Over ten years ago, I came up with an idea to solve a portioning problem my employees and I had with cutting pizzas into equal slices for my first school lunch account. I came up with an idea that saved the account. A decision was made, commercialize my idea to solve, what I thought was a big the problem in the pizza industry. I shared my idea with a show I was watching called, Your Business with JJ Ramberg. Shortly, an email arrived inviting me to do an elevator pitch. Very nervous, the pitch went okay, but the two people I was pitching, said no to taking a second interview of the product. I was devastated. A product that is so easy and efficient to use even during the busiest restaurant and pizza kitchen rush hours, how could they say no? A product that offers a fast return on their investment, how could they say no? Increases profits, how could they say no? Some of the largest pizza franchises, convenience store chains and pizza supplier to the schools were already customers, how could they say no?
After the pitch aired, I couldn’t watch the segment. It’s been years, until today. Now I understand that the elevator pitch made me better. The rejection didn’t stop me from pursuing what I believed to be the best pizza portioning tool on the market. Today, The Portion PadL has become one of the most popular portioning tools on the market selling worldwide. It’s easy to be discouraged by naysayers. Be persistent and follow your convictions. If you believe you have the best and are the best, NO is not an option, It’s just a minor speedbump to a YES. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/videos/elevator-pitch-the-portion-padl/?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_yb