If you’re like most business owners, the thought of pitching your business to a potential client or investor can be downright terrifying. After all, what if you say the wrong thing? What if they don’t understand your idea? What if they laugh at you? The truth is, there are a lot of ways to botch a business pitch – but luckily, there are also plenty of ways to avoid bad business pitches.

In this blog post, we’ll share with you 10 mistakes to avoid when presenting your business pitch to the investors!

At the end of the day, your startup success rate won’t be completely tied to a bad business pitch.

Bad Business Pitch

A bad business pitch is one that does not convince the listener to invest in the product or idea being presented. This can be due to a number of factors, such as the pitch being too long, confusing, or boring.

Additionally, the pitch may not be tailored to the specific audience, or may not present a clear enough value proposition.

The Deadly Signs Of A Bad Pitch Deck

What are the warning signs of a poorly crafted presentation?

Getting funding for your startup can be a difficult process, and it’s even more difficult if your elevator pitch doesn’t hit the right notes.

There are a lot of terrible pitches out there. How can you tell if yours will make the cut?

If your presentation is exhibiting any of these telltale signs, it’s time to go back and revise it before showing it. Learn how to spot the warning signs of a poor PowerPoint so you can avoid them.

Let’s begin.

Avoid these 10 common pitching mistakes when presenting to investors.

Requesting A Non-Disclosure Agreement First

If you are asking people to sign an NDA before even seeing your pitch deck, you are likely not going to get very far. This especially applies to investors, potential partners, and new hires.

Don’t ask for an NDA. It’s a big sign that you are a novice, don’t have your priorities straight, and your startup isn’t likely to succeed. You’ll instantly be written off by those you need to see and get their input.

If you have any trade secrets or sensitive information, it’s best to leave those details out of your deck. This way, you can avoid any potential problems down the road.

Ugly Pitch Decks

Your simple and plain PowerPoint presentation may be saying that you’re either too lazy to invest time or money into creating something more visually interesting.

You could get away with this, but there’s also the downright rude.

If your presentation is unattractive, it’s time to step back and invest in its design. Others have probably been telling you this for a while, but now it’s finally time to listen to them. Poor attention to visual detail is a sign that your slide decks need work.

Every penny and every minute you spend on perfecting your sales pitches is well worth it. After all, your sales pitches are your golden ticket to raising this round of funding.

If you’re passionate about your startup idea, you need to demonstrate that through your pitch deck. Showcasing a professional and well-thought-out presentation will show investors that you’re serious about your business and respect their time and attention.

Pitch Deck Cover Slide Lacking Key Info

If you want your first impression to be a good one, your investor presentation should start off with your company logo, contact information, and an interesting, informative title.

Too Much Information/Many Slides 

Having too much information in your slide decks is a sign that you’re not ready for funding.

If you want to impress investors, then you need to have a short and sweet presentation. There is no good reason to have more than 10-15 slides in your presentation. This shows them that you haven’t taken the time to do your research and that you aren’t focused on what really matters.

If you have more than 16 to 20 slides in your pitch deck, it shows that you haven’t done the necessary homework or been able to focus and keep it simple. This lack of focus will likely carry over into other areas of your business, and investors will be less likely to trust you with their money.

8-12 slide decks should be more than enough.

Very Complicated and Detailed

If you’re looking to raise money, your investor presentation needs to be simple, clear, and uncluttered. A messy, text-heavy slide deck is an instant turn-off to investors. Keep it simple and to the point.

Your investors will realize that you don’t really understand the startup world, how to raise money, or how they work.

If they can’t even get the basics down, they obviously aren’t worth wasting your time on.

Even if you do get their attention, they are very likely to either quickly skim through your deck or miss it altogether.

Not holding your viewer’s attention is one of the worst things that can happen during a presentation.

Startup Pitch Decks – Not Crystal Clear

If a startup wants to achieve business success, it has to clearly communicate what problem it’s solving and why. Without this level of communication, it will be hard for the startup to get the support it needs to achieve success.

Not being able to communicate this effectively is an indication that your sales pitch needs some tweaking.

Prove you are focused on one very specific issue and solve it better than anyone else.

Overstating Claims

Be positive, sell your vision, and show how your company can succeed. Your investors want to believe in you and invest in a big vision too.

Don’t make claims that you can’t prove. Always back your statements up with statistics and references that are trustworthy.

Missing Key Information/Data

Before you even think about choosing a template for your deck, you should first know what your potential investors are expecting to see.

What information are they looking for? What piece of information is most important for them to make a decision?

If you’re missing key data that should be in your pitch deck template, then you need to do some more research. Make sure you have all the information you need before trying to formulate the deck.

No Unique Selling Proposition

If you don’t have a clear message, your customers won’t know what you’re selling. Take the time to develop your Unique Selling Proposition, or hire someone to help you. Only then will you be able to craft a message that speaks to your target audience.

The Truth About Successful Business Pitches

With all the media buzz about big funding rounds and billion-dollar companies, it might seem like everyone is getting funding but you. Don’t believe the hype, however, as angel investing and VC isn’t as prevalent as the media makes it out to be.

Each year, roughly 1,500 startup companies receive funding from venture capital firms, and 50,000 from angel groups.

For every 400 companies that venture capitalists invest in, they review 40.

The stories of successful startup founders are inspirational, but we don’t often hear about the process that got them there.

Finding an investor and getting them to invest in your business can be a long, arduous process.

Successful investors usually make a lot of failed investments before finding success.

According to research by docsend, the average company needs 40 meetings with investors over 12 weeks before closing a funding deal.

While twelve weeks of waiting may seem like a long time, when it comes to raising capital, being patient is a trait that investors look for.

After 6.7 weeks of fundraising, companies give up, on average, and fail to raise the money they need.

Being rejected by investors after pitching your startup can be discouraging. You spent hours preparing your slide deck and rehearsed your speech over and over.

Although you gave it your all, you were unable to convince your investors that your business idea was worth investing in.

The truth about startup pitch success is that most pitches fail. If you’re a founder walking into an investor meeting, it’s likely that you’ll walk out without a deal. However, this isn’t always the case. Many startups have had success raising money despite failed elevator pitch presentations.

Any startups that have had success in raising capital have probably had their share of unsuccessful pitches.

The sad reality is that most startups seeking funding will be rejected by the majority of investors they pitch to. However, there is still hope; even if 100 investors say no, all it takes is one yes to change everything. So don’t give up and keep trying until you find success.

Startups that receive funding are those that continue to persist after multiple failed sales pitches.

Successful startups don’t see pitch failures as actual failures, but instead, view them as learning opportunities. Every meeting with an investor is a chance to gain more knowledge and eventually achieve success in fundraising.

Conclusion

If you’re looking to avoid a bad business pitch, there are plenty of ways to do it. But by following the tips in this blog post, you can avoid making some of the most common mistakes. Just remember that pitching is all about confidence – so believe in yourself and your idea, and you’ll be sure to impress potential clients and investors alike!


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Editors Note:

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Justin McGill
About Author: Justin McGill
This post was generated for LeadFuze and attributed to Justin McGill, the Founder of LeadFuze.