The executive summary in the business plan

The first thing you should put in your business plan and the first thing the reader will see is the business plan summary. It is a fundamental section that allows the reader to get an idea of your business plan briefly and concisely.

The summary is arguably the most important section of the entire business plan. It is the first thing that is read in it, it is basically the face of your plan. That is why you must be sure that it is well done and concisely conveys as much information as possible and indispensable. It is the first tool you use to attract and dazzle people.

Characteristics of the summary

It is recommended that the length of the abstract be as short as possible, one or two pages at the most. It can contain within it the mission and vision statements of the business plan. In it you briefly describe what plans and purposes you have for your business.

It should contain a brief and summarized observation of your business and its organization. It should contain a short outline of the strategy you plan to use and key elements of the company's financial status. It is basically the "elevator pitch" of your business.

You should outline a general idea of the division of the company depending on the investments. The most important thing to make a good summary is to delimit the best elements of your business plan and summarize them in a way that allows the reader to know the most notorious of your company.

It is like the prologue to your business plan, which succinctly touches on each section you will cover in it and convinces you to read on. You should be specific in the parts that require it, but in others you should limit the information you disclose.

Objectives of the summary

The executive summary of the business plan has several objectives:

• As a first purpose, the summary should catch the attention of the reader by using resources that allow you to quickly state the most important aspects of the business plan.
• It is a preamble to your overall plan, guiding the reader to the more complex questions in the longer sections of the plan.
• It should have a simple and easy-to-read format, forming a short narrative that captures the reader's attention and increases his or her interest in the company.
• Most lenders and investors do not take the time to read a long and complex business plan, preferring to read the summary to get an idea of the venture and quickly assess whether it is worthwhile or not. That is why it is so important if you want to get financing.

How to make up your summary?

Below, I suggest a simple format to make the summary of the business plan:

Initial idea: First of all, you should ask yourself:

• What is our business idea?
• What problem does it solve and what place does it occupy in the market?

I advise you to start by answering these two questions. You must describe why the idea for your company can work and how it solves one or more problems for your customers in the most affordable, most feasible or fastest way.

No matter how well shaped and structured your business plan is, if your initial idea is not valid, there is no way any investor or partner will join your venture. You have to first catch them with a winning idea, because, without it, no matter how organized and detailed your plan is, no one will join you.

Funding

Once you have outlined your idea and the reason for its need in the marketplace, you must then include the cost of your venture and the potential funding you may need. In case you need it, you must briefly break down the use you are going to make of it.

It must be reflected in the summary why you need the investment, since not many people would be willing to lend you the money without knowing what you are going to use it for. In this part you should not go into details, since you will do that in later sections of the business plan.

It also includes what kind of profits the investor will get and over what period of time. The potential investor should know from reading the summary how their potential investment could help the company expand and increase its profits. It should be made clear to them that they are going to get a return on their profits that is much greater than their initial investment.

If you are going to have many investors, such as financial institutions, venture capitalists or family members, it would be very complex to include all the necessary information in the summary. That is why I recommend that in this case you only include a brief description of your plan and the division of the company so that everyone gets the percentage according to their investment.

Other aspects to consider

You may also consider including in the executive summary the answers to these questions depending on whether you see this information as essential for the reader:

• How is the company's management made up?

• What advantages do our products or services offer over the competition?
• What are my marketing and promotion strategies?
• What is my exit plan?

Ending the summary

Always end the summary on a positive note. Remember that this is the beginning of your plan and it has to present your company as attractively