The Executive Summary

Ah, yes, what a grand sounding phrase, "Executive Summary."  Whether or not your Executive Summary is a paragraph or 5 pages, the Small Business Association (SBA) considers this to be your most important statement.  Keep in mind that it is a summary, and as such, it is written last.

The reason it is so important is that it provides a concise overview of the entire plan along with a history of your company. The Summary explains where your company is and where you want to take it.  If you plan to shop your plan to funding sources, then it will be the first thing your readers see.  This section will also explain in crystal clear terms why you think your business will be successful.

Contents: In this next section, I’m including the basic elements of an Executive Summary as provided by the SBA.

• The Mission Statement - The mission statement briefly explains the thrust of your business. It could be two words, two sentences, a paragraph, or even a single image. It should be as direct and focused as possible, and it should leave the reader with a clear picture of what your business is all about.
• Date business began
• Names of founders and the functions they perform
• Number of employees
• Location of business and any branches or subsidiaries
• Description of plant or facilities
• Products manufactured/services rendered
• Banking relationships and information regarding current investors
• Summary of company growth including financial or market highlights (e.g. your company doubled its worth in 12-month period; you became the first company in your industry to provide a certain service)
• Summary of management’s future plans - With the exception of the mission statement, all of the information in the Executive Summary should be highlighted in a brief, even bulleted, fashion. Remember, these facts are laid out in-depth further along in the plan.

If you’re just starting a business, you won’t have a lot of information to plug into the areas mentioned above. Instead, focus on your experience and background as well as the decisions that led you to start this particular enterprise. Include information about the problems your target market has and what solutions you provide. Show how the expertise you have will allow you to make significant inroads into the market.Tell your reader what you’re going to do differently or better. Convince the reader that there is a need for your service or product, then go ahead and address your (the company’s) future plans.
 

We also advise that you include a table of contents for your business plan directly following the executive summary. Make sure that the content titles are very broad; in other words, avoid detailed descriptions in your table of contents. If you write your plan with the expectation that it will be read, then the table of contents is absolutely required.