Business Model Canvas, Business Plans & Pitch Decks
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Resources
Overview
A business plan is a written document that describes in detail how your business or startup will achieve its objectives for product development, service delivery, marketing, sales and profitability. It provides a well-thought and researched roadmap for entrepreneurs to communicate to bankers and investors a feasible path to the profitability of their business.
A pitch deck provides a snapshot of the essential information about a company. This may include the company’s product, team, market size, and traction. For a majority of startup investors, the pitch deck is the first document in evaluating a startup they are considering investing in.
A business plan checklist includes:
- Is your business properly described?
- Is the problem you are trying to solve articulated?
- Is your solution to the problem stated?
- Who is your target market and how large is it?
- What is your competitive advantage?
- How will your product get to your customers (will it be directly, or via a storefront, distributors, or a website?)
- What marketing activities will you use to attract customers?
- What is your business model (what are your revenue streams?)
- What are your starting costs?
- Are your primary goals and milestones stated?
- Who is on your management team and what people do you want to hire to help you launch your business?
- Who and what are the partners and resources you need to help you launch?
A pitch deck checklists include:
- What problem are you trying to solve? a description of the problem and how the company solves it – concept & key elements
- What does the company do, for whom and why it’s compelling?
- Who are your Key Players: founders, key team members, and key advisors, with industry backgrounds and expertise?
- What is the market Opportunity: market size, growth characteristics, segmentation?
- Who are your competitors?
- What is your Go-To-Market Strategy?
- What are the stages of development? product development, customer acquisition, partner relationships
- What are the critical risks and challenges?
- What are your financial projections?
- What are the funding requirements: how much, what the company will use it for, and what milestones it expects to hit?