Lesson 4: Further areas to be covered in your investment presentation
In this series we have already covered the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement in depth but what else will you need to cover in your presentation? You don’t want to lose a potential investment because you have overlooked something as non-important. The panel will want to know the ins and outs of your business, how it works, where their money will go, how you manage your time and money now and they will want to gain a good impression of you. It may feel as though the pressure is on but planning, preparation and confidence in your business knowledge will let you shine through.
These are the areas that we think are essential to your presentation and should also be included:
Business Overview
To open the presentation you need to introduce yourself and your business. Give a brief overview of who you are, what you do and how you do it. You don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, just let everyone know the fundamentals of your business. You could also briefly go into what some of the key goals of your business are so the investors get a feel for where you want to be.
The Market
You need to set the scene for the market in which you operate. Who or what is your target market? What is the size of the market? Is it growing or in decline? Has there been a shift in buying trends or do you anticipate one? How are you currently positioning yourself in the market and is this going to change? These are the types of things investors will want to know so you’ll need to be well prepared in this area. A key point of interest will be where is the opportunity in the market? and what is the size of it? Don’t overinflate the potential market size of the market or the share you could obtain. It needs to realistic or the investors will start to seriously question if this is a viable opportunity.
Your Product or Service
The next thing to talk about is your product or service. Exactly what are you going offer and for how much? Does this differ depending on who you are selling to? What makes your product or service better than others? It’s important to talk about your customers, what their needs or requirements are and how you are going to meet their needs. If you can demonstrate your products or have pictures in your slide deck then this will help investors visualise what you’re all about. Also, if you have a team of people working for you then its worth mentioning the skills and experience you have in the business.
Competition
You need to summarise who your competitors are and how they compare to you. This is from how big they are financially, what products/services they offer to what markets they focus on, what they do well and what they do badly. You need to say how you’re going to compete with them, are you going to beat them on price or offer a better product or something different? You need to show that your business can be successful versus the opposition.
Financials
Firstly, go over your previous year’s results, going back 2 to 3 years if possible. It shouldn’t be too in depth, just headline figures, explaining the trends in the figures and how you view the performance. The investors will want to see a summarised income statement, and probably a balance sheet and cash flow statement.
Investors will be particularly interested in your future forecasts for sales and profits. Where will the business finish this year, next year, 3 to 5 years time? Depending on the goals of your company you’ll be highlighting different things. Most businesses will be driven by profits, others by cash generation and some might be aiming to gain a market share- or perhaps you’re targeting most of these things? You’ll need to be able to discuss the underlying assumptions in how you have arrived at your sales goals and also what is driving your costs. The future forecasts tie in nicely to how much investment you are looking for and what you will do with the money so be very clear on these things.
In our next instalment, we will be focussing on how best to present a data-heavy presentation.
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