The Five-Minute EcoCase Pitch
A team of four seventh graders has five minutes to pitch 'EcoCase,' a pencil case made from old banners, to three judges at a school entrepreneurship showcase. The prototype is half-sewn. The team has 40 cases, no final price, and a slide deck with 12 slides. One member, Priya, has missed two of four rehearsals because of basketball. Another member, Sam, answers every question and often interrupts. The quiet member, Luis, did the cost calculations but has never spoken in rehearsal. The judges include a local shop owner, a teacher, and a student. The team wants to ask the shop owner to sell 20 cases on consignment. The showcase is in six days. The team has one 45-minute rehearsal left and a $10 printing budget.
1. Decide what the team should cut from the 12-slide deck and what must be added or fixed for a five-minute pitch. Explain how the time limit changes priorities.
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Five minutes is roughly one minute for each pitch section, so 12 slides cannot all matter. Cut history, long team bios, multiple product photos, a thank-you slide, and any slide that repeats the same point. Keep or add: a 20-second hook with the problem (old banners become waste), a clear product demo, the customer and price, unit cost and profit, and a specific ask to the shop owner. Fix the missing final price before the pitch; judges cannot evaluate a business without it. The shop owner especially needs to hear cost, wholesale price, retail price, and consignment terms. A five-slide deck is enough: problem, product, market/price, money, ask. The time limit changes priorities from 'telling everything' to 'proving the opportunity and making one clear request.'
2. Assign speaking and demo roles for the final rehearsal. Address Priya's absences and Sam's interrupting without humiliating anyone.
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Give Priya the opening and the physical demo, because a visual role uses her strength and does not depend on many rehearsals; send her a one-page script and a 10-minute video recap. Give Luis the cost and price section, since he did the calculations and needs a defined, short speaking slot. Make Sam the Q&A lead, but set a rule: answer in one sentence, then say 'Luis has the numbers' or 'Priya can show you.' Add a timekeeper who gives a 30-second warning. In the 45-minute rehearsal, run the full pitch twice, then drill only transitions and the ask. Do not publicly shame Priya or cut her out; give her a real but bounded role. After rehearsal, each person states one thing they will fix. This addresses the absences and the interrupting with structure, not blame.
3. Write the specific ask to the shop owner for 20 cases on consignment and explain two terms the team must set. Use a price assumption.
Read the worked answer
Assume a retail price of $15, a wholesale/consignment price of $8, and a unit cost of $3.50, leaving $4.50 per case before fees. The ask should be specific: 'Will you take 20 EcoCases on consignment for 60 days at $8 each? We will deliver them, provide a display, and take back any unsold cases; payment due 30 days after sale.' Two terms the team must set are the consignment period and the return/payment rule. A third useful term is the retail price so the shop does not discount below the team's brand. This ask is stronger than 'Would you sell our cases?' because the shop owner can judge risk, cash flow, and space immediately. It also shows the team understands that consignment shifts unsold-stock risk to them, not the shop.