Tips for Writing the Business Plan’s Summary

The purpose of the summary of the business plan is to provide your readers with an overview of the business plan. It is an introduction to your business. Therefore, your business plan’s summary will include summaries of:
A description of your company, including your products and/or services, your mission statement, your business’s management, the market and your customer, marketing and sales, your competition, your business’s operations, financial projections and plans. There are some tips on writing the summary of the business plan they are as follows:

• Focus on providing a summary. The business plan itself will provide the details and whether bank managers or investors, the readers of your business plan don’t want to have their time wasted.
• Keep your language strong and positive. Don’t weaken the executive summary of your business plan with weak language. Instead of writing, “Dog star Industries might be in an excellent position to win government contracts”, write, “Dog star Industries will be in an excellent position...”
• The executive summary should be no more than two pages long. Resist the temptation to pad your business plan’s executive summary with details (or pleas). The business of the executive summary is to present the facts and entice your reader to read the rest of the business plan, not tell him everything.
• Polish your executive summary. Read it aloud. Does it flow or does it sound choppy? Is it clear and succinct? Once it sounds good to you, have someone else who knows nothing about your business read it and make suggestions for improvement.
• Tailor the executive summary of your business plan to your audience. If the purpose of your business plan is to entice investors, for instance, your executive summary should focus on the opportunity your business provides investors and why the opportunity is special.
• Put yourself in your readers’ place... and read your executive summary again. Does this executive summary generate interest or excitement in the reader? If not, why?
• Remember, the executive summary of the business plan will be the first thing the readers of the business plan read. If your business plan’s executive summary is poorly written, it will also be the last, as they set the rest of your business plan aside unread!