Creating a strategic plan

Now that we have seen the different types of documents we can send to investors, let's look at what information they expect to find about our business. To do this, we are going to take Pitch deck as an example, as it will be the document that you will most frequently send to investors. In this module we will focus on the different topics that make up our strategic plan.

Remember that your pitch deck is probably one of many that investors will read, so it is key to create a very visual document and leave them wanting more! A great pitch gets the first and second meeting.

The first thing we need to be clear about is what matters to investors. Your strategic plan should represent your thinking and your passion in a coherent but limited series of slides that flows like a story . Avoid turning your strategic plan into a bullet points list, use images and graphs. Don't forget to take care of the wording of the headings, you have to make sure that if investors would read only those headings, they could get an idea of the story you want to tell.

Structure of a strategic plan can vary, but should include the following topics:

Topic	Objective	Elements
Business idea	Explain your business or your idea, what problem we are here to solve and how we are going to solve it	Define the company and product / service Describe the problem and customer pain Why does the problem persist?
Market	Help investors understand the market and its potential	Identify the market size Explain your hypothesis on how the market will change and grow over time WHow did the market change over time?
Clients	Help investors understand who will buy your product/service and why	Identify the target market How can you reach your target market? What is unique about your offering that meets the needs of your target group?
Competition	Help investors understand who you compete with, why you have a better product, and how you will win.	Competitive matrix with strengths & weaknesses, opportunities & threats (SWOT analysis) Metrics detail on competitors (scale, pricing, differentiation, etc.) Where do you play in the industry? Do you complement or displace commonly used technologies? Do you disrupt the current value chain? How is your new solution better?
Team	Demonstrate that there is an experienced and motivated team ready to tackle the vision you have laid out	Education and background Past exits & entrepreneurial experience Team structure

So far, this is what you need to know to make an impactful strategic plan. It is important that you are clear on all the concepts explained before you continue with the next modules of the course, so you can revisit the previous modules. If you want to continue, click on the next module to learn how to create your financial plan.

Key concepts:

• Story telling
• Concise and visual
• Engaging