How to Make a Business Model Presentation [A Useful Guide]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Aug 27
- 7 min read
A few months ago, our client Samantha asked us a question while we were building her business model presentation. She leaned back and said,
“How do I make sure my investors don’t just understand my business model but actually believe in it?”
Our Creative Director didn’t take a pause. He simply said,
“You show them the logic, then you show them the proof.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on many business model presentations throughout the year. In the process, we’ve noticed one common challenge: most founders and teams know their numbers, but they don’t know how to frame those numbers into a story that convinces others.
So, in this blog we’ll talk about how to turn your business model into a presentation that wins trust, secures buy-in, and makes people lean in rather than tune out.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
Why You Need to Think Strategically Before Making a Business Model Presentation
Before you even open PowerPoint or Google Slides, you need to stop and think. A business model presentation is not just a deck of slides with revenue numbers and cost breakdowns. It is the story of how your business makes sense in the real world. If you miss the strategic thinking, no amount of design will save you.
Here’s why this matters:
1. Investors and stakeholders don’t buy numbers, they buy logic.
Every investor knows that spreadsheets can be tweaked. What they are really looking for is logic that makes sense. They want to see how your model flows from customer problem to solution to revenue. If the logic is weak, no chart can make it strong.
2. You’re not just presenting facts, you’re building confidence.
People can read financial documents on their own. They don’t need you for that. What they need is your clarity. A presentation is about confidence, showing that you understand your own business so well that others can trust you with their money, time, or support.
3. Complexity kills attention.
We’ve seen brilliant founders lose the room because they overcomplicated their business model slides. When you overload your presentation with data, acronyms, or endless assumptions, you force people to work too hard. And here’s the truth: no one in that room is working harder than you. Which means you’re losing them.
4. Clarity drives alignment inside your own team.
This is not just about external investors. When you make your business model presentation clear and compelling, your own team finally sees the bigger picture. They understand not just what they’re doing, but why it matters. That alignment saves you months of confusion later.
So, the strategic context is this: your presentation is not a “document” you read out loud. It is a carefully structured argument about why your business is worth believing in. Once you get that part right, the slides become much easier to build.
How to Make a Business Model Presentation
Let’s be clear from the start. A business model presentation is not the same thing as a financial forecast, and it’s not just a slide deck where you throw in your revenue streams and costs. It’s the big picture of how your business actually works, shown in a way that others can follow. If your audience walks out with the sense that your business is structured, thought-through, and realistic, you’ve done your job.
From our experience of designing dozens of these decks, here’s the practical breakdown of how to make a business model presentation that not only informs but persuades.
Step 1: Start with the core problem
Every business exists to solve a problem. Yet, most founders jump straight into revenue models and projections without reminding the audience why the business exists in the first place. That’s a mistake.
Think about this: if you don’t anchor your presentation in a real-world problem, your model floats in the air without context. A revenue model is meaningless unless people can see what drives it.
So begin with one or two crisp slides that define the problem your business is solving. Don’t overcomplicate it. Use a simple statement, a relatable example, or a statistic that shows the urgency of the issue. When you do this, every piece of your model feels grounded.
Step 2: Present your solution as the bridge
Once you’ve made the problem undeniable, your solution should feel like the natural answer. This is where clarity matters most. You’re not trying to explain every feature of your product. You’re trying to show how your business makes life better, easier, cheaper, or smarter.
Think of your solution slide as the bridge between “here’s what’s broken” and “here’s how we fix it.” Keep it clean. A messy solution slide dilutes attention.
Step 3: Show how your business model fits in
Now you can introduce the actual business model. This is where we see a lot of founders lose direction. They either throw up a giant spreadsheet or they try to explain the entire thing verbally. Neither works.
Instead, structure your model into parts:
Revenue streams: How do you actually make money? Subscription, transaction, licensing, ads, or a combination? Keep it simple.
Cost structure: What are the key costs that make the business run? Don’t overwhelm people with detail. Highlight the big drivers.
Customer segments: Who pays for your product? Investors care about this more than you think. If you say “everyone,” that’s the same as saying “no one.”
Value chain: If your business depends on partners, suppliers, or distributors, show how they fit in.
By breaking the model into parts, you give your audience handholds. They can follow your logic step by step instead of getting lost in a single slide filled with arrows and boxes.
Step 4: Use visuals, not spreadsheets
Numbers are important, but in a presentation, visuals carry the weight. Replace endless rows of Excel with charts, diagrams, and frameworks. For example:
A flow diagram that shows how money moves from customer to business.
A pie chart that shows revenue breakdown by stream.
A simple cost vs. revenue bar comparison.
We’ve seen that when founders use visuals, investors lean forward. When they show spreadsheets, investors check their phones. That’s not because investors hate numbers. It’s because they want to understand the story quickly, then dive into the detailed financials on their own time.
Step 5: Show traction and proof
A business model is just theory until you show proof that it actually works. Proof doesn’t always mean millions in revenue. It could be early customers, partnerships, user growth, or even strong pilot results.
One of the best things you can do is show a slide that connects your model to the real world. For example:
“We projected 500 sign-ups, we got 720.”
“We forecasted a 10 percent conversion rate, we achieved 12 percent.”
“We expected to spend $50 per acquisition, we’re spending $42.”
That kind of evidence turns your model from an idea into a believable plan. It builds the trust your audience is really looking for.
Step 6: Address assumptions openly
Every business model has assumptions. Pretending you don’t is the fastest way to lose credibility. Smart investors know that the future is uncertain. What they want to see is whether you’re honest about what you’re assuming and whether you have a plan if things go differently.
For example, you might assume customer acquisition costs will decrease as scale increases. Fine. Say that. Then add, “If they don’t, here’s our backup.” That level of transparency earns respect.
Step 7: Keep the structure tight
A good business model presentation is rarely more than 12 to 15 slides. Beyond that, you risk drowning your audience in detail. The key is structure. A clear flow might look like this:
Problem
Solution
Business model overview
Revenue streams
Cost structure
Customer segments
Market size (because the model means nothing if the market is tiny)
Traction or proof
Assumptions
Roadmap and growth model
This flow tells a story. It takes the audience from context to clarity to conviction. If you keep jumping back and forth, you lose them.
Step 8: Design for attention
Design is not decoration. It’s strategy. A well-designed presentation keeps people focused on what matters. That means:
One idea per slide.
Bold, readable text.
Visual hierarchy that shows what’s most important.
Consistent colors that don’t distract.
We’ve seen founders underestimate this step. They think design is “nice to have.” It’s not. If your slides are messy, people subconsciously assume your business is messy. And that’s the last impression you want.
Step 9: Tell it like a story, not a manual
If you present your model like you’re reading a manual, people tune out. If you tell it like a story, people stay with you. Storytelling doesn’t mean making it dramatic. It means creating flow.
For example:
Introduce the problem with a quick customer story.
Position your solution as the natural answer.
Build suspense by walking through the logic of your model.
Deliver proof that your model holds up.
That narrative style makes people feel like they’re part of the journey, not just spectators of a lecture.
Step 10: Rehearse for clarity, not memorization
The most painful business model presentations are the ones where the founder memorizes every word and then panics when a question comes. That’s not the point. The point is clarity.
Rehearse by explaining your model out loud in simple terms. If you can explain your revenue streams, costs, and assumptions in a way a 12-year-old can understand, you’re ready. If you can’t, keep simplifying. The clarity of your delivery is just as important as the content of your slides.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.