How To Pitch Your Clothing Line To Investors

Starting a clothing line has been the dream of fashion designers for many, many years now. However, it takes more than hard work, dedication, a keen eye for fashion, and a degree in fashion design. Starting a clothing line from the ground up can also take a significantly large amount of money. While a small clothing line can cost as little as $500 to start, Nerd Wallet says that a large line can be as expensive as $25,000 to develop. An amount that substantial may require a designer to find other avenues in which they can obtain additional start-up capital. According to the Houston Chronicle, developing a great pitch to entice potential investors is one of the most important aspects of starting a new clothing line. If you are looking for a way to attract potential investors, I’m going to show you how to develop a pitch that will get their attention. .

To pitch your clothing line to investors, include the following:

Pitch Deck – Be sure to include a pitch deck that you can hand out before you begin.
Hook – Ask a question at the beginning of your pitch that will get the attention of prospective investors.
Story – Pitch yourself to your audience by telling them who you are, where you are from, and how you developed your idea.
Selling Point – Let your investors know what makes your product or idea unique, and why they would want to invest in it.
Financial Information – Include your current and your projected revenue and profits.
Marketing and Advertising – Your investors will be interested in hearing about your marketing strategies as well as advertising tactics.
A Good Close – Always leave your investors with something that they will remember about you and your pitch.

In this article, we will look at each of the elements of a good pitch. We will break down each of these and take a closer look at what you can do or what you should include to make your pitch the most memorable pitch that your potential investors have seen. We will also dive deeper into how of these aspects are essential to a good pitch, and how you can learn to master these tactics to make yourself comfortable pitching to any person in the room. Let’s read along to see how I can help you to develop a great pitch, and how to master the art of selling yourself and your ideas to investors so that you can get the financial backing you need to start a clothing line of your own.

Table of Contents

Include a Pitch Deck

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this aspect of your pitch is that it takes place before the pitch even begins. However, failure to include this step in your pitch can be disastrous for the rest of it. Now, I know that some of you are wondering what a pitch deck is. Well, allow me to explain. There are two types of pitch decks. The first type is a brief slideshow that you present to investors to give them a good idea of who you are. The second type of pitch deck is a booklet, which is usually professionally-made, that is handed out at the beginning of an investor pitch to help them follow along with your presentation. For the purpose of this article, we will be referring to the second kind. I have always found that it helps me to think of the pitch deck as a more detailed version of a program that would be handed out at a play. The pitch deck gives potential investors something tangible that they can actually hold in their hands. Besides, a pitch deck can save your audience the embarrassment of having to ask a question about your pitch that you have already covered, as well as saving you the frustration of having to stop in the middle of your pitch to repeat something you have already covered.

Hook Them From the Beginning

Let’s face it, investment presentations are boring. Furthermore, your pitch is probably one of many presentations that your potential investors will have to sit through. You are going to need to grab their attention from the beginning of your pitch. So, how do you accomplish that? One of the best ways to get the attention of your audience during a presentation is to ask a question at the beginning of the presentation that gets them thinking. Don’t answer the question for them right away. If you do this, then you have probably lost their attention for the remainder of your pitch. Instead, ask them the question, and then let them think about it for a while. Another tip that I have always found to be quite useful for getting the attention of an audience is to offer a unique and interesting statistic that will both amazed and excite them. However, and I cannot stress this enough, make sure to get your numbers correct when offering a statistic. More than likely, someone will fact-check you on this at a later time.

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Tell Your Story

While some of your potential investors may be either close friends or family, there will be at least a few people in the room who have no idea who you are or where you come from. This is why it is so important that you include your story in your pitch. If people are going to invest their hard-earned money in you, they are going to want to know a few things about you. Who are you? Where are you from? What kind of background do you have in fashion? Where did you get the idea for your clothing line? These are all questions that your potential investors are probably asking themselves about you, if they do not already know you. Thor, you are trying to get people to invest in your brand, but they are also investing in you as a person. Your pitch it’s the perfect opportunity to sell yourself to your investors. While you are telling your story, you should always remember to be unique, personable, friendly, and informative. You want your potential investors to like you, but you also want them to believe in you and your abilities.

Have a Unique Selling Point

Once you give your audience a little background information about you and your brand and you have gotten them to believe in you, it’s time to present your selling point to them. Keep in mind that most of your investors are seasoned business people, and have heard more than their fair share of selling points. In fact, your presentation is quite possibly not the first pitch they have heard that day. This is why it is an absolute necessity to make your selling point unique. We already know that you are going to have to set your clothing line apart from the others while making yourself memorable in the process. Having a unique selling point is quite possibly the best way to accomplish this. What makes your clothing line unique in a sea of literally thousands of clothing lines? Does your line have any special features that set it apart from the rest of the clothing lines out there? Better yet, does your clothing line offers something that no other clothing line is currently offering? Each of these three selling points answers a question that makes your clothing line unique and special.

Talk About Your Revenue and Profit

This is the stage of your presentation where you get down to brass tacks and discuss the financial aspects of your clothing line. Yes, it is true that for people to invest in your business they will have to first like you. However, they are also going to want to know the specifics of your clothing line’s revenues and profits. After all, this is a business investment to them. They are not going to invest in a business that has no potential for growth, or does not show an ability to turn a profit. Although your line’s past performances does not necessarily dictate future performance, it can be a good indicator of the direction in which your business is headed in the future. To help your investors get a clearer vision of this, you can also include a section in your presentation that covers your clothing lines predicted future revenues and profits based on the direction of the market.

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Explain Your Marketing Strategy

Now that you have your investors where you think your clothing line is headed in the future, they will undoubtedly want to know how you plan to get your business there. This is your chance to wow your audience by showing them your marketing strategy. During this stage of your pitch, you have the opportunity to make your investors believe in you and in your clothing line by painting a picture of the future through a unique and exciting marketing strategy. More than likely, they will want to know your marketing plans for the future, and how you plan to adapt to marketing in a digital age. You can also show your potential investors how diverse your marketing skills are by including two or three different marketing strategies based on the current stage of the market, and the direction in which you think it is headed.

Leave Your Audience With Something Memorable

“leave them wanting more” is a well-known, expression that PT Barnum is credited for having famously said according to Quote Park. Well, I can think of no other area of business in which this expression is more applicable than during a presentation or a pitch. It is far better to leave your audience wanting more then to lose them by going too far with a bloated pitch. Besides, this is an effective way to engage your investors by getting them to ask questions. However, there is a fine line you must walk between leaving your audience wanting more and not giving them enough information. If you can successfully walk this line, you are more than halfway there. I know that more than one of you has to be wondering what the most effective way to end an investment pitch is. I have always found that the most interesting presentations have always been those that were able to end on a high note. Although most of your pitch will be scripted, you can always tell the perfect moment to end your presentation by gauging your audience’s reaction. If you have given your investors all of the pertinent information and the moment feels right, don’t hesitate to go out with a bang.

Conclusion

Sure, pitching to a room full of potential investors can be an intimidating and a frightening endeavor for even the most seasoned businessperson to endure. However, if you remember to include these seven key elements to your pitch, you should be able to attract the attention of quite a few of your potential investors. First, always remember to hand out a pitch deck at the beginning of your pitch. This will help your audience to follow along with your pitch. Next, ask a question or make a statement that hooks your investors from the beginning of your pitch. The goal is to immediately grab their attention. After you get the attention of your audience, seize the opportunity to tell them the story of who you are, where you are from, and how you got the idea for your clothing line. Once your investors are interested in you and in your line, take the opportunity to sell yourself with a unique selling point.

Investors are going to want to know the financial aspects of your business. Include facts about your current revenue and profits, as well as your projected revenue and profits. After you have given your potential investors the financial forecast for your business, show them how you are going to achieve these profits by explaining your marketing strategy to them. Finally, set yourself apart from any other businesses they may be looking into investing in by leaving them with something memorable. We are all familiar with the old saying “Leave them wanting more.” Well, this is especially true when you are pitching to potential investors. Remember, it is always better to leave them wanting more than to carry on for too long and risk of boring your audience. Once you have mastered the art of pitching yourself to investors, you will be able to secure any amount o capital you need because you will be confident in yourself and in your business.

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