based on the

following six elements: the problem, my solution, the business model, the market

the competition, our team. Okay so the problem: well most body soap brands not

only lack a truly refreshing smell but more importantly they also sell in cheap

throwaway plastic containers which often lasts not more than a month. New modern

consumers however see body soap as a lifestyle choice and they want to have a

solution that not only works but also smells incredibly refreshing and is

environmentally friendly my solution I call elements it's an organic soap which

comes in four fantastic flavors water sky earth and fire in the first order

customers get all four flavors and a beautiful glass jar and with a click of

a button they get refill packs sent to their home in sustainable carton

packages

the business model is the result of our understanding of the lifetime value of a

customer my customers will be very loyal as they made a clear lifestyle choice to

buy it the first purchase someone makes is therefore just seen as an investment

we make into a long lasting relationship it will cost customers 25 US dollars and

they get a beautiful glass jar and the trial set of all four flavors the money

we make later from selling the refill packs and sustainable paper bags for 15

US dollars similar to the famous razor and blades business model the market is

enormous in the beginning we will target urban women aged 20 to 30 years living

in the United States they are well-educated they care about the

environment and are interested to express themselves through lifestyle

choices based on my research they spent on average around 50 to $100 on body

soap each year as there are around 15 million women in the US who are in their

20s living in urban areas the total market opportunity is at least 750

million dollars a year once we capture some of that we will expand to other

consumers and go global our competition are big brands they own the market and

they've been telling consumers over the years that body wash comes in a cheap

plastic bottle which ends up in the ocean or on a landfill smaller startups

like ours might compete with them in some segments but we rather consider

them as allies as we fight for the same thing educating consumers to make a

switch to a more sustainable soap the team that's me and my brother who

currently studies biochemistry but soon he will have his degree and since he's a

real nature freak he is full on board to help me develop a winning formula my

strengths are communication organization and a clear understanding of what girls

my age want it took me until Sunday night until I had what I thought was the

perfect pitch few days later in the office I saw the

marketing director and took the initiative I asked him to give me three

minutes of his time so I could pitch to him but instead of hearing me out he

just said why don't you pitch it next Monday at the board meeting the old guys

are always open for new ideas from the young people within the company maybe

they will fund a prototype and do a market test then he added with a smile

the biggest secret of getting funding is this ask for money you'll get advice ask

for advice and you'll get money I was completely blown away I should present

my idea to the board and I knew exactly what to ask for I couldn't sleep that

night I was too excited about what the marketing director had told me the next

morning when I went through my pitch again I wasn't sure if I was really

prepared I called my former teacher he had already started several successful

companies the next day we met and I pitched my

idea to him after he listened to me my teacher got really excited and said if

they don't buy your idea on Monday I'll offer to finance you to get started

oMG I was so excited and so thankful on my way home I reflected on my situation

I wondered if I really want to pitch to the board and carry on working for the

same company which makes me feel miserable after all I only worked there

to gain enough experience to start my own business I realized that actually I

don't want someone else to buy and sell my idea I want to try making it myself

it was clear to me that this is my chance to finally get started I called

my manager thanked him for his time and told him I'll quit my job to start my

own thing

how about you did you ever try to pitch your business idea

write down your idea and follow the different stages like described in this

video and post it in the comments below or even better why not make a proper

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