Investment Presentation Techniques
Once you have attracted the interest of Investors in your offering its time to start the process rolling. There are various milestones to securing funding, you’ve set the ground work with the Elevator Pitch, it’s now time to follow up the good first impression with a well thought out investment presentation.
You will probably be asked to visit the Investors offices to Pitch the idea in person, in some cases the Investor may wish to visit your premises and see the business operation first hand.
Anticipating any concerns
When you do get to meet the potential investor to conduct the investment presentation it is always best to anticipate any concerns that investor may have before hand and think of solutions that can easily be implemented. If you or your business don’t currently have the skills to work around the potential issues don’t be afraid to ask the Investor to advise, Investment is always a two way process even if the Investor prefers to be a silent partner.
Sell the benefits for the Investor
The first aim with the investment presentation is to show the benefits of the Investors involvement in the venture. Paying particular attention to the investment required and how this will lead to high returns on exit. You should also sell the benefits of the terms you are proposing i.e. Equity share, share of control, timescale of investment.
Keep it simple
It is often more successful to opt for a short, catchy, exciting presentation than a long-winded, complex and technical presentation. This simple approach is often very beneficial when presenting for business funding.
Negotiation
If the presentation goes well and the Investor is interested in collaborating with you in your venture its time to “talk turkey”. The investor may wish to negotiate key issues such as:
- Responsibilities
- Growth targets
- Exit strategy
- Contracts
- Warranties and indemnities
- plus other issues
Investors involvement
The investor may well wish to discuss their involvement in the day-to-day running of the business they may wish to be a part of the business from the very start. They may intend to bring in their own management team to drive forward growth Perhaps they would prefer to take a back seat and are happy with scheduled progress updates.
However you will probably find the majority of Business Angels and Venture Capitalists alike will prefer at least some input in to the business processes even if that means they don’t get involved with day-to-day business operations.
Financial
It is so important to have detailed, accurate and professionally presented financial information. For the Investor to take the proposition seriously they need to have copies of any historical and/or forecast financial data. It may also be beneficial to include business policies and procedures and supplier details.
If there is one area of the investment presentation that needs to be rehearsed its the financial aspects, you need to be able to answer, without hesitation direct probing financial questions regarding anything from annual turnover and year end pre tax profits to projected future valuation.
Employ professional help
You may wish to employ a specialist accountant and legal advisor to help you formulate your investment presentation and negotiate favourable terms.
The next step
Hopefully your investment presentation is successful and the investor is excited about future prospects with you and your venture. You will need to draw up a schedule and a plan of how the investor will be involved within the running of the business.
You may prefer a “sleeping partner” but it is very beneficial to utilise the expertise of the investor and their management team and this is often made a requirement of the Investment.
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