Business Plan Executive Summary

"A goal without a plan is just a wish." Larry Elder

A business plan executive summary stands alone as a summary of your business plan. An effective executive summary will allow the reader to read it quickly and clearly understand the nature of your business.

When writing your executive summary, focus on the key points and issues that are most crucial to the success of your business. The executive summary provides a foundation for your plan and must immediately capture the reader's interest so they will continue to read more of the plan.

A good executive summary will:

Clearly outline the concept of your business.
Demonstrate that your business concept makes sense and the business has been thoroughly analyzed and planned.
Specify realistic financial projections and indicate a potential for profit.
Show that the business will be run by competent management.
Demonstrate that a market exists for a product or service and you have developed competitive advantages.
Use concise language that the reader can review and understand in no more than five minutes.

To write an effective executive summary, you will need to write several drafts. Don't expect your first draft to perfectly capture everything you want to say in the best way possible.

Experts argue whether it is best to write an executive summary before you've written your business plan or after you've written the business plan. Writing the executive summary before you write the business plan can provide a great starting point for writing the rest of your plan. However, writing the executive summary after writing your business plan means that you will be able to develop a firmer understanding of the nature of your business before you write your executive summary.

You may want to consider writing your business plan executive summary before you write your business plan to give yourself a basis for the rest of the plan, and then rewrite the executive summary after you've written the business plan. That way, you'll see how the ways in which you think about your business have become more sophisticated as you compare subsequent drafts to the first draft of your summary and you'll write a far better executive summary if you require yourself to write more than one draft.

Additional Resources

Business plan outline with links to further information about each section
The Successful Business Plan by Rhonda Abrams book review