How to Create a Great Pitch Deck: A Guide for Startups and Small Businesses

In the world of startups and small businesses, a pitch deck is often the first showcase of your business. It's not just a collection of slides, but a tool that can convince investors, partners or customers of your vision. A well-designed pitch deck tells a story, builds trust and clearly demonstrates the value of your idea.

How do you create a presentation that will stand out from the competition? In this article, you'll find a complete step-by-step guide for startups and small businesses that want to create a pitch deck for success.

What is a pitch deck and why is it so important?

A pitch deck is a short presentation (consisting of 10-15 slides max) that succinctly presents your business idea. It is used to raise financing, establish a partnership or sell a product/service. According to research, investors spend an average of 3-4 minutes for reviewing the pitch deck. This means you have very little time to make a good first impression.

The structure of an ideal pitch deck

Here are 10 key slides that every pitch deck should contain, along with practical tips on how to design them. The structure is based on business best practices, which we also implement in our work on the creation of professional Pitch Decks.

1. title and vision of the company

Introduce the audience to the topic and present in one short sentence what your project does.

What should the slide contain? Include your company name, logo, keynote (tagline) and one sentence describing your vision. Use a large, readable font (e.g., 40 pt) and a full-screen image related to your industry.

Examples:

• "We are creating a platform that reduces logistics costs by 30%."
• "About 50% we speed up the invoicing process".

2. problem

Outline what problem your potential audience is facing in terms of what you will be offering.

What should the slide contain? Brief description of the problem, preferably supported by data (reports, publications, provide links). Use an image or icon to illustrate the problem. You can mention here different target groups and different problems they face.

Examples:

• "60% small businesses are losing customers due to lack of personalization" (source: XXX)
• "Companies waste hours on manual logistics processes, which increases costs by 25%." (Source: XXX)
• "40% companies don't use automation because they don't have time to implement new processes" (source: XXX).
• "35% people will uninstall the application if it is not intuitive" (source: XXX).

3. solution

Present how your product/service solves the problem you addressed on the previous slide.

What should the slide contain? Briefly describe your solution, preferably in 2-3 bullet points. Emphasize the uniqueness (USP - Unique Selling Proposition) of your service / product. Show visually what your solution is all about. Use a "before and after" diagram or a mockup of the application on the phone screen.

4. market

Prove that there is a demand for your solution.

What should the slide contain? Market size (TAM, SAM, SOM), demographics and trends. Use a simple chart or infographic to visualize the data. Be sure to cite sources. Use reliable reports.

Examples:

• "Target market: 500,000 small businesses in the EU, spending €10 billion on logistics." (source: XXX)
• "The e-commerce market in Europe is growing by 12% per year" (source: XXX)

5. product/service

Show how your solution works in practice.

What should the slide contain? Focus on user benefits, not just features. E.g. Instead of 'an app with a dashboard,' say 'a dashboard that saves 5 hours a week.'" The slide could include, for example, a screenshot of the app with annotations showing key features.

6. business model

Explain how you will make money from your new business.

What should the slide contain? Revenue model (e.g., subscriptions, commissions), pricing and potential growth. Use a simple diagram, e.g., "Subscription: $50/month, 10,000 users in year 1 = $6 million in revenue."

Example:

• "We charge 2% commission on each transaction on the platform."
• "Subscription cost: £259/year"
• "25% year-on-year profit growth after first 2 years".

7. competition

Show that you know the market and have a visible competitive advantage.

What should the slide contain? Competitive map (e.g., in the form of a matrix). You can also list your competitive advantages in subsections. This slide shows that you have researched the market and are not creating a product that already exists, for example. Don't criticize the competition - show what makes you different.

Example:

• "Unlike X, we offer AI integration that reduces costs by 15%."
• "We are the only manufacturer to ensure organic production at 100%."

8. team

Build trust by demonstrating the competence of your team.

What should the slide contain? Photos, names, roles and key achievements. Add logos of well-known brands you have worked for. Present other projects that your team members have done, provide statistics that highlight the success of these ventures. You can also provide links to the social profiles of people on the team (e.g. Linkedin).

Example:

• "Our team are experts with experience at Google and Amazon."
• "Jan Kowalski, CEO - 10 years in the SaaS industry".
• "Our last project achieved revenues of 1.5 million eur over the last year."

9 Milestones and action plan

Show what you have already achieved and where you are going.

What should the slide contain? Outline past achievements (e.g., "500 users in 3 months", "Verified MVP") and future goals (e.g., "Acquire 10,000 users in 2026"). Use a timeline or list of goals. You can also highlight how much funding you have already put into the project yourself.

Example:

• "Q1 2025: Implementation of beta version."
• "Q2 2025: Obtaining financing."
• "Q3 2025: Expansion into the German market."

10. call to action (CTA)

Tell the recipients what to do next.

What should the slide contain? A clear CTA, such as "Invest $500,000 to join our mission" or "Make an appointment for a demo." Add contact information (email, phone) and a simple graphic, such as a "Contact Us" button.

For more slide ideas, see our article: 30 slide suggestions for corporate presentations

AI tools to make pitch deck creation easier

1. GPT Chat: It will allow you to create the structure of your presentation, sales headings for each slide, and content based on your initial notes.
2. Canva: Generates slides based on text and offers thousands of templates. Ideal for beginners.
3. HueMint: Creates a color palette for your brand based on artificial intelligence
4. FontJoy: It will select perfectly paired fonts for you
5. Beautiful.AI: Will suggest what the slide you are creating might look like based on the content description
6. SlidesAI: An extension to Google Slides that creates presentations in 2 minutes based on your notes or general idea.

A good pitch deck is a combination of a clear vision, an engaging story and professional design. Stick to a 10-slide structure, focus on your audience's needs, and use data to build credibility. With AI tools such as Canva and SlidesAI, even small companies can create presentations at the level of global startups.