Your presentation can both make a successful start to your business and bury your idea for all eternity. And that, you must agree, isn’t insignificant.
In dealing with investors, there’s a tried-and-true rule that says that only 10 out of 100 times does an investment end in success.
Now, let’s apply this rule on a larger scale. Out of 1,000 ideas an investor hears, they only fund 100. Statistically, the odds of success aren’t great. However, you can wipe everyone’s eye who provides that statistic with a presentation of your business plan so that it attracts attention, and you do get funding.
Well, here are 5 things you should know to successfully pitch your business idea.
Make your presentation last no more than 10 minutes
The time frame is extremely important. The less time it takes to present an idea, the better. Even the coolest idea is worthless if you can’t present it in a few points that make a great impression. The more succinct you’re, the better for you.
If you say that your business plan presentation will only take an endless number of minutes, then let it take at least a minute less than you said.
If you hear something like, “You only have so much time to present your business idea”, then make it take at least five minutes less.
If you say, “And lastly”, or something like that, make sure that what you say will actually be the final part of your speech.
State your thoughts in a measured way. Take your time in the end. If you use slides, don’t dwell on one of them for more than three minutes.
The whole point of presenting a business plan in 10 minutes is that if investors are really interested, they will ask questions, and if not, you will at least save them (and yourself, too) valuable time.
Turn your presentation into a story
The narrative is a scientifically proven way to attract and hold your audience’s attention. It also makes your presentation memorable.
Investors yawn at spreadsheets, estimates, and numbers. If they need this information, they can get it. What you have to offer and what is unspeakable by any list of funding terms is the story and excitement behind your startup. Everyone loves a good story, even the most data-driven investors.
So tell your story, and do it right. Your job is to get attention, which will be followed by funding.
Explain clearly what your product or service is about
Investors’ time is their most valuable resource. If you respect their time, they see it as a way for you to treat their money appropriately and with respect. As time is important, you need to focus entirely on the highlights of your business plan presentation.
Show your potential investors your product in pictures or let them touch it with their hands.
Be careful not to talk monotonously and nonstop about your product. Honestly, what investors really care about isn’t so much the product itself, but the money that can be made from it. The sooner you get to the bottom line, which is finance, the better.
Explain in detail what makes your product or service unique
If you don’t produce or provide anything that stands out from the mediocre stuff that’s everywhere, don’t even go to a meeting with investors. In that case, go back to your tablet and come up with something better.
Use demographic and psychographic characteristics to specify who your customers are. Outline a portrait of your target audience for investors, along with relevant data.
The success of a commercial enterprise comes down to marketing. If you have a marketing idea, a method of marketing products, a plan for market activities, then this is your chance to demonstrate them. Despite all the significant advantages, a good product doesn’t sell itself. It’s you who sells it. To convince investors, you need to give them an ironclad strategy for getting your product to market.
Most venture capitalists are familiar with the benefits of digital marketing and won’t even look a second time at a product that doesn’t have a tactical online marketing plan behind it.
Show investors your capital withdrawal strategy
The capital withdrawal strategy is the decisive argument for a killing business plan presentation. Start-ups who are fanatical about their products usually miss this important point when they present their idea to the public. They’re so excited about the product they’re offering that they cannot even imagine that at some point the capital will be withdrawn.
Every investor wants to make money in a short period of time. What does “short period of time” mean? Five years is a perfectly normal time frame. Your plan and presentation should provide an unambiguous answer to the investor’s unasked question, “How will this help me make a lot of money in five years?”
The answer lies in the capital withdrawal strategy. Answering “sales proceeds” destroys your business plan at the root. Investors want big payouts, not added income. They want to meet their old age in the comfort of a huge yacht, not just get their money back and a handful of dividends on top.
How do you know if the presentation went well
The obvious indicator of success, of course, will be a purchase, an investment, or a tentative agreement for the future. If none of these things happened, it doesn’t mean that your presentation failed.
First, you can get potential clients, partners, or investors interested and make an appointment for the next meeting. There you can prepare even more thoroughly and talk through the points that interest you in more detail.
Secondly, you can get valuable contact, which may connect you with a future client.
Third, even if you think you didn’t get any useful outcome, you actually got extremely valuable information – feedback. Thanks to audience feedback, you can either make changes to the product that will make it more interesting and relevant to the market, or abandon a failed idea, which will save you time, effort, and money.
