If you are looking to grow your business, an effective way is to pitch your product/services to investors. This can be done with the help of a quality pitch deck that will cover the main aspects about the company and the needed funding.
What’s a pitch deck
A pitch deck is a concise presentation that provides investors with an overview of the product/services, business plan, and growth traction. That being sad, the quality and relevance of the presentation matter significantly because they directly impact the investors’ decision.
10 slides to include in your pitch deck presentation
A pitch deck should have certain slides to summarize the fundamental characteristics of the business and the future prospects. Of course, each presentation is unique and doesn’t have to strictly follow the list below. However, these slide directions will give you an idea of the main points you’ll need to cover.
Slide 1: Problem
First, you need to identify the problem that people often experience and wish they were able to solve. The overarching goal of any business is to solve a certain problem, be it the need for fast cloud solutions or a back scratcher.
Slide 2: Solution
After showcasing the problem, you should offer a solution. This part of the presentation has to be convincing, relevant, and relatable, because if your suggestion isn’t appealing to the investors, or your audience in general, then the pitch deck can hardly be deemed effective.
Slide 3: Product
The product/service will ultimately provide the said solution, so dedicating a slide to it is essential. You should describe the main features or nuances, as well as why those are valuable and unique.
Slide 4: Target market
In this part, it’s important to show the target market, based on demographics, preferences, tastes, age, gender, and other criteria. You should also establish who your ideal customer is and why he/she would benefit from becoming your customer.
Slide 5: Competitors
To gain some level of certainty, you should do a thorough competitor analysis and identify the main “rivals” in the industry, which goes along with defining the competitive advantage or, in other words, what makes your business better.
Slide 6: Funding
The purpose of a pitch deck is usually to raise funds for further growth of the business. Therefore, you need to break down the financials, decide upon the needed funding, and explain how exactly you would use the potential investment.
Slide 7: Business model
Every startup has a business model that it follows. For example, it can be a business-to-business (B2B) model when the deals happen between two companies or a business-to-consumer model (B2C) when businesses sell their product/services directly to consumers.
Slide 8: Traction/roadmap
The traction depicts the growth of the company, showing a roadmap to reaching certain goals and milestones. If your business has been out there for a while, you can use the information about its performance in this part of the pitch deck to support the projections for further growth.
Slide 9: Sales and marketing
It’s almost impossible for a business to grow with a sales and marketing strategy which increases the exposure, boost the lead generation, and helps drive the number of customers. Therefore, your pitch deck should include a slide capturing the brief overview of the sales and marketing efforts that will be funded with the investors’ help.
Slide 10: Team
The last, but no less important, slide will present your core team members to the investors. This part of the presentation is also good for going over the business vision to further spark the audience’s interest in your product/service.
Your pitch deck is a crucial tool that will contribute to the success of your business. Be creative and have fun with it!
