Sales Deck Basics
Your sales deck, sometimes called your “prospectus” is a multi page document that you will send to prospective buyers. The sales deck needs to be visually appealing, concise and easy to navigate. You must include all the basic information about your business and how it operates in your sales deck. A buyer should be able to read your sales deck and understand:
- the name and location of your business
- the scope of your role as the owner
- your primary revenue generating products or services
What to avoid in your sales deck
The sales deck should not be exhaustively detailed. You don’t need to include each individual asset and its value, for example, or explain the complicated parking situation, unpredictable landlord or squeaky desk chair. Upon reading your sales deck, the buyer should know if your business is not right for them, but they will likely need more information before they can make an offer.
Financial statement guidelines
Your sales deck also must include a packet of your financial records. This packet of spreadsheets will detail your revenues and expenses for the past 3 years (to the date that you send the sales deck). These documents can be embedded in your sales deck, or you can send them as a separate PDF document along with your sales deck.
You need to update this financial information packet each month that your business is for sale, keeping it current for buyers by adding the month that has just passed and deleting the oldest one.
Get more help selling your very small business
Need more guidance on building your sales deck? We have a free template for you to download.
Need someone else to manage this? We would love to build your sales deck for you.
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