What goes into a business plan executive summary

​How to Write an Executive Summary for Your Proposal

If you want a loan, how much and for how long? In every case, keep in mind that this is a summary! Once underway we will expand our scope and take advantage of high-margin new equipment sales and leverage our existing labor force to sell and service those products. You would not have to include a section that highlights your finances, but it should still address costs if your change is going to involve some expense to the company or institution.

The Length Remember, every executive summary is--and should be--unique. Talk about why you want to work with them — a little flattery goes a long way — and about how, as partners, you will be successful.

The executive summary should concisely highlight the most important information. Strictly Professional or Humorous? Save the tech stuff for the proposal. But there are some tricks. Getting the executive summary right is crucial for any business looking for investment and funding.


After the opening paragraph, you can follow the order of the following sections of the plan. The Solution Your Business Provides How will you address the existing situation you described and solve the problem? A two-page summary can be printed on the front and back of a single page, which can feel like a professional brochure.

Honest appraisals and truthful promises are what sell, not overused, recycled ideas and hollow claims. Another section of the report might be dedicated to a financial statement. Depending on your audience, you can also try a more rigid approach to the executive summary.

Serving as an introduction to a proposal, the executive summary often contains brief statements describing what will be further detailed in the coming proposal. The problem may be as simple as: Those employees will be attracted through competitive wages as well as discounts products and services.

Acquiring the right location? The items covered in the executive summary should be given in order of importance, so writing the summary will help you to decide which parts of the entire plan are most crucial, so you can prioritize.

First, think about your core strengths. Have a fifth grader or any noninvestor read your executive summary, even just the first paragraph. The summary can also give you a foundation for writing the entire business plan, provide you with a place to start and an outline for your full plan.

I could edit the executive summary as needed and I knew there would be no huge surprises in what other team members had prepared. Then ask the person to explain to you what your company does. Akira Hirai, founder and CEO of Phoenix-based Cayenne Consulting, a firm that helps entrepreneurs develop business plans and financial forecasts, says the process of distilling the essence of your business down to a page forces you to think hard, decide what's important, and discard things that aren't essential to the story line.

The executive summary is an ideal place to start aiming thoughtfully at your key audience. Maybe this is your niche market and you have lots of experience helping other companies with a similar issue.

5 crucial elements of an executive summary


The executive summary is an overview of your entire business plan and should leave readers with the feeling that the business is competently run, and has energy and enthusiasm.

Use bullet points to present your ideas, and make sure you always use concise language. Lavinsky shares his litmus test: You will notice, however, that sometimes we include links to these products and services in the articles.

Promote a Policy Idea If your project involves making policy changes, your report may include an explanation of the issue at hand, your suggestions, research that helped you arrive at your suggestions and considerations for implementation. Purpose for Readers The purpose of the executive summary is to explain the main features of your business in a way that will make the reader want to learn more.

My suggestion is chocolate AND peanut butter. How to Kill a Great Idea! Another good tip he gives is to use personal pronouns e. For your financials, Bonjour suggests including the valuation of the deal, so that the reader knows right away what the risks are, and what the returns can be.

Silly mistakes can and must be avoided. This advertising model, like others you see on Inc, supports the independent journalism you find on this site.Jul 24,  · How to Write an Executive Summary.

by: Tim Berry planning. broken into subheadings. Illustrations such as a picture of a product, or a bar chart showing financial highlights, are usually welcome.

investors can’t do due diligence without a full business plan. Your executive summary is the key to having your business plan reviewed. We /5(). Jul 24,  · Tips for using your executive summary to seek investment. Before you develop your executive summary for seeking investment, understand the relationship between business plan, executive summary as the first section of a business plan, and a stand-alone executive summary/5().

Business Plan Section 1: Executive Summary

Jun 12,  · How to Write an Executive Summary. In this Article: Article Summary The Basics The Specifics Summary Help and Sample Summary Community Q&A. The executive summary is the most important part of a business document.

It is the first (and sometimes the only) thing others will read and the last thing you should write%(). This article is part of a series on how to write a great business plan.

The Executive Summary is a brief outline of the company's purpose Inc. writes about products and services in this and. Aug 28,  · The executive summary is a miniature version of your marketing plan – an elevator pitch of sorts.

It has a section that summarizes each component that your marketing plan covers in detail. For a template that you can use to write a complete business plan see the Simple Business Plan Template or these One Page Business Plan Templates.

Business Plan: Composing Your Executive Summary


What goes into a business plan executive summary
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