One of the most important and time-consuming tasks for startups is the process of fundraising. While raising funds cannot be the ultimate goal of the business – it is definitely a means to an end. A lot of people believe fundraising to be an art, but after helping over forty startups raise funds.
We at BizExpress think it’s more of a science.
A pitch deck is akin to the Curriculum Vitae (CV) you use while you’re applying for a job. Quality of the Pitch Deck decides if you get to meet the potential investor. A typical investor will receive hundreds of business plans every month so yours has to be the one that stands out. A successful Pitch Deck typically requires a neat design and crisp content. It has to communicate the vision, business model, financial projections, the brand story, and a lot more in a few slides.
Here are some of the most important things we coven in our Pitch Decks:
Fundraising is not a business-as-usual activity and it’s not something the founders are expected to be expert at unlike say daily operations or core business activity/technology. Most of the first-generation entrepreneurs will likely have no prior experience with the fundraising process. Considering the entire process can take six to eight months from the time the business plan is shared with an investor – it gets very tiresome and even frustrating without proper support from seasoned mentors and investors. Our in-house team of Chartered Accountants and investment experts can help you navigate this phase with ease.
Once the investor decides to invest and you have a term-sheet in your hand, the focus shifts on due diligence and ensure all the corporate compliances are in place. We can help you navigate the term-sheet and our legal team will ensure your interests are protected. Our finance team meanwhile will help you negotiate a fair valuation and will build fail-proof financial structure and process. Since we are a one-stop provider, we’ll also help you out with all the mandatory compliances like PF, ESI, Annual Filings, and any other labour law your business has to legally comply with.
An entrepreneur’s enthusiasm can answer questions of finance, resources, target audience, publicity, growth forecast and so on. But the enthusiasm falls short to answer questions cost and time of starting a business, liability – personal or corporate when things do not go as planned. When the business is faced by an unforeseen circumstance or a sudden change in policy, or internal mismanagement. How do we address these questions?
The answer lies in going to and not going back to basics i.e business registration. It is fundamental to consider these questions especially that of liability at the time of starting the business. The current corporate legal fabric of India allows entrepreneurs to consider several types of entities for business registration.
Initiation of a business with a company registration is the most common form of business entity chosen by entrepreneurs. A private limited company is registered under the Companies Act, 2013 and has the following key features:
The process for the registration of a private limited company is as under:
Step No. 1 – Name reservation: The first step towards the incorporation of a company is choosing a name. While choosing a name it is important to ensure that no existing companies are operating under the same name. This name availability process can be undertaken on the website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”). In addition to undertaking the process of checking for availability of names on the website of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, it is wise (though not compulsory) to undertake this process on http://www.ipindia.nic.in/ to ensure that the name of the company can also be registered as a trademark eventually. The applicant must create an account on the website of the MCA and click of the icon “RUN”. In this eForm, the applicant must provide the proposed name along with any other comments like objects, trademarks etc. The name check facility in the eForm is an auto check facility. An applicant can attach the required files (example: NOC for use of the same name as the of an existing company) as an attachment to the eForm. After completion of these steps, the applicant must submit the form and pay fees of INR 1000. On payment of fees, a challan will be generated which must be saved for its SRN. On the successful completion of this process, the name is reserved for 20 days within which the incorporation of a company must be completed. It is not mandatory to file form RUN. The same process can be undertaken while filing eForm SPICe.
Step No. 2 – Procure Digital Signature Certificate: The company registration process requires electronic filing and submission of the requisite forms. A digital signature certificate (“DSC”) is used for the purpose digitally signing all eForms. The DSC is issued be a Certifying Authority on submission of original supporting documents and self-attested copies. A DSC is valid for two years.
Step No. 3 – Preparation of documents required for incorporation:
The following documents are required to be submitted at the time of filing the company registration form and must be kept readily available at the time of filing:
Step No. 5 – File eForm SPICe for incorporation of a company: eForm SPICe is a single-window form for the registration of a company and/or allotment of DIN and/or application for PAN and TAN. The above-listed documents are required to be attached with the eForm. Stamp duty and registration fees are payable depending on the share capital of the company.
Step No. 6 – File eForm AGILE for GST, ESIC and EPFO registration: After eForm SPICe is filed for the registration of a company, the applicant is also required to file eForm AGILE. eForm AGILE is a single-window form for registration of Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, Employee State Insurance Corporation Act, 1948 (“ESIC Act”) and the Employee Provident Funds Act, 1952 (“EPF Act.”) The eForm must be submitted along with a proof of principal place of business (property tax receipt, municipal khata copy, electricity bill, rent/lease agreement, consent letter, rent receipt with NOC), proof of authorisation of authorized signatory and specimen of the authorized signature.
Once the above steps are completed and eForms SPICe and AGILE are approved, a company is registered and a Company Identification Number (“CIN”), GSTIN, PAN, TAN, foundation code under the EPF Act and employer code under the ESIC Act will be provided. It is important to note that while eForm AGILE registers a company for ESIC and EPFO, the compliance under the ESIC Act and the EPF Act will only be required to be undertaken once the required thresholds under these legislations are met.
After the allotment of CIN, a Company is required to undertake post incorporation compliances like intimation of registered office address, preparing the letterhead of the company as per the requirements of Companies Act, 2013, appointment of an auditor, first AGM etc.
A Pitch Deck is a brief summary of your business idea, current scale & future prospects. It lays down the journey and the growth plan of your business.
Since every business is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all version of a Pitch Deck. We recommend customizing your deck as per your business requirements and your profile. Also, since an investor will typically receive hundreds of decks every month, it is important for you to stand out and be different.
No. We can’t guarantee an investment since it is at investors’ discretion. We can prepare a winning Pitch Deck for you and can guide you for the investor calls. We can also connect you to the right investors according to your business activity.
We would love to be invested in your success! We can work out a structure where you can pay us a success fee in lieu of one-time payment upfront. However, we can’t work with zero upfront fees because a lot of time and effort is invested in understanding your business while we prepare your Pitch Deck for you. We have qualified professionals with more than 10 years of experience guiding you through the process and hence we charge an upfront fee as well.
Your data and your idea are absolutely safe with us. Your data is stored on secured servers and all our professionals have signed an NDA with us. We can also sign an NDA with your company if required.
We have helped over 40+ companies raise equity funding till-date. Our success rate is an industry-leading 10%.
What you see is what you pay. No hidden charges. Period.
We usually complete the deck in 15 business days. However, this depends on your availability since we prefer an extensive conversation with the founder and the founding team while preparing the Pitch Deck.
Giving a firm timeline is difficult as this depends on multiple factors like your industry, current business scenario, liquidity in the markets, etc. We have had clients who have raised money within 2 months and we have seen some clients take 9 – 12 months to raise the money. As a general rule, you can expect to raise money within 4 – 6 months.