What is a business idea?

A promising venture always starts with a brilliant business idea. Successful entrepreneurs are
innovators or problem resolvers who come with ideas to fill the potential gaps in the market or
handle an existing scenario with an alternative outlook to find the better and cheaper way of
doing the things.
A business idea is a starting point for any current or future entrepreneurs. It is essential
because it is the beginning of a new life – the life of a business and the life of an entrepreneur.
1. Find opportunities in your own community.
Look for issues that concern your local community. Rather than trying to transform the entire
world all in one go, you might instead identify ideas that can first be tested in your local
community. This can serve as a great way to fine-tune your efforts and quantify your impact as
you prepare to take your idea to a much bigger stage.
2. Draw upon your own personal experiences.
Many of the most powerful world-changing ideas come from the experiences and challenges an
entrepreneur has faced in his or her own life. Take a moment to consider the problems you’re
currently dealing with. These problems could be affecting your current business endeavors,
your personal life or your home. Rather than wait for someone else to solve your problem for
you, take steps to change the world by developing a business idea that directly addresses the
issues you’re confronting. More importantly, understand that when you’re addressing your own
problems, you'll be more likely to be passionate about creating and making available the best
solution possible.
3. Look for ideas that get other people involved.
Many of the most successful world-changing ideas don’t just offer a new product or service.
They seek to change the way people approach their day-to-day living. Changing someone’s
mental outlook will have a far greater reach and impact in the long run.
4. Go out of your way to ask others how you can help.
Coming up with ideas on your own isn’t always easy. That’s why brainstorming has consistently
been found to be such a powerful tool. You may be struggling to come up with a world-
changing idea. But there could be plenty of people around you who have great insights that can
lead you in the right direction.
Don’t be afraid to consult with several different groups to find ideas.
Successful businesses don’t operate in a vacuum, especially if they want to change the world.
5. Give back through meaningful philanthropical work.
Your initial business idea doesn’t necessarily need to be world-changing in and of itself. But
when you pair it with a properly aligned philanthropic effort, you can become a true force for
good.
Whether you’re seeking to improve living conditions for impoverished people or trying to
revolutionize your industry, finding a greater purpose in your work can make all the difference
for your entrepreneurial efforts.

Source: https://www.entrepreneurshipinabox.com/1016/business-idea/

How to build a team?

1. Focus on roles.
A thorough selection process for picking your team members has greater long-term benefits,
even if this means you spend more time recruiting than you’d like to. Hiring someone just to
have bodies in the room can harm your team. Companies that do this wind up becoming a
revolving door, whether it’s because prospective employees see the role as a temporary landing
pad and are less interested in learning, or because you decide later on that they aren’t the right
fit. This winds up costing you more money in the long run. Investing your time and money in
people who truly specialize in the role your company needs will have immense payoffs later.
2. Value each role.
With each team member bringing something special to the table, treating each role as an
essential part of your operation is also crucial. Each team member should feel like their job
matters, without ever asking themselves, “Why am I even here?” It’s no secret that a sense of
purpose helps each employee’s performance. When employees feel that their role is
undervalued or perhaps unnecessary, it can become easy to check out mentally as work
becomes mechanical and something they completely detach from as soon as the day is over.
3. Communicate.
The best way to demonstrate value between team members is through communication. It’s
difficult to feel like you are part of a team when everybody has information that hasn’t been
shared with you yet or when team members don’t fill each other in on what they’re working on.
Keep a level of transparency whenever possible with all team members, even if the information
doesn’t directly pertain to every person on your team.
Apps like Slack are making it easier to do this without having to think about it. An open line of
communication helps your team members to share and create a more productive workflow.
Having a weekly check-in or talking beyond discussions of to-do lists can bring great new ideas
to the surface or will give someone a chance to help in an area they may not have known about
otherwise. “Developing processes and workflows that can be quickly implemented, executed
and tracked is crucial to managing your team, especially when faced with rapid growth,"
according to Hiawatha Walker, Founder of DENEKADesignCo. "This is typically the first thing I
look to address so more time and energy can be spent on the things there is little to no control
over.”
In the area of communication, your team should also give each member a voice. Letting the
whole team weigh in on feedback and asking for their opinion also helps them to stay engaged
and brings them closer to projects. When every team member takes the time to evaluate a
decision and form an opinion, they’re attached to the outcome and want to know that their
thoughts are considered in the process. Allowing this gives people a feeling of ownership over
their work, leading to better performance.
4. Set goals.
Setting short and long-term goals with your team also becomes the foundation for every task
they set out to complete each day. Being enthusiastic about the outcome and motivating each
other with positive reinforcement will help your team members to make sure that they work
with a sense of the big picture, knowing why every task they do is necessary for achieving a
longer-term goal. It’s important to note that these goals should be realistic so that you and your
team don’t feel like you are working for a lost cause. Having milestones and deadlines can give
team members opportunities to help each other out and band together for success.
5. Celebrate successes and failures.
Celebrating your successes and milestones also brings your team together and allows everyone
to see that when they work together, great things can happen. If someone does a great job at
something, give them a shout out in front of the rest of the team so that every effort is seen
and appreciated. This also helps each person to feel visible and that what they’re doing has an
impact. In contrast, if your team fails at something, come together to redirect your efforts or
turn it into something positive. Don’t throw anyone under the bus or turn a damage-control
discussion into a blame game. This never helps anybody. Instead, give your team equal
responsibility to put your heads together and figure out the next steps or pivots.
6. Know each other.
You are, of course, never obligated to become best friends on a personal level with your team
members. But having a monthly outing or engaging in some offsite socializing can give team
members a chance to appreciate one another for more than just the job they do. Getting to
know the people you work with helps you understand their style of work and how to have
constructive discussions with them on tough days.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274001
What is a pitch deck?
A pitch deck, also known as a slide deck or start-up deck, is a presentation
that provides a brief but informative overview of your business. It should cover
the key points of your business plan, the products and services you provide,
high-level financial projections, and funding needs. Your pitch deck should
work well on its own as a visual document, but it will primarily be used as a
tool to tell the story of your business.

What is the purpose of a pitch deck?

This may sound counterintuitive, but the goal of your pitch deck is not to raise
money. What? I know that doesn’t sound right, but the real goal of your pitch
deck is to get to the next meeting.

Remember, your pitch deck and pitch presentation are probably some of the
first things that an investor will see to learn more about your company. And
because investments rarely are made after just one meeting, your goal is to
spark interest in your company. You want investors to ask for more after they
hear your pitch and not just show you to the door.

So, while a solid pitch deck is critical to raising money, the key goal of the
deck is to get to the next step—another meeting and a request for more
information.

What to include in your pitch deck

While every business is different, I’ve found that the following format works for
most businesses and is most likely to generate interest from potential
investors.To get started, download our free pitch deck template, and read on
for insight into the importance of the following 11 slides as you develop your
own deck.
1. Vision and value proposition
This is a quick one-sentence overview of your business and the value that you
provide to your customers. Keep it short and simple. A great way to think
about this slide is to imagine it as a short tweet—describe your business in
140 characters or less in a way your parents would understand.

It’s common for tech companies to make their value proposition a comparison

to another well-known company. For example, you see many pitches that start
with things like:

“We’re the Uber for Pets”

“We’re the Netflix for Video Games”
This can work, but be careful to make sure your comparison makes sense and
you’re not just using a high profile company like Uber to signify growth
potential. Your business model has to truly be similar to the company you are
referencing.

2. The problem
If you aren’t solving some problem in the world, you are going to have a long
uphill climb with your business.

Use this slide to talk about the problem you are solving and who has the
problem. You can talk about the current solutions in the market, but don’t
spend too much time on the competitive landscape on this slide—you’ll have a
chance to do that later on.

Ideally, try and tell a relatable story when you are defining the problem. The
more you can make the problem as real as possible, the more your investors
will understand your business and your goals.

3. Target market and opportunity

Use this slide to expand on who your ideal customer is and how many of them
there are. What is the total market size and how do you position your
company in the market? If you can find the data, investors will want to know
how much people or businesses currently spend in the market to get a sense
of the total market size. This is where you tell the story about the scope and
scale of the problem you are solving.

If it makes sense for your business, you’ll want to divide your market into
segments that you will address with different types of marketing and perhaps
different types of product offerings.
Be careful with this slide, though. It’s tempting to try and define your market to
be as large as possible. Instead, investors will want to see that you have a
very specific and reachable market. The more specific you are, the more
realistic your pitch will be.

4. The solution
Finally, you get to dive into describing your product or service. Describe how
customers use your product and how it addresses the problems that you
outlined on slide two.

You’ll be tempted to move this slide closer to the beginning of your pitch deck,
but try and resist the temptation. This is classic storytelling where you build up
the problem and describe how bad it is for lots of people. Now your product or
service is coming to the rescue to help solve that problem.

Most entrepreneurs are very focused on their product when instead they need
to be focused on their customers and the problems those customers face. Try
and keep your pitch deck focused with this format and you’ll tell a better story.

If possible, use pictures and stories when you describe your solution. Showing
is nearly always better than telling.

5. Revenue model or business model

Now that you’ve described your product or service, you need to talk
about how it makes money. What do you charge and who pays the bills? For
some businesses (content sites, for example), advertisers pay the bills instead
of users, so it’s important to flesh out the details here.

You can also reference the competitive landscape here and discuss how your
pricing fits into the larger market. Are you a premium, high-price offering, or a
budget offering that undercuts existing solutions on the market?

6. Traction and validation/roadmap

If you already have sales or early adopters using your product, talk about that
here. Investors want to see that you have proven some aspect of your
business model as that reduces risk, so any proof you have that validates that
your solution works to solve the problem you have identified is extremely
powerful.

You can also use this slide to talk about your milestones. What major goals
have you achieved so far and what are the major next steps you plan on
taking? A product or company roadmap that outlines key milestones is helpful
here.

7. Marketing and sales strategy

How are you planning on getting customers’ attention and what will your sales
process look like? Use this slide to outline your marketing and sales plan.
You’ll want to detail the key tactics that you intend to use to get your product
in front of prospective customers.

Finding and winning customers can sometimes be the biggest challenge for a

startup, so it’s important to show that you have a solid grasp of how you will
reach your target market and what sales channels you plan on using.

If your marketing and sales process is different than your competitors, it’s
important to highlight that here.

8. Team
Why are you and your team the right people to build and grow this company?
What experience do you have that others don’t? Highlight the key team
members, their successes at other companies, and the key expertise that they
bring to the table.

Even if you don’t have a complete team yet, identify the key positions that you
still need to fill and why those positions are critical to company growth.

9. Financials
Investors will expect to see your financials: sales forecast, income
statement (also called profit and loss statement), and cash flow forecast for at
least three years.

But, for your pitch deck, you shouldn’t have in-depth spreadsheets that will be
difficult to read and consume in a presentation format. Limit yourself to charts
that show sales, total customers, total expenses, and profits.

You should be prepared to discuss the underlying assumptions that you’ve

made to arrive at your sales goals and what your key expense drivers are.

Remember to try and be realistic. Investors see “hockey stick” projections all
the time and will mentally be cutting your projections in half. If you can explain
your growth based on traction you already have or compared to a similar
company in a related industry, that is extremely useful.
10. Competition
Every business has competition in one form or another. Even if you are
opening up an entirely new market, your potential customers are using
alternative solutions to solve their problems today.

Describe how you fit into the competitive landscape and how you’re different
than the competitors and alternatives that are on the market today. What key
advantages do you have over the competition or is there some “secret sauce”
that you have and others don’t?

The key here is explaining how you are different than the other players in the
market and why customers will choose you.

11. Investment and use of funds

Finally, it’s time to actually ask for the money. That’s why you’re doing this
pitch deck, right? I know—I said that this pitch deck isn’t about actually getting
funded. That’s still true, but your potential investors do need to know how
much money you are looking for.

More importantly, you need to be able to explain why you need the amount of
money you are asking for and how you plan on using the money. Investors will
want to know how their money is being used and how it is going to help you
achieve the goals you are setting out for your business.

If you already have some investors on board, now is when you should be
talking about those other investors and why they chose to invest.

Other slides you might include in your pitch deck

While you do want to keep your pitch deck short, sometimes you may need or
want to include a few extra slides that help explain your business. You likely
won’t utilize them when you present, but it can be a great resource for
investors to review after the fact.

Here are a few additional slides that are often found in investor presentations.

Exit strategy
If you are raising money from investors, you’ll need to show them how you
plan on giving them a return. You do this in the form of an “exit strategy” slide
that outlines who your potential acquirers might be if you manage to grow your
company and be successful. Having an IPO and going public is a viable
option for some high-growth startups, while other businesses are more likely
to be bought by larger players in your market.

Partnerships
Some businesses have key strategic partnerships that are critical to their
success. This can often be in the form of intellectual property licensing from a
university or a key distribution partner who will be taking your product to
market. If your success relies on these types of partnerships, it’s important to
showcase them.

Demo and screenshots

If you have a prototype of your product, screenshots of your online service, or
any other “show and tell” opportunities, it’s great to include a placeholder slide
in your deck where you will actually show your potential investors how your
product works and what it does.

Other documentation
Keeping your pitch deck as short and succinct as possible is critical.
Remember, your goal isn’t to provide investors with all the information they
need to make an investment decision. Its primary purpose is to tell a story,
build excitement, and help get that all-important request for additional
information and a follow-up meeting.

In addition to your pitch deck, you should have more detailed, additional
information that you can provide if requested. Preparing these additional
documents can also help ensure that you don’t try and fill your presentation
with too much overwhelming information.

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time