Executive Summary of a Business Plan

What is the executive summary as part of the business plan

Well, to begin with, the executive summary is probably the single most important part of a business plan

Why? Because it's the first thing that anyone who picks up the business plan to read it

whether that's, say, a financier, such as someone, a loan officer at a bank

someone who is going to invest capital into the business, The executive summary provides the overview of the business

It is the starting point. And if someone reads the executive summary and it's way off base, it doesn't interest them at all, then that's it

They're done. They're not going to read anything else. For that reason, it is the first impression

So it is, therefore, the most important part of the business plan

because just like with meeting a person, becoming introduced to a business is the first impression

With that being said, what are some tips for writing an effective summary

Well, one, keep it short. It needs to be between one and three paragraphs

Think of it in a way as your elevator pitch for the business plan

It is the enticing portion that you have to condense down to that two minutes or under

in order to grab attention and make the person want to read further

Okay? Make sure it's holistic in nature. Tell all about the business

Explain the salient points that you'll pull of interest from the various sections of the business plan You going to want to briefly state the value proposition Who is the customer market and its size What is your competitive approach to the market and how you going to compete with others

What do you believe the potential for the business is, both market potential and financial potential

How are you going to compete strategically with others? All of these things need to be encapsulated in a very short, concise story that you tell to the recipient there or reader at the very beginning

And you need to do it in a compelling way with the same voice

Meaning that the same voice that you use throughout your business plan should be present in that executive summary

but it should be condensed in such a way that it sets the stage for everything else that you're going to read

It needs to captivate interest from the beginning and then support itself with the individual portions of the business plan throughout

If you keep these principles in mind when you're writing the executive summary

then you will come up with a more effective overall summary and have better results in getting folks to read further into the individual portions of the business plan

So the last tip I'm going to give you is wait until the end to finish the executive summary

If you begin with an outline, then you can use that outline to continue through the business plan and develop the individual sections

Once you've developed those sections and thought through everything, that's when you're better able to come back to the beginning, summarize those portions into a meaningful and effective summary