Keys to an effective summary

What makes for an enticing Executive Summary? First, it is important to remember that it is not a preface to or abstract of the business plan. Rather, it is the business plan in the most concise form possible.An effective Executive Summary describes all of the key elements of a business plan in two to three pages. It must include the following essential information:

•  A synopsis of the company’s strategy for succeeding

• A concise account of the management team’s qualifications that make the company successful (be sure to include a description of your team’s contribution to previous successful business ventures)

•  A brief description of the market (along with the ingredients for success that make your company unique in that market)

•  A brief description of the product or service

•  Key historical and fore casted financial data, such as annual revenue and net income, for five years

•  An estimate of the amount of the funds you need, a statement of how you will use the money and how lenders or investors will get their money back.

This is a lot to explain clearly in two or three pages. In fact, composing an effective Executive Summary is one of the most difficult writing tasks any executive will face.