A well-executed 15-minute presentation deck can hold potential investors' attention long enough to explain what your product does and why it is a sound investment. During your presentation, it is vital that you articulate a compelling business case that makes them believe you have the capability to execute your vision and generate significant returns on their investments. Usually, a typical pitch deck consists of 15 to 20 slides in a PowerPoint presentation intended to showcase a company's strengths, including products, technology, and team to investors.
Let's look at the tips to create a 15-minute business presentation for investors and funding opportunities:
Be Conscious of the Time Allotted
When preparing your pitch, be respectful of the time the investors have allotted. Prepare a pitch deck that you can present in about 7 minutes, leaving some time for late startups and questions. If you are interrupted or your time cut short, don't let it throw you off track. Similarly, if an investor isn't paying attention, continue with your pitch respectfully and professionally. Sometimes, how you make your presentation wins you the trust and additional time from the investors rather than the content of your pitch.
Outline Your Business Model
Potential investors tend to care about the business model the most. A business model tells investors how your idea converts into revenue and profits. In a nutshell, a business model answers the question: how will you make money? Be specific about your products and pricing while emphasizing how your market is anxiously waiting for your product. Importantly, include details on the management team, marketing strategy, and revenue. The following are a few tips to nail your business model in a pitch:
Describe where most of your income will come from over the next few months or years
Show financial summary with five-year projections
Share your product costs and profit on sales
Provide details on the capital you need to turn your idea into a profitable venture.
Be Brief And to the Point
Keeping it brief and to the point is the mantra dictating the success of a 15-minute business presentation. Depending on the nature of the speech, you may need to cover a lot of ground in a minimal amount of time. Divide your speech into three components: the opening, the body, and the closing. Use the opening to introduce yourself and the topic to the audience. Use the main body of your speech to highlight the key points regarding the topic. During the closing, reiterate the topic and give an opportunity for the audience to ask questions. If you stray from this format, you risk straying into unrelated content which ultimately wastes your time.
Pay Attention to Detail
Paying attention to detail may seem like an obvious skill when you are making a presentation. However, it is one that many entrepreneurs overlook. Focusing on the fine details of your pitch deck will help your prospective investors get a better picture of what the end product will look like. Maintaining attention to detail also helps you reduce chances of mistakes and errors making your presentation more effective, concise, and precise in the long run.
Focus on Key Questions
Getting a 15-minute short presentation right takes a lot of effort and time. Ideally, don't try to cover every detail of your business. Instead, research on the key questions the investors will have and prepare an exceptional pitch that provides the answers to those questions. Decide on key points you need to get across and ruthlessly cut out any unnecessary additions. Ideally, an excellent pitch should cover the following:
The existence of a big pain point that your product or service aims to address
Product or service differentiator
Whether the market is big enough to achieve venture scale returns
The strengths that make you and your team/company the best for the project
Be Responsive to Your Audience
Most times, the investors have seen similar pitches and may have some concerns based on their experience. Try to be responsive to their questions and let the conversation focus on particular points of interest and concern rather than trying to stick with the contents of your pitch. Focusing too much on getting through a monologue presentation may mean missing significant opportunities to engage with investors on the areas of their concern. In essence, you should be flexible enough to let conversations flow to the areas the investors want to be addressed.
Don't Bring Too Many People
Although you may be tempted to bring along the entire team who can answer any questions, bringing more than one or two people to a 15-minute presentation meeting is rarely productive. Having too many people present a pitch means others will not get opportunities to speak, meaning their area of expertise won't get covered. It is generally advisable to bring one or two founders to make a compelling pitch for the first meeting, with the rest of the team getting their chances in the subsequent meetings.
Final Thoughts
Remember, 15 minutes may not be enough for an investor to fully understand your business, which should not be your target. Your goal should be to arouse the interest of the investors and excite their curiosity so much that they grant you a more extended meeting where you can enumerate more on the aspects of your business. Whether you are a startup or an established business, your 15-minute pitch deck should cover the reasons why investors should buy into your idea and fund your vision. Remember to outline your business model, pay attention to details, be brief and to the point.
If you need help to fund a compelling and exciting business idea, The Bahamas Entrepreneurial Venture Fund can help you get started. At BEVFL, we invest in rapidly growing companies that have the potential to develop into significant economic contributors. Contact us today to learn more.
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