how the executive summary helps to shape the plan

Executives cannot realistically expect the Executive Summary that they write at this early stage of business plan preparation to be polished and ready for presentation. Indeed, they should beprepared to revise it substantially after the rest of the plan is written.

The preliminary version of the Executive Summary at the early stages of preparing a plan serves several purposes:

It provides guidance and a sense of the plan. Drafting the Executive Summary forces you to think long and hard about the factors most essential for business success. It also forces you to prioritize issues and to set aside for later consideration those of lesser importance.

It builds confidence in the plan. If you outline the key elements up front, you will be less likely to experience writer’s block and other forms of procrastination later on. Getting the plan’s main points down in short form will allow you to move on to the full plan with a sense of direction and vision.

It involves the management team early on. Writing a draft of the Executive Summary provides an effective way of involving all members of the management team in the analysis essential for a successful plan. This team effort secures valuable input and consensus on the main issues.

It leads to a better final product. Rewriting is the key to successful writing. An Executive
Summary drafted to guide the writing of the body of the plan will need to be tackled again at
the end of the process and rewritten as needed. The result will be a better business plan and
a better Executive Summary than would otherwise have been achieved.

Once you have completed all of the other components of the business plan, you should go back to the draft Executive Summary. First, be sure that the Summary is consistent with all of the detailed information in the other sections of your business plan and that it addresses all of the items noted above in the Keys to an Effective Summary section of this chapter. Then ask yourself the following fundamental questions.

Does the Executive Summary demonstrate:

•  that the business has been thoroughly planned and researched?

•  a business proposition that makes sense?

•  an accurate understanding of the value proposition of your product or service?

•  that the business proposition offers real competitive advantages?

•  a knowledge of the industry and target market?

•  a sense of enthusiasm for the business?

•  a realistic picture of the risks inherent in the business?

If it has addressed the basic content and conveyed the basic messages above, it will likely compel the reader to read further to obtain a fuller understanding of your strategies, plans,and goals.