Catherine D'Avril and Gabrielle La Rue, co-founders of Locketgo

While working as head of logistics production for one of Canada's largest event promoters, Gabrielle La Rue, also a musician, founded Locketgo to meet a need for temporary storage at festivals. Instead of simple wooden lockers with numbers, she and her partner Catherine D'avril preferred to develop a connected version integrated with ticketing services. "We were quickly propelled into the world of startups without any technology background," says Catherine D'avril, also marketing director. Gabrielle and I stood out among the engineers when we participated in incubators like Centech and FounderFuel . These resources allowed us to do an extraordinary accelerated learning experience."

Although they are actively developing the event market in Canada and the United States, the entrepreneurial duo is now turning to arenas and convention centres. “The important thing for us is that users feel good in our Locketgo ‘comfort zones’. We are also working to diversify our offering with permanent installations,” explains Catherine.

According to the co-founder, "office work is part of our daily lives, but we love meeting new clients, prospecting and going into the field. We also have opposing talents that are therefore complementary. Gabrielle and I have only known each other for 3 years, but it feels like an eternity!"

Business pitch: 5 common mistakes to avoid

Solution tracks from the Quebec School of Entrepreneurs …

In a competition to win a scholarship, in front of investors to obtain financing, with customers to win them over, mastering your business pitch is one of the essential skills to acquire as an entrepreneur.

In business jargon, a pitch refers to an elevator pitch, which is a presentation with a set duration, as in the case where you meet a prospect in an elevator and need to capture their interest.

Here are the most common mistakes to avoid for a maximum impact pitch!

Wanting to say everything

The pitch must be impactful. To do this, it is best to avoid wanting to give too many details. Choose an angle according to your target audience and get to the point. For example, focus on clearly explaining the problem that your service or product addresses. For example, you could answer the following questions: what is your advantage over your competitors? What do you do that is unique, different?

Lack of numbers

To convince investors, you will need figures to support your case. Whether it is to explain market needs, customer enthusiasm or justify a requested amount, give figures.

Customers will be able to be convinced by facts about your service or product, which will once again highlight your competitive advantage.

Lack of flavor

On the other hand, a purely factual pitch risks being boring. Arouse emotion! How? You can use humor, tell a business anecdote, or tell your story with self-mockery. Sometimes, it is also possible to reach an audience simply by revealing their story, by talking about their doubts and ambitions.

Remember, however, not to play a character, but to stay true to your personality, otherwise you risk sounding false.

Lack of vision

A common mistake entrepreneurs make is forgetting to show the progress of a business over time, especially to lenders. The risk of always having your nose stuck in the difficulties of the present moment is to show a reduced and truncated portrait of the business. Show the path taken since your beginnings with the main achievements and improvements. Talk about the present, but also communicate the vision of the business and its future objectives (financial forecasts, for example).

Not taking care of your non-verbal communication

You may have rehearsed the best pitches with impeccable content and structure, but if you don't take care of your posture, your tone of voice, your tics, it risks harming the message. Here is a short list of elements to check when you practice a pitch.

Do I tend to:

• Have a shifty gaze? • Look at only part of the audience? • Be restless? • Be frozen? • Have a particular verbal or physical tic? • Speak in a monotone tone of voice? • Speak at too low a volume? • Get out of breath?

You will have understood that the best way to improve yourself will be to practice, or even film yourself. Don't hesitate to make your pitch in front of your loved ones in order to collect sincere comments.

Remember this quote:

Want to improve your pitch? Our workshop on Preparing Your Business Presentation can help.