1.
Do your
research. Know what types of businesses and industries the VC usually
invests in, and what characteristics he or she values in a company and its
staff members. Keep these things in mind while preparing your presentation and
try to tailor it to the specific VC of VC firm to whom you will be presenting
it.
2.
Introduce
yourself and your company. State your name, the name of your company, and
briefly describe what your company does. You really want to do this in just one
or two sentences. You may say for example, "Hello, my name is Mark Maddox,
I am the sole proprietor of XYZ Corporation, and we manufacture educational
products for children".
3.
Recite
your Mission Statement. If you do not have a mission statement, consider
drafting one. Many VCs view a mission statement as an essential part of
starting a successful business. Your mission statement should be no more than a
paragraph in length and should include the following:
·
The company's purpose. Make it short and to the
point. For example, a company who manufactures educational products for
children may state its purpose as, "to provide children with high quality,
inexpensive, educational materials".
·
Your target audience. Your target audience is
the group of people to whom you will market your product or service. For
example, a manufacturer of children's educational products may serve children
all across the United States or a tax preparation company may serve tax payers
in a certain county or state.
·
A description of your company’s product(s)
and/or service(s). Describe what your company's product or service is, what it
does or how it works, and why someone should want to buy or use it. For
example, a tax preparation company may provide faster, more accurate, and less
expensive income tax preparation services to tax payers in the area than any
other company.
·
An explanation of what the company wishes to
accomplish. For example, an animal shelter may wish to "ensure that all
homeless and abused animals find caring, loving homes" or a tax preparation
company may wish to "make fast, accurate tax preparation available to all
taxpayers".
4.
Show a
PowerPoint presentation. Design the presentation as a visual aid, to be
used by the VC, while he or she listens to you describe the information being
displayed on each slide in more detail. Your presentation should be clear,
concise, and to the point. It should be approximately 20 minutes in length and
include:
·
Your company contact information. This includes
your company name, logo, tagline, if you have one, the businesses' physical
address and your name and personal telephone number.
·
An introduction to your product. Provide a brief
description of the product or service your company offers. You might want to
use photos or illustrations of the product in appropriate places, or include a
video demonstration of the product.
·
Your company’s financial information. A summary
of your most recent profit and loss statement, your current budget, and a
financial projection for the following year should be included in the
financials. Consider using bar graphs and pie charts to illustrate the most
important points.
·
A marketing plan. The plan should be a summary
of your marketing strategy from your business plan, and should include just the
most important points. You may wish to illustrate your points with charts or
graphs to make the plan easier to read and understand.
·
A description of the competition. Identify and
name your competition. Describe the competition’s product and marketing
strengths and weaknesses. You may also want to briefly describe why your
product is better than your competitor’s product and how you will convince
potential customers of that.
·
A summary of why the VC should invest in your
company. Create a bulleted list of your company’s main attractions or write a
paragraph selling your product and your company. However you format it, this is
your last chance to 'pitch' your product to the VC.
5.
Introduce
your management team. You may choose to include this in the PowerPoint
presentation or make it more personal by speaking about the team at the end of
your PowerPoint slideshow. However you do it, your introduction should include
the following information for each team member:
·
Experience. A team member’s experience is
important to a VC. After all, new companies fail everyday due to a simple lack
of experience. Your team’s previous experience and successful business ventures
will help convince a VC that your business will succeed and is worth investing
in.
·
Education. A team member's educational
background is important to a VC considering investing in your company.
Well-educated members can give your company an advantage over those company's
without educated team members. Describe each member’s education and any degrees
he or she possess.
·
Personal characteristics. Your team member's
character and personality traits are an important factor in whether your
business will be successful or not. Hard working, intelligent, creative,
reliable, trustworthy team members are more apt to create and run a successful
business than lazy, unreliable, and dishonest team members. Talk about your
team members’ strengths and how they will contribute to the success of your
business.
6.
Describe
how much capital you need and what you will do with it. You may wish to
make extra slides or create an addendum to your presentation so that you can
show charts, graphs, or bulleted lists while presenting this information. Be
very specific about how much money you need and how it will be spent.
7.
Ask the
VC or group if there are any questions that you can answer. No matter how
well you cover everything in your presentation, a person considering making an
investment in your business will very likely have some questions. Ask if there
is any additional information that you can provide to the VC, any questions you
may answer, or any concerns that you may address. Be prepared to answer
questions about your business, product, and financials completely and honestly.
8.
Thank the
VC for his or her time. The professional way to end any business
presentation is to thank your audience for their time. Shake the VC's hand and
tell him or her that you appreciate their time and look forward to hearing from
them. If you have a business card, this would be the time to hand it to them.
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