We have previously talked about knowing that your new app is ready to be presented to investors, what you should seek in your ideal investor and when to prepare the pitch. Next and crucially – if you really want to win the deal – you will have to understand what you should feature in the pitch deck.
It may appear simple to find funding for your app and to turn it into an amazing success, but in reality, there’s a great deal of work required. You should already be aware of this. You will have no doubt, worked really hard developing this idea and bringing the app to life.
However, pitching your app to investors is a serious business. It doesn’t matter if you are running your company from your garage, your app pitch deck should look as good, if not better than the best apps already on the market. If it isn’t, you’ll not stand out from the crowd enough to tempt investors to bet their cash on your project.
Your app pitch deck has to be a clear and concise explanation of your idea. It should be presented in a visual manner with slides containing text and images of your app. This can then be shown to interested parties prior to or at an investment meeting. Investors won’t spend much time looking through your pitch deck, so it needs to create a great impression from the get-go. The sections discussed in this article represent the best way to increase your chances of gaining funding.
Here is all you need to know for your app pitch deck:
Company Overview and Vision
This should be a concise statement of what your app is and what solution it achieves. It should be a mission statement answering the question of why your business should exist.
You want to impress the investor and gain their interest in your exciting business model. It needs to be good as it will be the first thing they read and you need to get off to a flying start. You do need to make sure you remain somewhat realistic in your claim though.
You can then continue to provide a brief introduction of any successes you have already gained in marketing the app and any other important information.
The Problem
What problem does your app design solve? Does it create value in people’s lives? Your app must be the solution to a problem which people need to remove from their lives. If this isn’t the case, why would anyone ever want to use it and how can you expect investors to want to fund it?
Your app pitch deck must be absolutely clear as to what the problem is. If you expect to gain investor interest, the problem must be able to earn your business money in the way it removes customer problems. There has to be genuine potential to create a business from this identified problem.
In your pitch deck, you also need to explain current methods of solving the problem. Show why your app is more effective for the customer, and why current solutions are ineffective by comparison.
The Solution
Solve the problem you’ve outlined. How does your app successfully deal with the issue? Does your solution make people’s lives better?
This is where your app pitch deck is going to have to clearly show the benefits of your way of solving the problem. It needs to show investors that your app is better than competitors. This is your unique value proposition, it should be obvious that this is a superior way of solving the problem than that offered by your competition.
Is your solution more cost-effective, perhaps? Is your app easier to use? Maybe your idea is somehow more effective than the existing methods. Whatever the unique value your service provides you need to highlight it here.
If possible, it is advisable to actually show your app working and providing the better solution to customers. This will have a greater effect on investors than simply an explanation of your app’s features.
Your App
Explain the app design to your investors and show your app’s functionality. If it is still being developed, make it clear as to what stage it is by your app agency at and how much more development is needed. You need to show enough so that it’s clear how the app works in a simple and straightforward way.
Timing
Is this the right time to launch this app? You have to give reasons why you think the market is ready for your app, now. To achieve this you can use data that supports this opinion. It could be data from similar products or data which shows a growing trend in your particular sector.
Target Market
Here you delve into what exactly your targeted market is worth, and how many people this demographic represents. You have to show that this market is not only growing but is also really keen on solving the problem you have identified.
Investors aren’t going to show much interest in a market which isn’t very large and doesn’t show demand for your service.
You need to accurately show data on your market size and how much of this market you can engage through your sales channels. Your app pitch deck also needs to show the growth of this market sector over in the previous several years. From this information, you should be able to show the likely number of customers for your product.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of targeting a market which is too big. Trying to run before you can walk isn’t going to impress investors.
Traction
Does your app already have users? If so, talk about them and show any sales made. This will give investors the proof they are looking for to show that your idea may have legs.
This section can support your target market information, bolstering the evidence for the likely success of your app.
Team
Your app pitch deck needs give an overview of the team you have in place. What experience do they have and what are their qualifications?
This is a more important section than it may first seem, backers, look to invest in the people behind the idea. You could present the best idea since sliced bread, but if the people which hope to make this app a success aren’t up to the job, why would an investor risk their money?
Show how members of your team have been successful in the past, as this will give potential backers confidence in your setup.
Marketing and Business Model
How will your app gain customers and make money? You need to show investors how you will grow your customer base and the likely earnings from those customers. Explain how you will earn money from app downloads, will you charge a subscription, display advertising or something else?
Show in the app pitch deck, what your customer acquisition costs are forecast to be. You should be able to give a rough guide to this cost by looking at competitor’s acquisition methods.
You will also need to show how much each customer is worth to the business once acquired. This figure, combined with the acquisition cost will show potential investors how profitable your app could be.
Financials
Investors will, of course, need to see profit and loss statements and cash flow forecasts for the previous years of operation. This doesn’t need to be too in-depth, just show sales charts, customer growth, profits and expenses.
If your app isn’t available yet, you face the problem of trying to give an accurate cash flow projection without much-supporting evidence. Understandably, investors may struggle to give any credence to the numbers you present in this circumstance.
Competition
Your app pitch should show that you know your competition. Discuss how they operate, also how your app is different and better with their solution.
Your competition is a risk to the success of your app. You have to show that you understand this risk to alleviate the fears of investors.
If you think you don’t have any direct competition, this will be a warning sign to investors. It signifies that you haven’t done enough research into your market or that there isn’t really a market for the service you want to provide to people.
Investment and use of funds
Finally, why do you need the investment? How do you plan to spend it? Show forecasts. Pitching your idea is really difficult, but hopefully, this guide to app pitch deck preparation will help you succeed.
