A pitch deck is a presentation that generates excitement, interest, and investment, by showcasing what your company is all about and how you intend to progress to achieve market share, profitability, and success.
Most companies use a professional pitch deck design service to maximize the visual impact of their slides and improve their prospects of securing investment or financing.
How to Start Designing a Pitch Deck
These presentations are unique in that they collate quantitative data, forecasting, research, marketing, and branding all in one space–the average pitch deck design costs outweigh the advantages of a fantastic set of slides.
Below, we explain the key elements of a pitch deck, which an experienced freelance designer can run through with you in more detail. Guru’s network of skilled pitch deck designers also provides access to portfolios and past projects, a great way to find inspiration or get insights into how successful pitch decks are formatted.
Pitch Deck Introduction
The introduction sets the tone for your presentation, communicating the core value proposition you intend to showcase. First impressions count, so a slick, professional first slide determines your audience’s engagement as you move on to more detailed information.
Market Conditions
For an angel investor or venture capitalist to invest in your business, you need to explain the problem you solve, where a gap in the market exists, or what you do differently that presents a clear business case.
Customer Demographics
Financiers must understand your target market and how you will promote your service or product to that demographic to achieve effective sales growth.
The pitch deck should include market research to demonstrate the competition and how you fit into that business space and extract market share or establish demand for a new offering. Potential market size and opportunities for innovation are all-important because they define the returns an investor might expect to make.
Mission Statement
Once you have established the background and demand for your brand, you then explain how you provide a solution. A narrative can be useful in putting your service or product into context and showing how you offer a unique benefit or advantage that presents a clear value to your target market.
Business Model
Your business model slide shows the commercial case for investing in your company. This part of your pitch deck should include the following:
- Forecast growth projections
- Risk mitigation measures
- Milestones and targets
- Annual anticipated revenues
- Profit margins
If you can show clear, logical figures that indicate a strong potential for stable profits, scalability, and ongoing growth, you will significantly improve your investment potential.
Marketing and Sales
Investors want to know how you will introduce your product or service and how your sales strategy will ensure you reach your intended customers. This part of a pitch deck is also about proving that you have the in-depth market knowledge required and a strategic approach to penetrating the existing market.
You can add a separate slide analyzing the competition and then show how you differentiate yourself or the USPs that outperform rival businesses.
Business Management Team
Next, your pitch deck should introduce your management team and any co-founders, talking about their experience, capabilities, and skills and how together you intend to make your new venture a success.
Small details such as previous roles at established brands in the sector or a formal qualification can be influential because they show that you have the professional abilities to deliver.
Company Financials
Although you have covered some of the basic figures within your business model, most investment panels prefer to see a separate slide covering financials, which shows how you have reached your forecasts. For example, you can detail existing investment or seed funding, performance year on year, and calculations used to corroborate your claims.
A freelance pitch deck designer will often suggest infographics, bar graphs, and pie charts since these make the information easier to digest and more memorable.
Investment Pitch
The final slide in a pitch deck is one of the most important and most commonly overlooked. Investors want to know what you are asking for, how much financing you need to achieve your objectives, and what you will do with the funding to guarantee you can hit those targets.
Being upfront about your investment expectations and what you are offering in return, such as equity shares, establishes transparency, clarity, and trust.
