Our CEO Vanessa Best knows that a good pitch is crucial into making one’s business a fruitful venture. After all, Precision HealthCare Consultants owes its success not just to her management and financial savvy, but also to her gift of gab and stellar networking skills.
Success for Best though also means paying it forward to others. Aside from running a company daily, Best is also active for three years as the New York instructor, as contracted by Interise of the Emerging Leaders Program, an initiative spearheaded by the US Small Business Administration (SBA).
Best shares that this year has been more productive for the participants of the Emerging Leaders Program. For one, Best helped facilitate the first ever Emerging Leaders Pitch Competition, which allowed small businesses and entrepreneurs to pitch their products and services to various government agencies and private companies.
The event was part of the SBA International B2B Forum held in downtown Manhattan recently, and Best has collaborated with SBA’s program manager Man-Li Lin. It was an endeavor that is highly supported and encouraged by Beth Goldberg, SBA’s District Director for New York.
“The participants for this year’s Emerging Leaders Program had what I’d like to call a ‘pitch room’. It allowed them to showcase their respective businesses to different people and I feel honored to see how passionate these Emerging Leaders are when it came to exhibiting their talents,” says Best.
Best emphasizes how powerful spoken words can be, and how entrepreneurs should seize that through a good business pitch.
“A great pitch makes people want to ask more and learn more,” she says. “An excellently made pitch is short and sweet. For example, if you own a flower shop, you can say things like, ‘I own a flower shop on a main street.’, or ‘We provide unique flowers that bloom all winter.’ The goal is to pique the interest of who’s listening and to make ask for more details.”
After pitching comes networking. The SBA International B2B Forum, to illustrate, gathered not just the participants of the 2018 Emerging Leaders Program, but also a diverse set of game changers that consisted of 40 US and foreign government agencies and organizations that provide valuable business assistance.
“Much of an entrepreneur’s business can be from another small business,” says Best. “That’s why if you’re an entrepreneur, you have to always speak with people especially in networking events—you might be talking to your next client! It also helps to go out of your comfort zone and look for opportunities outside your city or state or even country. For example, my New York based business, Precision HealthCare Consultants, also has an office in Atlanta. Because of that, we were able to connect with a person who represents a federal agency in the state of Georgia. The possibilities are aplenty!”
The application link for Class of 2019 is Now OPEN! Go to www.sba.gov/emergingleaders to apply. The deadline to apply is March 22nd. You will be happy you did!
Our CEO Vanessa Best is hailed by the US Small Business Administration as the award winner of the 2017 Women Business Champion of The Year in NY.