Your product is a direct reflection of you. Would you describe yourself to an employer as “incompetent, lazy, and hard-to-get-along-with?” Equally as ineffective are comments like, “Our Cuddles teddy bears are great. They’ll be a hit for sure.” The first is decidedly negative, while the second is soft and mushy with no backbone. Describe your product in a factual, specific, and inspiring manner, so that your investors will want to clap rather than throw eggs in your face. After reading your product introduction, investors should have a feel for your product: what it is or does, uniqueness, drawbacks, current status and future opportunities.
Here are some points you may want to include, along with specific questions pertaining to retail and manufacturing businesses:
- What is your product or service?
- What does it look like, and what is it made of?
- What need or application does it fulfill?
- How does your product or service stand out–what are its unique features?
- Do you have a patent, trade secret, or other inside track that places your product ahead of the pack?
- Does your product have any innovative features, advanced technology, and/or special design achievements?
- Is your product copy-protected?
- Why should a person buy your product rather than your competitors’?
- Have you checked out your competition?
- Have you asked people to try your product? What were their impressions?
- If you could change one thing about your product, what would it be–pricing, supply, quality, durability…?
- Who are your key suppliers? How accessible are they? How vulnerable are you to something going wrong on their end–work stoppage, raw material shortage?
- Is your product market-ready or are you still in-progress?
- Do you have any future plans for expanding your existing product line or developing related products?