Introduction
Many clients ask me this question, “Should I create a business plan or a PowerPoint presentation?” This is one of my most asked questions as a business consultant for over 15 years, and the answer cannot be answered quite simply by just stating what it is. So let me introduce you to this small article, our very mini guide of when to use a business plan and when to use a PowerPoint presentation. Additionally, we’ll discuss something I call a business plan PowerPoint presentation.
What is a Business Plan PowerPoint Presentation?
A business plan PowerPoint presentation is a hybrid term that indicates a business plan in a PowerPoint presentation format. So it’s a business plan, but when people hear the word “business plan,” they think of documents and A4 or letter-sized papers with a lot of charts and text. When people say “business plan PowerPoint presentation,” they make it more graphic. It’s simply just the format and trust me when I say it does not make any difference whatsoever. What does make a difference is what is in this letter-sized or PowerPoint-structured document. You could have a very boring business plan PowerPoint presentation and a very interesting business plan letter-sized document. It really relies on what’s inside them and that depends on a lot of factors.
One-Pager Recommendation
For instance, I personally advise a lot of my current clients to go with the idea of a one-pager instead of either a PowerPoint presentation or a letter-sized business plan. However, let’s talk about the perfect business plan PowerPoint presentation if you’re interested in going in this direction and what you should do and what you shouldn’t do in this area.
Elements of a Business Plan PowerPoint Presentation
1. Average Length
The average length of a business plan PowerPoint presentation usually goes around the 50-slide mark because it’s not as short as a pitch deck. A pitch deck should always be less than 15 slides. A business plan in a document format could go up to 100 pages. A business plan PowerPoint presentation usually has the length of 40 slides because it incorporates a lot of the text from the business document into charts and graphs, which can be a nightmare for designers. It’s just a way of viewing that depends on the reader. Some readers prefer to read it, while others prefer a short pitch deck or a letter-sized document.
2. Example
A good example is WeWork’s investor presentation. WeWork, at that time, was a public company and usually wouldn’t think of a pitch deck as something just for pitching. This investor presentation is considered a business plan. If you look at the amount of text and information in those 50 slides, you’ll notice that this is exactly what I mean by a business plan PowerPoint presentation. It can’t be as short as a pitch deck, and it can’t be as long as a document business plan. This is what it looks like and, in my opinion, one of the most visual and best documents you could use if you have an interested party in investing in your company.
3. Template
If you’re looking for a template to use I would advise you to enter our marketplace. You’ll find a lot of products there for free, based on the industry. If you’re working on an AI startup, you can find at least two or three AI templates that you can download and merge to create this document. There are a lot of templates in letter-sized documents as well, but most of our designers are focused on building something that looks like a business plan PowerPoint presentation.
4. Pros and Cons
Pros
The pros are the fact that it’s easy to read but only if you have 30 to 60 minutes to spare. So I would sometimes prefer, not personally, but I would sometimes prefer to read it if the product is quite technologically sophisticated. Let’s say you’re explaining the technology of blockchain and how your deep tech company works. In a letter-sized document full of text, it’s better to present it in a way that makes it a lot easier for a person to understand, which makes it a perfect solution for this exact example.
Cons
When it comes to cons, on the other hand, it is a very long document, so people get bored. You have to click next every few seconds, which is quite exhausting. I also sometimes will prefer to just find the number that I want to find using my eyes on the same page. No, I have to keep navigating through it back and forth in order to find what I need. This is one of the biggest cons. So it really relies on the readers.
There are AI tools that you can use to build a such a presentation. I have tried tome.app, and that’s the only one I’ve tried so far that actually works to create an investor presentation with AI, but it’s not perfect when it comes to text or writing. The designs are just okay. At this current state, there are different AI tools.
There’s also Microsoft’s Copilot that is integrated into PowerPoint. You can also use that depending on your design needs. We’re building ourselves at Intensify.ai something that resolves this particular problem because there isn’t a single AI tool that actually gets good design with good content when it comes to AI. Copilot is the closest thing, but it’s really not that good looking, and the text is really not that good. That’s why I would advise you, at the moment, to just purchase a template or download one of our templates and just write it your own way in your own words.
Use Cases for a Business Plan PowerPoint Presentation
If you decide to create a business plan PowerPoint presentation, there are good use cases for such a decision. For example, if you’re applying for a bank loan or sending it to a bank, in many cases they would say, “Please use our template,” or “Please use this template,” and they expect a letter-sized document. But if they don’t, it’s a good opportunity for you to show them visually what you’re talking about when it comes to a business plan that is well designed visually. This is when you should actually use such a document.
On another note, something like the presentation of WeWork that you saw earlier in this article is perfect for late-stage investors. This is the use case of WeWork’s deck because people who are late investors already know their product is working. So you don’t have to convince them to pitch them a product.
You only have to showcase numbers and data, technology, and team members. Those things just need visual simplicity and not a lot of explanation. In this case, I really, really advise you to create a business plan that looks like that.
Finally, the third and most preferable use case is if you’re pitching to a co-founder. Now, that’s not very common because a lot of people pitch to co-founders directly. But if you want to send off your presentation of your company to a person that you might be interested in joining you in co-founding your startup, then this is a perfect way. There will be a certain level of patience that is required from this co-founder to read about your company. The visuals make it easier when it comes to sophistication. That is the best use case scenario of building a business plan PowerPoint presentation.