Paper instructions:
Executive Summary

The Executive Summary of a Business Plan is a one-page distillation of your
entire plan, and often is the last section to be written. Despite the title, it is not
written for executives, nor is it a summary of the plan. Its objective is to capture
the reader’s interest, so that they want to read the entire plan; even better to call you to arrange a meeting. It should be considered a chance to “sell” the reader on the business opportunity.

A first-time reader should be able to read the Summary by itself, and know what
your plan is all about. The Summary should stand-alone and should not refer to
other parts of your plan. Remember, most readers will never get any further than
your Executive Summary, so make it count!

The Executive Summary should be a maximum of 2 pages. Ideally you should try
to get it all on one page. This is very difficult to do, but being succinct has great
benefits when trying to capture the attention of investors. The summary should
address the following elements of the plan:

• Concept Description Summarize the essence of your business.
• Opportunity Why is this a good opportunity? What evidence do you have to
support the demand? What is the size of your market? What are the critical
trends and how will your company exploit them? What is the compelling
need?
• Product/Service Describe the product or service. How is the product or
service to be produced and delivered?
• Value Proposition Who is the target market? What are benefits to the target
market?
• Marketing Strategy What are the key elements of your marketing strategy?
• Competitive Advantage Who is the competition? What is your competitive
advantage?
• Management: Who is the management team and why will they make a
success of the venture?
• Financial How large will the company become, i.e. what revenues will be
achieved in year 3 or 4? When will the company breakeven?
• Funding How much funding is required? What is the offering? What is the
exit strategy?