Welp MagazineA business plan in a PowerPoint presentation is a quick, effective, and interesting way to tell investors, clients, or senior managers what your ideas are without going into a great deal of detail. An ideal business plan needs to be short, organized and yet showcase what makes your concepts standout such as their originality or creativity. Here are a few tips on creating a winning business plan in PowerPoint quickly and easily so you are well on your way to attracting investors for your next big project.
1. Quick Introduction
In a business plan, no one has the time for lengthy introductions. Have a single slide with a title and only 2 sentences that describe your personal expertise or that of the company/brand you represent. If you use business plan slide decks that you can purchase online, they may probably have slides made for every new chapter in your business plan moving forward.
2. Identify, Identify, Identify
All business plans respond to a need or a demand that exists in their market or more specifically their target market. Make a problem statement of sorts and identify the problem/s that you are aiming to solve with your business plan. This is the time to use data, research figures, third-party statistics, and any other information you deem relevant. While at this stage you will not go into full detail, it is wise to touch upon the sources of knowledge you have utilized before preparing the presentation.
3. Skip To The Good Parts
Business plans differ from regular presentations in the sense that they need to capture interest right away and have stricter time limitations. Your next slide in this business plan presentation needs to be your take on the solution to the problem you explained. In this slide, you can add a bit more detail about your personal endeavors and expertise to show that you are the ideal person for this project. The value proposition you present here makes all the difference regarding the outcome.
4. Don’t Forget The Numbers
Finance, funds, and numbers are extremely imperative for any business-related success. When presenting a business proposition you need to elaborate on the sources of finance, assets, liabilities as well as risk evaluation or sales forecasting if you have carried that out. The more financial data you can present in an accessible and stylish fashion (for example through infographic templates), the better because it helps clients and investors determine the level of risk and speeds up decision making. Mention pricing strategy, how long it will take to breakeven, and when you expect profit to start coming in.
5. The Modus Operandi
Your later slides can shed more light on how you mean to operate your business plan and keep track of it. Will you have a computerized tracking system, a feedback portal and how will you manage suppliers and vendors and so forth or where will you source your raw materials from? The exact specifics depend on the nature of your business or product idea or investment opportunity.
By illustrating or elaborating on the way matters will be run, again instills trust in potential investors. Using PowerPoint timeline templates for example can be great for the audience to envision the flow of events and how milestones will be reached in a timely way. For this set of slides, you can use multimedia and visual aids like diagrams to explain operations and efficiency.
6. Marketing Is Imperative
From global industrial giants to small startup companies, no one can survive in this digital era without having a sound marketing plan that encompasses both social media and traditional forms of advertising. As the cherry on top of the cake, show your clients or investors a mockup or summarized version of what your marketing strategy will be. Even the finest products or business ideas can fail if they are not marketed properly after conducting sound market research.
7. Competitors Make All The Difference
When mapping the external environment of a business that it is undoubtedly greatly affected by, competitors are an important factor to consider. Show your audience you have studied the market share and standing of your competitors and have a strategy to provide a USP or unique selling point to your service or product that will help it to stand out and attract customer attention.
8. Talk About Your Investments
In your later slides mention the talent you have employed, recruited, or partnered with for the business venture. You can also mention forecasting figures for sales and market share where relevant. If you have achieved value addition for your product or service, mention what makes it special.
