Problem statement slide that names the problem and its cost

What is on the slide

Title

The Paperwork Problem.

The Problem

A mixed farm keeps spray, stock and fuel records in five places: notebooks, a whiteboard, two spreadsheets and the ute. Nothing is in one place when the auditor calls.

The Cost

In a Tillsby survey of 180 farms, owners spent 6.5 hours a week on records, about 340 hours a year, and one farm in four failed its first audit on missing spray records.

Photo panel

A notebook and glasses on a desk, a wheat field, glasses on a notebook beside a phone, and an orchard at sunset.

When this is the right slide

Pick this slide to open a pitch or business case when the problem can be named concretely and its cost measured in hours, money or risk, before the product is shown.

What to swap it for

Context: Split Image + Pillar List. Use the split image with a pillar list when the problem has five separate causes that read better as a labelled list with icons beside one photograph.

What this slide shows

The title The Paperwork Problem runs over two lines in large serif type at the top left. Below it, two labelled blocks. The Problem: A mixed farm keeps spray, stock and fuel records in five places: notebooks, a whiteboard, two spreadsheets and the ute. Nothing is in one place when the auditor calls. The Cost: In a Tillsby survey of 180 farms, owners spent 6.5 hours a week on records, about 340 hours a year, and one farm in four failed its first audit on missing spray records. On the right, a two by two photo collage sits on a full height orange panel: an open notebook with glasses and bottles on a desk, a ripe wheat field at dusk, reading glasses on a notebook beside a phone, and rows of fruit trees in an orchard at sunset. Tillsby is a fictional farm records app and the survey is fictional. 6.5 hours a week over 52 weeks is 338 hours, which the slide rounds to about 340.

When this is the right slide

Use a problem statement slide early in any pitch that asks an audience to adopt or fund a solution: an investor pitch, a sales deck, a grant application, an internal business case for a new system. It is the right slide when the problem can be named in one concrete sentence and its cost measured in hours, dollars or risk. The dual statement layout suits a problem with a clear two part shape, what is happening and what it costs, and the photo panel grounds a dry subject such as paperwork in a real setting. It is the wrong slide when the audience already accepts the problem, such as an existing customer's renewal, where it wastes time. It is also wrong when the cost cannot be stated honestly yet; a problem slide with a vague cost reads weaker than no problem slide at all. A problem and solution layout fits better when the deck is short and the solution must appear on the same slide, and the problem and solution example on this site shows that pairing.

How to adapt it

First, for a sales deck to a farm group, swap the survey figures for the group's own numbers if they will share them, such as hours their members report, because their own data beats any survey. Second, for a government grant, put the compliance cost first and the hours second, since the grant body cares about audit outcomes. Third, replace the general photos with the customer's own farm and paperwork, with permission, which makes the problem unmistakably theirs. Keep each statement under about 40 words, so the block stays within five lines. Check that the cost figures appear again on the solution slide, measured against what the product saves, so the audience can see the problem closed.

What makes this slide work

Questions people ask

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