Write out your company’s story – StartupSmart

This article first appeared on September 24th, 2011.

 

Entrepreneurs have to learn the art of selling themselves and their company very early on.

 

You might be pitching to an investor or a lender, you might be selling to a prospective customer or you might be just explaining why you look so tired at a dinner party.

 

Lots of people have their elevator pitch right – that’s the quick sentence or two that sums up what their business – but fewer are skilled in telling the story of their business.

 

The story of your business involves your background, your reasons for starting the business, where and how you kicked things off and how your company grew from there.

 

Writing this story down – remember to flesh the funny little anecdotes about your start-up journey, including some of the challenges you had to get over – will help solidify it in your mind for the following audiences:

• Customers and suppliers who want to hear more about you.

• Website visitors (via the About Us page on your website).

• Journalists.

• People at networking events.

• Potential investors, customers and suppliers.

Having a great story adds to the power of you brand, it makes your marketing better and it can really help you engage with the market.

 

But if you want it to be articulate and well presented, write it down.

 

Get it done – today!