- The executive summary highlights the major points of your business plan.
- It must capture the attention of the reader, arouse interest, and accurately highlight, in two or three pages, what your business plan is all about.
- It gives the reader a quick overview of your business goals and purpose – where your business has come from, where it is at, and where it is going.
- It is important that the executive summary be written properly, as it may be the only section that some readers will look at.
- It should be two to three pages, and no more than five. If you can not describe your business in five pages or less, you may appear unorganized and unfocused.
- The executive summary should focus on the following:
- The company’s mission
- Its products or service
- Its customers
- The company’s unique selling advantage in relation to competitors
- Future projections for major areas such as sales, costs and profitability
- The resources required to start the business – inventory, equipment, property, working capital
- If you are using your business plan to obtain financing, indicate the amount of funds you want to borrow, how these funds will be used, the repayment terms, and the benefits that these funds will realize.
- The executive summary is designed to help you write the rest of your business plan. It can, therefore, be written first, as a general outline. Then, after the other sections have been written, you can go back and edit it until you are satisfied.
- In many cases, it will be the executive summary that will sell your business plan, or if it is not done properly, turn the reader off.