The executive summary is a synopsis of the key points of the entire business plan. Its purpose is to explain the fundamentals of the
business in a way that both informs and excites the reader. If, after reading the executive summary, the investor or manager understands
what the business is about and he/she is eager to know more, the executive summary has done its job.
As a miniature version of the business plan, the summary usually contains a key point or two from most sections of the plan. Due to
space limitations some sections may get missed, but an accurate summary will provide the reader with a succinct explanation of the
entire plan.
The executive summary is not just a brief description of the business and its products. This information is presented in the business
description section inside the plan and should not be duplicated here. Because the summary is a synopsis of the entire plan, don't let
information from any one section dominate your executive summary.
The executive summary is not an outline of the plan. First-time summary writers sometimes make the mistake of creating an extended
table of contents. For example, don't tell the reader there is a competitor analysis inside, instead summarize the analysis by identifying
one or two key competitors and your company's primary source of advantage in the competitive marketplace.
The executive summary is not hype. While a goal of the executive summary is to excite the reader enough to read the entire plan, the
temptation to make exaggerated claims or accentuate only the positive must be avoided. For example, you might want to point out a
significant risk or a well-established competitor and suggest how the business will deal with this problem. This provides a sense of
balance and realism in what can be an over-glorified summary of the plan. An experienced investor or businessperson will recognize hype
and this will undermine the plan's credibility.
The executive summary is not a cut-and-paste exercise. Drafting the summary can begin with key paragraphs and sentences from inside
the plan, but the end result should be written "fresh" without large-scale duplication of content and with a smooth flow of plan highlights
from the beginning to the end.
