“If you have a self-explanatory interesting deck, you have won half of the pitch my dear friend!” said my professor while explaining to me the importance of a client pitch deck. That evening, he did not only tell me how necessary the deck is to win over the investors but also how to make one for the new business ideas. And here I am writing this blog to share with you his words of wisdom.

First of all, your idea should be written in a clear and simple language with no jargons, making it easy-to-understand for readers/investors. Plus it should be compelling and have a CTA that connect with your audience as well as persuade them to invest in your idea. Make sure that your entire pitch is in a form of a storyline i.e. its flow is quite important. A piece here and a piece there makes your idea weak and nothing more. All these pointers will help increase engagement and conversions. So, avoid making the mistakes everyone does and master the art of making a pitch deck. Here, I am listing down a few important things that you should always remember -

●       On the cover page, always mention your company’s logo, tagline and contact information. It should give the person sitting at the front the idea of what your company is about and what your contact information is if he/she wants to connect with you.

●       Before presenting your main idea, summarize the milestones and interesting facts (if any) about your company and team members in brief. This would hold the interest of the investors and will give them the idea of what your actual potential is and what you aim at.

●       Start by telling about the problem you want to solve with this startup idea. Show them your research behind the problem and why it needs to be addressed at the soonest. The investors will be interested in your concept if - they have undergone the problem in the past; if they think they will get higher ROI; if it falls under their professional expertise and really thinks this problem needs to be solved for the upliftment of the society. See if you can build the narrative around these three brackets.

●       Then comes the most important aspect - the proposition you are bringing to the table, your solution. Present your solution in a direct manner and state how it solves the problem you just mentioned. And in case you have run a demo test, it is the right time to present it.

●       Couple your solution with the market research. Tell the investors about the market size your product will cater to. Because in the end, everyone wants to invest in something profitable. Analyze the cost of acquiring these customers and an estimate you will be generating once your startup idea takes off. It will be like a revenue forecast. 

●       Amidst listing all of these things, do not forget to study and list your competition, the services they are offering and what sets you apart from them.

●       Last but not least, demonstrate your business model and the financing you’ll need for it. If you have already raised money or have invested yours, inform them about what you have done with that funding. If you are still in your initial phase, then you must tell them how much funding you want to raise and where you will be deploying it.

All of the aforementioned points will help you make a pitch-perfect presentation to win over your investors. In the cut-throat competition of today, these will help you to be an edge above the rest. If currently, you are finding an investor for your startup idea, then IC Square might hold your interest. It is an idea incubation challenge programme, introduced by Rajan Nanda Innovation Lab, for all the college students out there who want to turn their startup ideas into flourishing businesses. Log onto their website to know more.