A business plan and an investment presentation are the documents with which a company asks for capital: from a bank's credit committee, a foreign investor, an international fund or a strategic partner. Their translation solves a double task. On the one hand, the financial forecasts, ratios and terms must be carried over with the same precision as in audited statements; on the other hand, the text must persuade, that is, the investor must read it as if it had been written in their language from the start. An exact but lifeless translation fails just as much as an attractive one with wrong figures.
What a business plan contains and where the translation risk hides
A standard business plan consists of several completely different types of text, and each requires a different competence:
- Executive summary: the shortest and most important part, which the investor often reads and nothing else
- Market analysis: market size, segmentation, competitive environment, the TAM/SAM/SOM model
- Description of the product and business model: revenue streams, pricing, value chain
- Marketing and operational plan: sales channels, supply chain, team and organisational structure
- Financial part: forecast profit and loss, cash flows, balance sheet, funding requirement and use of funds
- Risk analysis: SWOT, sensitivity analysis, scenarios
The translation of the market analysis and marketing part requires good business language, while the financial part requires accounting and investment terminology. That is why on a large business plan two specialists of different profiles usually work with us, with a single terminology base.
The investment terminology the investor expects
An investor and a bank analyst evaluate a document by specific indicators, and each of them has an exact equivalent:
- net present value (NPV)
- internal rate of return (IRR)
- payback period
- break-even point
- return on investment (ROI)
- capital and operating expenditure (CAPEX / OPEX)
- discount rate and weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
- working capital requirement
- leverage and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)
In the context of startups and venture funding the terminology is even more specific: pre-money and post-money valuation, cap table, term sheet, runway and burn rate. Some of these terms stay in their English form in Georgian investment practice too, and the translator must know which are translated and which are not.
The investment presentation (pitch deck): when space is limited
The translation of a presentation is a separate discipline. The text on a slide is short, often in headline form and tied to visual elements. Georgian text is on average 15-20 percent longer than English, so a literal translation breaks the slide layout. Our approach:
- Preserving the format: the translation is done directly in the PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides file, including graphs, charts and tables
- Adapting to the space: the wording is chosen so that the slide layout is not broken and the font size does not have to be reduced
- Chart text: axis names, legends and data labels are checked separately, because it is often exactly these that remain untranslated
- Speaker notes: if the presentation is for a live pitch, the notes field is translated too
A translation that speaks the investor's language
In the translation of a business plan localisation is as important as precision. A German banker, an American venture investor and a Turkish strategic partner expect a different tone and level of detail from the same business plan. Our translators take into account:
- Currency and unit conversion: amounts in lari, dollars and euros at the same time, if the investor needs that, with the conversion rate and date indicated
- Explanation of the local context: Georgian legislative, tax or market specifics that are not self-evident for a foreigner are supplemented with a short note
- Matching the tone: a document intended for a bank is conservative and factual, one for a venture investor emphasises the goal and growth potential
Grant applications and feasibility studies
Documents related to the business plan are grant applications for international programmes (the programmes of the European Union, USAID, GIZ and other donors), as well as feasibility studies for infrastructure and production projects. In these documents the financial terminology is joined by the donor's or bank's own wording, exact adherence to which is a precondition for the application being technically accepted. We work on the basis of the donor's guidelines, so that the translation corresponds exactly to the required structure and vocabulary.
Who requests business plan translation most often
- Georgian companies that approach a foreign investor, an international fund or a foreign bank
- startups that submit applications to accelerators and venture funds
- foreign companies planning an investment in Georgia that translate their business plan into Georgian for a local bank, partner or state body
- exporters preparing the justification of a joint project with a foreign distributor or supplier
- participants in grant programmes whose application must exist in two languages
Consistency with other financial documents
The financial forecasts of a business plan are usually based on the company's historical statements. If the investor receives a translated business plan and translated audited statements at the same time, the same line item must be named the same way in both. That is why across the whole financial and business translation practice we work on all of one client's documents with a single terminology base, which turns the document package into a coherent and credible picture in the investor's eyes.
Frequently asked questions
Do you translate a business plan directly in the PowerPoint or Excel file?
Yes. We translate a presentation in the same slides, including graphs and charts, and a financial model in the Excel file with the formulas preserved, so that the investor can use the model directly.
Are terms such as term sheet, runway or cap table translated?
Some of them stay in their English form in Georgian investment practice too. We use the variant that is natural for the receiving audience and, where needed, add a Georgian explanation at the first mention.
Can you convert amounts into another currency?
In the translation the amounts stay in the currency of the original, and at the client's request we add a parallel figure in another currency with the rate and date indicated. The conversion rate is confirmed by the client.
How long does the translation of a business plan take?
A 20-30 page business plan usually takes 3-5 working days, a 15-20 slide presentation 1-2 days. For an urgent submission it is possible to work with a parallel team.
How is the confidentiality of a business plan protected?
A business plan contains trade secrets, so every contributor works under a signed NDA, files are transferred over an encrypted channel and deleted within the agreed period. Signing the client's own NDA form is also possible.
Do we need notarization of the business plan translation?
For an investor or a venture fund, as a rule, no. At the request of a bank, a state programme or a grant commission the translation is certified with the agency's seal or notarized.