How To Write A Competition Slide In A Pitch Deck?

In a pitch deck, the competition slide's primary purpose is to ensure investors are compelled to connect with the founders and feel the fear of losing out. They must be convinced of the idea and come to the conclusion that your venture has a genuine possibility of becoming successful in such a clearly defined market. The pitch deck competition slide is essential in this regard as it plays a vital role in convincing the investors with factual data and the market situation.

The competition slide helps investors assess business maturity and strategic thinking that can bring them positive, realistic results. So, today we will tell you all the do'sand don'ts of this integral pitch deck component.

Avoid the“No Competition” Approach

Most entrepreneurs assume that downplaying competition or claiming that your business idea is so unique that it has never existed before will help them attract investors and gain funding.

However, this move always backfires.

Investors view it as an unrealistic and immature approach. They think the founder is completely unprepared to enter the market. Another reason to refrain from using the no competition idea is that investors perceive it as implying that there is no market or demand for the solution being given. This will eventually place you in a challenging situation, and your request for funding will be at risk of failing.

You see, every business has a competitor. There will always be a similar company functioning,no matter how unique or inventive the product is. 

Competition Slide in a Pitch Deck

The pitch deck competition slide is one of the most significant slides in your idea presentation. It is used as a conversation starter to let investors analyze whether the founder is actually knowledgeable about their market or not.

In this portion,you simply list all of your significant market competitors. Following extensive research, you outline what they do well and what their setbacks are.Furthermore, you highlight what separates you from your competition and where you envision your market position concerning your competitors.

Many competition slides look the same and tell nothing useful. As a founder, you must ensure your message is unique and clearly communicated to the investor. if you are a startup. here is how to create a competition slide that will truly set your startup pitch deck apart.

What To Include In A Competition Slide In A Pitch Deck?

Throughout a pitch deck, you will have discussed the industry's difficulties, which your product or service will assist in solving to a large extent. This will be followed by data supported by precise and highly relevant information on the conditions, size, state, and potential risks and opportunities of the relevant market.

After you have explained everything, it is time to demonstrate your competitor's advantage. You must include the following details in order to do this:

• Your direct and indirect competitors
• Your Unique Selling Propositions (USP)
• Where do you position yourself
• Your differentiation
• Possible threats

How to Write Competition in a Pitch Deck?

By outlining your competitors and current market conditions, one can determine the market share they will be able to capture. This is done by describing how the startup or product differentiates itself from the competition. To be able to do that, let’s learn how to write competition in pitch deck.

Decide Your Market

To convey a solid basis for your company to investors, you must first determine your target market. Your investors will be able to see whether you are aware of the situation or not if you provide them with a detailed review of the startup's market.

To do so,identify each feature of your product or service and relate it to who has a need for it as well as who is most likely to buy it. This decision is majorly done in the market slide. So, if you have already finished working on your pitch's market slide, that's wonderful; we can go on to the next phase.

Research Your Competitors

Research is the first and most vital stage to create your pitch deck competition slide. Being familiar with industry knowledge allows you to confidently display your understanding of the business, technology, or sector in which you operate. This enables founders to provide investors with a realistic market analysis.

You can easily answer investors’ questions by conducting extensive research. One should know everything there is about their competitors. Founders must understand their product's features and advantages, business plan, price, and funding history.This will also help you refine your pitch with a market-oriented approach.

Research Your Investor

Anyone who might invest in fresh company ideas is the target audience for your pitch deck(Venture capitalists, crowdfunding). Find out if your potential investor invests in the industry you are in or the stage your company is in by doing some research on them.

This gives you a strong edge over others as you will be able to adjust your pitch to the investor's specific investing views or the industry they focus on. You may also look into their previous investments to see what ideas appeal to them.

Be Realistic

When competing presentations are prepared, the startup is usually positioned excessively well.Instead of highlighting realistic data, the pitch emphasizes other people's shortcomings and your advantages.

In the startup's opponent analysis, there is much more to consider. Founders must examine the status quo in addition to features and advantages. For instance, the current trends that motivate the target market to buy their product.  The presentation should revolve around the current alternative and why your service is more efficient by presenting a realistic approach.

Highlight Unique Values

The competition slide must emphasize the benefit and value that the solution provides. This is because investors are more concerned with the values your startup or product can deliver than the features you can offer.

It can include advantages in customer service, distribution strategy, user experience, price,and other areas. This helps determine what sector investors are interested in the entire competitive market and what the business must provide to win it.

Keep It Customer-Oriented

Another thing to include is materials that will allow you to openly discuss what you feel clients desire and why you believe your positioning will help you succeed in the long term. Why you have decided to be strong in particular areas that you feel your target consumers care about the most, and how you plan to create more features to compete in the future.

 In order to succeed in a competitive market, it is critical for a founder to have a strong grounds that the solution being delivered is majorly needed by the consumers.

Emphasize Your Strategic Advantage Gracefully

You will have to place a strategic advantage to conclude that your business is the one to deserve their investment. However, the competitive slide may not be the best place to address this openly. Presenting the issue in terms of "things we have but they don't" is silly yet popular among founders.

Founders structure the world around imaginary factors that rule the competitive landscape in an obvious attempt to demonstrate that their business discovered a good positioning that no one else has claimed so far and will never claim. But that mostly puts you in a negative spot from the investor's point of view. So,try to convey your strategic advantage smoothly, in a manner it does not sound arrogant.

Look beyond valuation

Valuation is important, but it's not the only thing you should be highlighting.

You'll want to draw attention to other ways that your company stands out from the competition. This can include:

• The way that your product or service is better than the competition's
• How much faster/cheaper/easier it will be for users to use your product or service than their current options
• The additional benefits of using your solution as opposed to others

Using a professional market research service can be very helpful, to have a third-party and neutral view.