A DocSend report showed that investors barely spend a bit over two minutes on each pitch deck. That means you have less than 120 seconds to make an impression. So how do you stand out? How do you ensure investors get the gist of your financial model without going through it thoroughly?

That’s where summary dashboards come in. By showing the investors a bird’s eye view of your business, you can give them an overview of what to expect without getting too bogged down in the details.

Here’s an overview of a summary dashboard and how to incorporate one into your pitch deck.

What Is a Summary Dashboard?

A financial summary dashboard is a one-page overview of your business that includes key financial indicators and performance metrics. It’s designed to give investors a quick snapshot of your business so they can understand your value proposition and get an idea of your growth potential.

Why Use a Summary Dashboard?

There are many reasons to use the summary dashboard. Here are some of them:

• Grab Investors’ Attention: Investors see hundreds if not thousands of pitch decks. So it’s essential to make yours stand out. A summary dashboard is a great way to do that because it immediately draws investors in and shows them everything they need to see.
• Prepare for Funding Rounds: As a business, you must be prepared for different funding rounds. A summary dashboard can help you provide a clear overview of your business and where it’s at.
• Sharing in Data Rooms: A data room is where you store all the information investors need to see. While having detailed financials in your data room is imperative, a summary dashboard can also be a valuable addition.

What Should You Include In a Summary Dashboard?

Note that a ‘summary’ means that you should only include the most important and relevant information. So what goes into a summary dashboard?

• Business Model: How does your business make money? If you’re a SaaS company, do you have a subscription model? If you’re an e-commerce company, what’s your average order value?
• Value Proposition: What is it that makes your product or service unique? How does it solve a problem that people have? The value proposition should be clear and concise.
• Market Opportunity: What is the size of your addressable market? You should also include your potential market share or the percentage of the market you believe you can capture.
• Customer Segments: Who are your customers? How do they differ from one another?
• Three Financial Statements: Your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement should be included in your summary dashboard.
• KPIs: What are the most critical performance indicators for your business? These could be things like monthly recurring revenue, customer churn rate, or gross margin.
• Projections: What are your growth projections for the next 12 to 24 months?

Useful Tips for Creating a Summary Dashboard

Now that you know what goes into a summary dashboard, you should know about the best practices to follow when creating a summary dashboard.

Keep It Visual

A graph can represent a thousand words that would otherwise take up too much space and will bore your investors. Instead, use visuals like graphs, charts, and tables to represent the data in your summary dashboard.

Suppose you want to show your projections. You can create a line graph that plots your monthly growth over the next 12 months. The same applies to customer segments and market opportunity, where you can use pie charts to showcase data.

Make It Data-Driven

Investors don’t merely want to see what you ‘believe’ will happen. They want you to back up your claims with data.

For example, if you say your product has a unique selling proposition, you should include data to show how it differs from your competitors. Likewise, if you’re making projections, your financial statements and KPIs should reflect their accuracy or high probability.

The data you include doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming. Sometimes, a simple customer survey can give you the data you need to backup your claims.

Include a Valuation Section

There are different ways to evaluate a business, such as Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Comparable Companies Analysis (Comps), or the First Principles Approach. No matter your method, it’s essential to include a valuation section in your summary dashboard.

It will give investors a better understanding of how much your business may be worth and whether it’s a good investment.

Make It Easy to Understand

Your summary dashboard should be easy to understand, even for someone who’s not familiar with your business. That means using simple language and avoiding jargon.

It should also be well-organized so that investors can quickly find the information they’re looking for. Suppose you’re a SaaS company raising money for a new cybersecurity software service.

Your potential investors might not be so well-versed in cybersecurity. So it’s best to avoid jargon that may confuse them.

Is a Summary Dashboard a Must-Have?

If you’re presenting your financial model to investors, it’s best to include a summary dashboard. It will elevate the overall presentation of your financial model and make it easier for all stakeholders to understand your business.

Meanwhile, you can consider skipping this section if you’re creating a financial model for budgeting and forecasting. But then again, it’s not a bad idea to include a summary dashboard, even for internal use.

If you’re concerned you might not be able to condense everything seemingly important into a single dashboard, let professionals handle it for you.

Create Attention-Grabbing Financial Models to Impress Investors

At Numberly, we craft financial models for startups wanting to raise money. We understand what goes into a winning financial model and how to craft one that will help you close funding.

Summary dashboards are an integral part of our financial dashboards since we understand that many investors will make decisions based on this section. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can create pitch deck-ready financial models for your business.