Assignment 4

Assignment 4: Presentation

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After you have fleshed out your business plan you will have the information you will need for a slide presentation (e.g., PowerPoint). This 12-slide presentation conveys the most important aspects of your business in a short time. More sophisticated investors, such as angel investors and venture capitalists, will typically not look at your written business plan until they have seen your slide presentation.

Presentation (MS PowerPoint or equivalent)

1. Create a 12-slide presentation. Follow the outline on pp. 343–346 for the critical slides of your presentation and their placement. Click here for help accessing a specific page number in your eBook.

1. Hints: Include the highlights of your elevator pitch, which shows that you understand your business. The elevator pitch is a concise description of your company—its product, market, competitive advantages, and so on. Whether pitching your business to an investor or describing it to a potential connection at a networking event, you need to be able explain your business succinctly to someone in the amount of time it would take to ride up a few floors in an elevator. Use the worksheet in the text (p. 362 | Your “Elevator Pitch”) to develop your elevator pitch.

1. Hints: You must limit your presentation to twelve (12) slides. You do not want to overwhelm your audience with too many slides or bore them with information they already know.

. Cite three (3) resources you have used to complete the exercise.

2. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

· Describe strategic planning techniques used to formulate alternative strategies designed to achieve stated business goals.

· Create a plan to implement a firm’s strategy and manage the change from current operations.

· Analyze strategies for exerting the internal leadership needed to drive the implementation of strategic initiatives and improve operating excellence.

· Use technology and information resources to research issues in strategic management.

· Write clearly and concisely about strategic management using proper writing mechanics.

12 CRITICAL SLIDES

Title slide: your company’s name, a short company description, name of presenter(s) if presenting in person.

Your elevator pitch: a succinct description of your products or services, market, and competitive advantages. Use vibrant language, and if possible, embed audio or video to demonstrate your product or service.

Size of opportunity: this is what investors — VCs even more so than angels — want to know. To what size can your company potentially grow and what are your plans for future development?

Your specific target customers: who they are and the customer needs that your product or service will meet.

The market size: numbers and dollars, past growth, growth forecasts.

The competition: division of market share, how your product compares to theirs, your value proposition in comparison to the competition’s, and barriers to entry.

Your team: who they are, their past successes and experience, and why they are qualified to do the job.

The business model: how you will distribute your product, pricing strategies, how you will reach your customers.

Milestones: a time line that outlines when you expect to reach key achievements.

Financials: a brief summary of key points from your income statement, balance sheet, and/or cash flow projections.

Funding: how much you are asking for in this round, how many future rounds are expected, how much you will request during those rounds, and how the funds will be used.

The investment opportunity: potential exit strategies and financial return for investors.

Your “Elevator Pitch”

For a voice mail message, state the nature of your call and your business up front and then clearly and slowly explain how you can be reached. Describe your company in “big picture” terms: Do not go into too many details; they may misunderstand the nature of your business. Always indicate that you will also phone back — that gives you an opening to call again without seeming too pushy.

Your voice mail message might be something like, “Aaron Schneider suggested I call you about my new food products and service company, AAA, Inc. Aaron thought our approach to growth and our established customer base would interest you. I’d appreciate the chance to speak with you. I can be reached at 650-555-1000 or you can email me at arnie at aaa.com. I will also try you again in a couple of days. Thank you.”

Your email message can be very similar to your voice mail. It should be short and direct, and you should provide a way for them to contact you by phone. You can include the address of your website, if you have one up and running, and if you are willing to have the potential funder see it before they’ve talked to you. Refrain from using any attachments, especially in your first contact. Be careful not to be too vague in your “Subject” line, such as “Great Business Opportunity” or “New Business Venture.” You don’t want your recipient to think your message is spam and delete it without even opening it.

“Emailing a summary is the most common and the best way to convey a plan. Email a summary with the idea of trying to set up a meeting to present a full presentation.”

Mark Gorenberg

Venture Capitalist

“The Elevator Pitch”

When considering a prospective investment, venture capitalists and other investors often want to hear what they call the “elevator pitch.” This is the concise description of a company — its product or service, market, competitive advantages — that an entrepreneur could give in the time it would take to ride up an elevator (and not to the top floor of a skyscraper!). An “elevator pitch” shows that you understand your business. (If you’re unclear on your strategic position, you’d still be mumbling as you pass the fifteenth floor.)

“The classic elevator pitch is very important to us. Angel investors typically co-invest with others. If an entrepreneur can’t describe their concept quickly, it’s hard for us to raise money from others.”

Lauren Flanagan

Cofounder and Managing

Director, BELLE Capital USA