Cmypitch.com is an Online Community for Entrepreneurs and Business Owners

cmypitch.com is an online community for entrepreneurs and business owners. Using video, it connects businesses to sources of funding, information, advice, opportunities and services.

It has three main groups of users: 1. business owners; 2. investors; and 3. business service providers. Through video, businesses can present their ideas and companies with real impact. Investors can get an instant feel for the people behind an idea or a company. Service providers can differentiate their services to a targeted group.

The community focuses on different stages of the business life cycle, and within each one, business people can network, build their contacts, share ideas and interact with like-minded individuals. cmypitch.com is unique for the following reasons:

o It is the first site in the UK to use video as a platform to connect entrepreneurs seeking funding for their business with investors.
o It provides a niche business directory with 60,000 suppliers for business owners. Each supplier can upgrade their listing to a cmypitch premium listing and market themselves to the targeted cmypitch community.
o Through ‘Entrepreneur TV’ cmypitch.com interviews and showcases the most successful entrepreneurs in their fields.
o The dynamic user-generated information centre, seeded by cmypitch.com and further populated by directory members, provides fantastic insights and relevant information about the business and entrepreneurial world.

1. Business Owners: entrepreneurs, start-ups and small & medium businesses

In the UK alone, approximately 500,000 people start a business each year, and join approximately four million who already run small and mid sized companies. cmypitch.com will support these businesses by connecting them to sources of funding, advice, opportunities and services. Business owners looking for equity funding of £25,000 or more, post two-minute video ‘pitches’ on cmypitch.com, presenting their propositions to potential investors. Investors can review the videos online, filtering them according to market sector, location, and the size of investment required. Think Dragons’ Den meets YouTube, but only for serious investment opportunities.

Easy and affordable access to good professional advice is crucial to business success. With the ‘Tailored Advice’ feature, businesses can post a short video outlining their business issue and can be contacted by professional consultants within the business directory offering tailored consultancy on how to address the problem.

‘Entrepreneur TV’ shows interviews with successful entrepreneurs to help aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners learn from their experiences. Interviewees to date include: Kwik-Fit founder, Sir Tom Farmer Champneys boss, Stephen Purdew YO Sushi! founder, Simon Woodroffe Formula One’s Eddie Jordan Glasses Direct founder, Jamie Murray Wells Serial entrepreneur and presenter of Risking it All, Martin Webb Red Letter Days founder and former ‘Dragon’, Rachael Elnaugh Founder of eSpotting and star of Millionaires Mission , Seb Bishop Travel industry entrepreneur, Ray Nolan

There are three channels where business people and entrepreneurs can research a wide range of opportunities, depending on their areas of interest: franchising, business opportunities (where people can earn additional income without a large upfront cost) and businesses for sale. Businesses for Sale focuses on mid-market businesses (valued at over £250,000).

Users can access the business directory, which includes a list of 60,000 suppliers and professional advisors across more than 20 service categories, such as accountants, banks, lawyers and marketing agencies. Users can either search the directory themselves or post a request (lead) for a supplier or consultant to call them back.

Within each community area of the site, users can access blogs, participate in forums, join groups, and keep up to date with all the relevant events. Community members can create personal and business profiles and build their contacts and referral network.

cmypitch.com is the first site to offer video profiles of emerging and interesting start-up companies – a great way for new businesses to raise their profile. The cmypitch.com team is constantly on the look out for exciting start-ups to profile, such as Kindo.com, Amuso.com, Plebble.com, W-41.com, Findsyou.com, Lastseason.com, Mucho Mas and Findatvexpert.com.

cmypitch.com also features classified advertisements for start-ups looking to assemble a new team. Businesses can post a video to attract potential employees, mentors and nonexecutives. Candidates can receive email alerts where a posting matches their criteria. 

2.Investors

For investors, including the UK’s 18,000* angel investors, cmypitch.com makes the task of identifying investment opportunities much quicker, simpler and more effective. They can save valuable time by reviewing online two-minute video pitches, allowing them to not only assess the business opportunity but also the people behind the proposition – something that usually requires a time-consuming, face-to-face meeting. Pitches can be filtered by size, market sector, location and rating, and investors can receive email alerts when a new pitch is added to the site that matches their preferred criteria. Investors can also view opportunities in the business for sale channel. *source EISA (Enterprise investment Scheme Association)

3. Business service providers

cmypitch.com gives service providers fast and affordable access to a targeted business community across the UK. With a premium listing, suppliers can advertise in the directory using video to communicate more directly with their potential customers. They can market themselves across the site by uploading resources to the Information Centre and respond to requests submitted to the Tailored Advice section. In addition, they can answer leads that match their requirements based on location, sector and company size. Leads from businesses are sent directly into their cmypitch inbox where they can be managed easily. Banks can direct start-up companies to cmypitch.com knowing that it is a reliable and credible source of information that will help them start or grow a business. They can also refer businesses to cmypitch.com to apply for funding.