Background
Sometimes known by other names such as the “executive summary”, the pitch deck as we shall call it, is the first real contact that your prospective purchaser is going to have with your business, apart from the somewhat frivolous “business nets R1000’s per month, asking the bargain basement price of RMillions. Please call Frank…” advertisement that you may place in the local classifieds.
Your pitch deck is a document which will lay out the basics of the business, and show what you are able to offer the purchaser. The aim of the pitch deck is to give your prospect enough information to make a decision as to whether or not she wants to move to second base, and come visit you at your place. At the same time you do not want to give away so much information that you find yourself with an extra competitor, or worse, with an existing competitor with more information than he had before.
So we won’t be giving away any strategic information that will compromise us later, and will leave us regretting our honesty and forthrightness. We want to leave her with the need to know more about something she wants, and if she wants to see ours, she’s going to have to shows us hers first, so to say.
Apart from ultimately using the pitch deck as stage one in eventually selling your business, there are other usefulnesses which should not be ignored.
As we continue through this series, your pitch deck will unfold as I ask you to answer the sorts of questions which buyers will ask. Some of these questions may stretch you a bit, but may open your eyes to various aspects of your business. Obviously that will help you to evaluate your business and its value to both yourself and a prospective purchaser.
Through that exercise, it will also help you to identify areas which can be improved with a little effort, and understand areas that will be targeted by a quality buyer. It will give you an idea of what goes through a buyer’s mind as she evaluates your business. The pitch deck is the one document that will not only capture your purchaser’s interest, but will actually sell your business for you. More than that though, your pitch deck can become the basis for an operations manual, which we will learn more of later. For the time being, I want you to give some thought as to how you would describe your business.
Start by expanding on the type of business you are selling. Remember that this paragraph is the very first interaction which your prospective purchaser will be having with your business, and for some business – prospect combinations this start can kill the deal for you. It is one thing to say “pizza takeaway”; we all understand that. But perhaps you run an engineering shop. Most prospective buyers will not understand “plant automation, simulation, optimisation and information systems”. But then this type of business will be aimed at those that do understand, and are not looking at any type of takeaway, anyway. So consider your opening very carefully, to be aimed at your target market.
- How long has the business been running?
- How long has the present owner been in control?
- What is the owner’s background?
- Is it important that the new owner has a similar background?
Give a brief idea of how the business is run on a daily basis, by the owner and by the management, and describe the level of interaction between owner and management. This is very important. Many years ago we were selling a bakery which to our thinking was a brilliant deal. Very little response was received when we targeted our database of buyers. That was both surprising and disappointing. However, once we amended the report to show that the owner left the bakery to be run by management until 11am in the morning, we were swamped with interest. Potential buyers had seen “bakery” and assumed “opens at 4am”.
Describe the products and services of the business. In particular, if the business has some type of proprietary machinery, process, service or product; scream about it. Many buyers are looking to be involved in something different to the mundane.