Once your
fundraising plan and your pitch list is together, make sure you have your key
pitch “assets” in order. If you can get the basics down, it’s much easier
to prepare all of these documents as needed.
Elevator Pitch
Your elevator
pitch is a short synopsis of your business, covering three main things:
1. What is the
problem you solve?
2. 2. What is the
solution you provide?
3.
3. Who are the
people you serve?
Preferably get
all that down in one or two sentences and keep it to 30 seconds or even 1
minute long…no more.
Surprisingly, getting
your pitch to be short, powerful and self-explanatory is quite hard to
do. For example, to describe what Netflix does you might say “We allow
anyone to easily rent and watch TV programs or movies on any device.”
You will use
your elevator pitch often – in introduction emails, in presentations, and
during chance meetings. Keep rehearsing it and be sure to keep it short.
It can be very useful.
Pitch Deck
This is a
PowerPoint of your business plan. While a business plan is a long narrative of
the business, the pitch deck is what you’ll use to present your concept
directly to a room of investors. The pitch deck is more visual, a maximum
of 10 slides, highlighting a few key points with minimal copy. It’s
particularly useful when showing off graphs and visual assets that help
communicate the value of your idea. Test
it yourself by looking at it from a distance, say across the room if you can
project it onto a wal; or stand 10 feet away from your laptop or desktop and if
you can see it ok then it will be good to go.
Summary
The summary breaks
down your business plan into just a page or two. There are usually 12 -14
sections in a business plan. Summarise the key points as briefly as
possible, using each major section of a standard business plan as a guide. This
“executive” summary (as they can be called) will inform those investors that
want a more detailed narrative behind your elevator pitch.
Business Plan
A time consuming
process where you develop every step of your business strategy and plan from
start to finish. The real value of a business plan comes from the planning,
brainstorming and research that goes into crafting the plan. The result of this
effort makes your new business idea far more credible.
Website
The website
provides a professional view of your company, who you are and what you’re
trying to accomplish. It is highly recommended to have a website in order to
pitch for capital. The website provides supporting information for people
interested in learning more after hearing your pitch. You don’t put
financial forecasts or secret sauce on your website unless it’s in a password
protected place.
Financial
Documents
The financials
cover your revenue forecasts to your operational expenses to your cash flow.
•
Revenue
Projections. Explain where
your revenue is going to come from, and within what periods. A three-year
revenue projection is a good place to start. No one really knows how
much revenue is going to be generated, so this is an exercise of what’s
possible, not what’s guaranteed.
•
Operational
Expenses. As the company
grows, point out where your expenses will grow. Explain how staffing, product
costs, marketing and overhead (rent, supplies) will scale with the growth of
your business.
•
Cash Flow. Your cash flow should detail exactly when you expect
cash to come in and out of the business. Be ready to provide a balance sheet,
pro forma income statement (“projected” revenue and expenses) and such. As long
as you’re communicating the three main tenets of the business—revenue, expenses
and cash flow—you should be in good shape here.
Conclusion
It is possible to
start your raising capital without all of these documents in place, but it
isn’t advisable. These documents require you to do a lot of homework and
preparation, which is exactly the kind of exercise you need to go through in
order to become more fundable as a company.
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