When raising funds for your business, you need to start a conversation with your potential investors about the business and keep them excited about the idea. And what is better than a well-crafted Pitch Deck to do so?
Having an impressive Pitch Deck is one of the most important components in your toolkit. Believe it or not, it actually might lead to real investments. Don’t get me wrong, your pitch deck is considered successful just by leading to another meeting with investors with more information requested.
In this article, We will explore together what you should include in your own pitch deck. Let’s start from the very first beginning;
What is a Pitch Deck?
It is a presentation that provides a brief but informative overview of your business. It’s your main tool to tell your business story to potential investors. It should cover the key points of your business plan, the products and services you provide, high-level financial projections, and funding needs.
What to Include in Your pitch Deck?
Every business is a case by itself but the following elements are known to work in all sectors:
1- Vision and Value Proposition
This is a quick one-sentence overview of your business and the value that you provide to your customers. Remember to keep it short and simple.
2- The Problem
Talk about the problem you are solving and who has the problem. You can talk about the current solutions in the market, but don’t spend too much time on the competitive landscape at this point.
3- Target Market and Opportunity
This is where you tell the story about the scope and scale of the problem you are solving. By letting investors know who exactly is your target audience and how many of them are out there, in a realistic manner, they will get a sense of total market size, but remember all should be proved with data and numbers.
4- The Solution
To tell a better story, focus on your customers and their problems instead of your business. At this point after describing your target audience and their problems, describe how your business is their solution. If you have real stories and case studies, USE them.
5- Business Model
Who pays your bill and what is your source of revenue? this is the right time to state that information, you may have multiple revenue sources based on your business nature. Furthermore, you can state here your pricing compared to your competitor for a better understanding of the market.
6- Traction and Validation/Roadmap
Investors are seeking information that confirms your business is investment worthy and reduces their risk so if your business has early adopters make sure to mention it.
You can also talk about your milestones. What major goals have you achieved so far, and what are the major next steps you plan on taking? A product or company roadmap that outlines key milestones is helpful here.
7- Marketing and Sales Strategy
Finding and attracting customers might be your biggest challenge as a startup, so here you need to outline your marketing and sales plan. You’ll want to detail the key tactics that you intend to use to get your product in front of prospective customers.
8- Team
Running a business is not a solo journey, it’s a team one, and you should highlight your key team members and the key expertise that they bring to the table. Even if you don’t have a complete team yet, identify the key positions that you still need to fill and why those positions are critical to company growth.
9- Financials
Investors will expect to see your financials: sales forecast, income statement (also called profit and loss statement), and cash flow forecast for at least three years. Remember to be realistic in your assumptions.
you can’t include a detailed spreadsheet in your pitch deck, so limit yourself to charts that show sales, total customers, total expenses, and profits.
10- Competition
Every business has competitors regardless of their type, even if you are innovative in your business still, your customers have used various solutions to overcome their problems.
the main key here is to explain how different you are from those competitors and why customers will prefer you.
11- Investment and Use of Funds
You need to be able to explain why you need the amount of money you are asking for and how you plan on using the money. Investors will want to know how their money is being used and how it is going to help you achieve the goals you are setting out for your business.
If this is not your first funding round, mention previous investors and why they have chosen your business to invest in.
You can use BPlans’ pitch deck template from here, or you can use HubSpot’s Pitch deck from here.
Have written a perfect pitch deck already? Check out the following articles to help your business attract the right investors: