Once you’ve built and tested a minimum viable product (MVP), it’s time to meet with investors. That means you will need to prepare presentation, a.k.a. ‘pitch deck’,  that persuades investors to provide funding your business.

One famous example of a successful pitch deck is the one that was used by the online accommodation marketplace AirBnB. Their presentation used just a few words, told an impressive story, and is an example to all entrepreneurs looking to secure investments in their business.

Here are some top tips on how to create a presentation for investors:

Designing the slide show

• Create an attractive cover page with just your business name and a tag line
• Make sure the slideshow looks professional and the style is consistent throughout the slides, with the same font sizes and colors in every slide.
• The slideshow should be 15-20 slides long – max.
• Make sure the slides aren’t too wordy – use as few words as possible and keep the slides easy to read. Remember, you can explain everything yourself during the presentation.
• Use plenty of interesting images and graphics to keep the investors interested.
• Send a PDF version of the slide show to the investors in advance so they can have it for reference.

What to include in the presentation

Introduce your product or service

• First, introduce the gap in the market that your product will fill. You need to persuade the investor that there is a problem that needs fixing.
• Then, explain exactly what your business or product will do to solve that problem. If possible, use a bold statement that will make an impact.
• Include proof that customers want your product or service, such as statistics that provide market validation and show the size of the market. Also include feedback from the MVP testing stage. Explain all the numbers clearly and only include recent statistics.

• Include a product demo, or at least screenshots or images or your product, to show how it works.

The competition

• Include information about your competitors. Then explain why your product or service is unique, and different from the competition.

The team

• Share information about your team, including experiences and skills that will help with running a successful business.

Your plan

• Explain your marketing plan and revenue model. This should include how you plan to grow your business, gain profit, and the marketing ideas you will implement to get more customers.

• Show the investors how you would plan to spend the money if they would invest in your business – use a simple timeline showing the goals the money would achieve, such as when you would be able to launch your product.

Presenting the pitch deck

• Keep your pace and don’t spend too long on one slide.
• Speak clearly and focus on the key points of your pitch, don’t let yourself get caught up on the details.
• Don’t read directly from your script. Try and make eye contact with the investors and use a natural tone of voice.
• Limit the presentation to 10-20 minutes to allow plenty of time for questions and discussion. This also makes sure the investors will stay focused. If you are given a set time for the pitch, try and take at least five minutes less.
• Make sure to prepare facts and information to answer any questions the investors may have.

Top tip – tell a story

One great way to make your business presentation stand out is to turn the pitch into a memorable story. Stories evoke emotions and can be both powerful and hard to forget. Instead of giving a typical presentation full of facts and figures, you could turn it all into an interesting and passionate story about your business. Include plenty of accompanying pictures, as pictures are more memorable than words.

Useful tools for building your pitch deck

There are lots of useful tools for building slide shows that can help you produce an incredible pitch deck. Here are some links to the best, easy-to-use investor pitch deck tools and templates available:

• Slidebean  presentation creation tool
• Canva’s investor pitch deck template
• Xtensio’s pitch deck template
• Startup X’s Perfect Pitch PowerPoint template
• Decker’s PowerPoint business pitch template

If you follow the tips above, you’ll create a presentation your investors will love. Remember to keep on track, include plenty of eye-capturing images, and tell the investors exactly why your product is worth investing in.