What to Include in an Executive Summary Business Plan

Part of knowing how to create an executive summary in general involves finding out what elements you need to add. As with any other kind of document, your executive summary needs to have specific elements for it to carry out its tasks. Knowing what these elements are could definitely go some way toward making the task of writing easier.

You could use sample executive summaries to help you here as these samples would have the same elements you would need to include in your own finished summaries. Of course, it would also help to know exactly what each each element is used for so that you can assure yourself that you are doing everything correctly.

What to include in an executive summary business plan

Since some of these elements are universal to most executive summary templates, you should expect to find them in any executive summary you might have to make yourself. But knowing these elements in greater detail should give you a better idea of how to make use of them, so it would be prudent to learn as much about these components as possible.

Business name

You always need to start your executive summary business plans with the name of your business, along with other details like your contact information and mission statement. After all, the executive summary is a short summary introducing your ideas to your readers so it would be wise to take advantage of any opportunity to explain who you are. In this case, these free summaries for executives can allow you to state your ideas from the beginning, or else let your readers know who you are and how to reach you.

Business opportunity

With an executive summary, you would also need to state the business opportunity you have in mind, particularly if your executive summary involves asking for a loan or an investment. In this case, you would have to explain both the problem you see in the market at the moment, as well as your solution for addressing that problem. This is usually a very specific need in the market rather than some kind of greater issue, but you should take the time to explain that you are in the best possible position to address the problem yourself.

Target market

Of course, you would have a particular target market in mind for your business, and your executive summary definitely needs to explain exactly who your idea intends to affect. After all, you do need to explain this in your executive summary examples so that your readers can have an accurate idea of your plans. When it comes to introducing some kind of plan to potential investors, it pays to have a good understanding of your target market so that they can be assured that your idea is workable.

Business model

Your readers also need to be introduced to what you have to offer in terms of products and services. With regard to your target market, you also need to explain how what you have to offer is meant to appeal to them so that your readers can understand how your products are meant to make a difference in the market as a whole. If you happen to be offering something particularly novel or different, then it would help to make sure that your readers can understand your offerings so that they can make up their minds as to its usability.

Strategies

One important thing you need to include are the strategies you have in mind to pursue your goals in terms of marketing and sales. This helps your readers better understand what you have in mind to actually attain those goals, particularly if you are trying to introduce something new. After all, if you are trying to gain support from investors then they have to be convinced that you actually have a way to make your vision a reality. In this case, you may want to take inspiration from a sample marketing plan executive summary in order to guide you through this process. It is important that you not go into exquisite detail since your readers should be able to get that information past the executive summary.

Purpose of the plan

It can be assumed that you would be sending the executive summary, along with the report as a whole, to either investors or a financial institution like a bank. As such, you need to state exactly what it is you want from them. Since your free executive summary templates exist primarily for the benefit of outsiders, you need to state clearly what kind of support you need in terms of funding. Of course, you also need to assure them that you have a means of making their investment back, which the rest of the summary can explain.

Financial projections

One thing that can serve to allay any fears your investors may have is financial projections. This serves to explain how you expect your finances to turn out over a period of a few years. It is important that you be honest here as your investors need to be given accurate information in order to be properly assured of your promises. This can go some way toward securing support since you would be showing an executive summary of a report of how your company is expected to grow.

Crucial details

You may also elect to include some supplementary details for your executive summaries such as whether your business has an advantageous grant or has won some kind of award in the past. This can be a reflection of the capabilities of the company, and can serve as an extra incentive for investors to work together with you. The best executive summary samples may be able to help you here by letting you put together your own summaries that can include these kinds of details.

Hopefully, this should make it easier for you to make your executive summaries since you should have a good idea of both what to include and what they are meant to do for you.

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