Starting and running a business is not easy especially when it comes to financial matters. Investors are not only great for providing the much needed capital during business start up but also valuable guidance and advice from their years of experience. One of the best ways to get investors on your side is through a compelling and visually inspiring business presentation. Here are some tips on how pitch your business to investors.
You need to prepare a PowerPoint presentation that will engage the investors and get them to understand your business. Investors want to know how your business idea will benefit them, whether it is making millions of dollars or fulfilling personal interest and hobbies, you need to find a way of getting this out to them clearly. There are various PowerPoint templates for business that you can modify for your business needs to create a brilliant presentation.
Investors evaluate your business idea, you and your team. If you have any other partners in the business idea, you should include them in your presentation. A maximum of two people should present, with the CEO taking the lead presenter role. The investors evaluate the business and the management team of the business so you need your presenters to be on top of their game. The fact that an investor agrees to a meeting means they are already in the early stages of negotiation. Your passion, enthusiasm and business presentation are what will seal the deal.
You do not need to squeeze all the details into your slides. They should only contain highlights of important moments and features of your business. You are the overall guide through the content and you need to extremely confident and familiar with the presentation. The presentation is not just about the business proposition. A good business idea in the wrong hands will not yield anything. This presentation should highlight personal skills such as integrity, experience, domain expertise, skill set, commitment and leadership among other skills. The investors want to know whether you have the skills to build the business, whether you will see the venture through, whether you have the networks to build the company and whether you can work well with the team members and the investors.
You should expect many questions both during and after the presentation. The investor is often more knowledgeable about business and financial matters than the business product itself. You may be very confident in your innovation but your business skill is the thin line between winning over the investors and losing them completely. You need to do a lot of research and learn more about setting up, managing and growing a business.
Even when the questions get really tough, remember that investors will only ask questions if they are interested. You need to start anticipating and preparing for these questions while working on your presentation because they are bound to come up.
You must be logged in to post a comment.