The Pitch 2010.... have you got the bottle to enter?

"Following the success of The Pitch last year, I am extremely pleased to see it return for 2010 as part of The Business Factory. Initiatives that provide small business owners with advice and guidance from successful entrepreneurs deserve full support."
The RT Hon Lord Peter Mandelson

The story of The Pitch

In 2008, BusinessZone.co.uk held a small pitching competition in Bristol for entrepreneurs to present their business idea to a panel of experts. The format was so successful that in 2009 we took the competition on the road, visiting five major UK cities and holding a grand final in London.

Judges tasked with rating the entrants' pitches included former TV dragon Doug Richard, The Apprentice winner Tim Campbell and founder of Pimlico Plumbers Charlie Mullins. Anthony Lau, inventor of an innovative new product for locking up bicycles, the Cyclehoop, walked away with a £50,000 prize package and the title of Britain's best new business.

This year, The Pitch is set to evolve again as part of a new business event, The Business Factory, and will aim to uncover, support and promote a fresh new batch of entrepreneurial talent.

With heats in Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool and London, The Pitch is a truly national competition. If you think you have what it takes to challenge for the title of Britain's best new business, click here for details of your regional heat.

Gordon Brown always seems to look as if he has just got out of bed after a cracking stag-night - hair all over the place, a puffy face and incoherent mumblings about the trouble we are in after last night - but how it wasn't his fault.

Mandelson clearly doesn't do weather - leaving it to Lord Adonis to convince us not to worry (when a politician says "don't worry", you just know it is time to panic).

In business now is the time to prepare for expansion... some say crazy and I say you must change to survive

This is the time of WOLF-V-OSTRICH

You cannot be both but you are one or other and the way to spot the difference is simple the wolf grows through a tough time and the ostrich puts head in sand (hoping for better times) saying "It just could not have come at a worse time".

Given the above, who on earth would want to spen time and money on business expansion?

It is the only way are you going to catch up with those sales targets OR catch up with the cash flow requirements of your business

You should sell the same products to a larger geographic area or sell new products and services in the same region.

What to Do?

Lets get back to some real basics here

• attracting new prospects through the door
• encouraging more business from your existing clients and
• acquiring more new business referrals from your existing customers

I have said many times that a business any business needs new prospects like oxygen because we can learn to convert at higher ratios and often a slow market allows us to charge more money and make bigger profit margins

What exactly are you going to do?

Here's a down and dirty checklist

• Is our brand attractive to our target in a crowded market?
• Have we optimised our web site and bought some Google Adwords?
• Is our home page sticky?
• Does our home page contain a reason to catch data with newsletter and competition?
• Does our home page have a clear call to action?
• Have our telephony team been trained to answer new business enquiries?
• Have we agreed our best practice for our FAQ’s and answers at reception?
• Are we offering free new business quotes or assessments?
• Do we have other strong free offers or mechanisms to attract new patient enquiries?
• Do we hand out referral cards?
• Are we networking in the local community?
• Have we created a strategic alliance by forming an existing customer club?
• Have we created a study club for customer feedback?
• Do we issue a printed customere newsletter 3 times a year?
• Have we created a Facebook Group for our customers?

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