how to present a business plan to potential investors. course hero

Do you need a business plan to get an investor?

You need to practice your pitch and be ready to intelligently answer any number of questions about your business. A key to making this entire process much easier is to invest a little time and write a business plan. It’s true — not all investors will ask to see your business plan.

Who can be a potential investor?

Any person (whether an individual, a company, or another business or organization) with whom the Company or any Group Company is in negotiations to invest in the Company, any Group Company, any Interested Operator, or any target company during the Relevant Period.

How to pitch your business to a potential investor?

You need to practice your pitch and be ready to intelligently answer any number of questions about your business. A key to making this entire process much easier is to invest a little time and write a business plan.

How do you put together a business plan?

When you put together a business plan, you have to spend time thinking about things like your target market, your sales, and marketing strategy, the problem you solve for your customers, and who your key competitors are.

How do you effectively present a business plan to potential investors?

10 Tips for Presenting Your Plan to InvestorsKnow your audience. ... Clearly describe the product/service benefits. ... Show your competitive edge. ... Present a strong management team. ... Discuss the risks. ... Show them the money. ... Prepare for questions. ... Properly use visual aids.More items...

How do you present a project to an investor?

Here are some tips that should provide insight into both the art and science of presenting to investors.Be Compelling. ... Arouse Interest Immediately. ... Provide Substance. ... Project Solid Management Expertise. ... Make Your Presentation Tangible. ... Conclude with a Call to Action. ... Make Your Slides Readable. ... Prepare and Practice.More items...•

How do you present a simple business plan?

How to Write a Simple Business PlanWrite the Executive Summary. ... Add a Company Overview. ... Provide the Problem and Solution. ... Identify the Target Market. ... Write About the Competition. ... Describe Your Product or Service Offerings. ... Outline Your Marketing Tactics. ... Add a Timeline and the Metrics You Will Use to Measure Success.More items...•

What should be developed to present ideas to investors?

How to Pitch an Idea to Investors With Total ConfidenceNail your elevator speech.Research your audience.Use realistic data (and be able to back it up)Tell an engaging story.Have a documented succession plan.Dress for success.Know your revenue model.Conclusion.

How do you introduce a company to an investor?

How to Pitch Your Business Idea to Potential InvestorsTell a story. A common topic among experts was the need to be personable and create a narrative. ... Define the problem. You might be head over heels about your business concept. ... Practice as much as you can. ... Be realistic.

What to say to convince investors?

Talking to InvestorsDiscuss Your Product or Service in Terms of Market Needs. Some companies make the mistake of focusing on the size of the market. ... Recognize the Competition. ... Explain Why an Investor is Important to Your Company. ... Have a Concise Pitch. ... Look at Companies That Excel at Talking to Investors.

What are the 5 elements of a business plan?

At their core, business plans have 5 basic pieces of information. They include a description of your business, an analysis of your competitive environment, a marketing plan, a section on HR (people requirements) and key financial information.

What are the 7 parts of a business plan?

7 Essential Parts of a Business PlanExecutive summary. You'll write this at the end, as a summary of both your plan and your business. ... Market analysis. If you're not into statistics, that's okay. ... Company overview. ... Organizational structure. ... Marketing and advertising. ... Product/service description. ... Financial analysis.

What are the 10 steps to writing a business plan?

The 10 steps to write a business plan are:Create an executive summary.Compose your company description.Summarize market research and potential.Conduct competitive analysis.Describe your product or service.Develop a marketing and sales strategy.Compile your business financials.Describe your organization and management.More items...•

Judge the level of interest

You need to adeptly match the information you are presenting with the level of interest of the people you are communicating your business plan to.

Sell the core business idea efficiently

Whether you use a business plan or a pitch deck, the central principles of convincing a startup investor of the viability of your project remain the same.

Structure your business plan meticulously

Keep in mind that the business plan isn’t necessarily a document that’s meant to be read from A to Z. Usually people would skim-read it, and then they would use it as a reference document every time they need specific information.

Summary

Presenting a business project to investors isn’t as straightforward as one would think, so it pays dividends to invest the needed time to understand what the investor expects to see and to develop the needed documentation that would allow you to build a convincing case.

Why do investors want to see a business plan?

Having a business plan shows that you’ve done the homework of thinking through how your business will work and what goals you’re trying to achieve.

What documents do investors want to see?

Even if investors never ask for a detailed business plan, your business planning process should produce a few key documents that investors will want to see. Here’s what you need to be prepared to pitch investors:

Why do we need a business plan?

A business plan provides the structure for thinking through these things and documents your answers so you’re prepared for the inevitable questions investors will ask about your business. Even if investors never ask to see your business plan, the work you’ve done to prepare it will ensure that you can intelligently answer the questions you’ll get.

What do you need to forecast a business?

As I mentioned, you’ll need to create a profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet forecast. Your financial plan should be optimistic, yet realistic. This is a tough balance and your forecast is certain to be wrong, but you need to document your assumptions and plans for the business.

Why do investors pay attention to management team?

Investors will pay a lot of attention to the section of your plan where you talk about your management team because they want to know that you can transform your idea into a successful business.

What is an executive summary?

Usually written last, your executive summary is an overview of your business. As I mentioned earlier, you might use the executive summary as a stand-alone document to provide investors more detail about your business in a concise form. Read our guide on executive summaries here.

What is exit strategy?

An exit strategy. When investors give you money to start and grow your business, they are looking to eventually make a return on their investment. This could happen by eventually selling your business to a larger company or even by going public.