An elevator pitch is your answer to "so, what do you do?" It should take about 30 seconds and make the other person want to ask more. Most people answer with a job title, and the conversation ends there.
A simple formula
- Who you help.
- The problem they have.
- How you solve it.
- Why it matters, or what makes you different.
- A question or an easy next step.
In one breath: I help [who] with [problem] by [how], so they [result].
Examples
A bookkeeper
I help freelancers who dread tax season. I do their books every month, so in April they just sign. Most of my clients used to spend a whole weekend on receipts. Do you work for yourself?
A web studio
I build websites for restaurants that take bookings and orders directly, so they stop paying big fees to apps. One café on Park Street now takes a third of its orders through its own site.
A cleaning company
We clean homes for busy families, with the same small team every week, so people come home to a calm house and never have to explain things twice.
A new business
I am starting a dog-walking service for people who work long days. A midday walk, same walker every time, with a photo after each walk. I am looking for my first ten customers in Eastside.
Before and after
I'm the founder and CEO of an innovative digital solutions company.
I help hair salons take bookings online, so they stop losing customers who call after closing time.
The first is a title. The second is a reason to keep talking.
How to write yours
- Start from your value proposition. It already has who and why.
- Add one concrete detail: a result, a number, a customer story.
- End with a question that invites the other person in.
- Read it aloud. If you run out of breath, cut it.
Make it sound natural
Practise until you know the shape, then stop reading it. A pitch that sounds memorised feels like an advert. Change the words slightly each time, and adjust for the person in front of you.
Adjust for the listener
- A potential customer: the problem and the result.
- A partner: who you serve, and how you could help each other.
- An investor: the size of the problem and why now.
- Someone at a party: the shortest, most human version.
Use it everywhere
Your pitch becomes your social media bio, the top of your about us page, the first line of a LinkedIn post about your business and the opening of a cold call.