When the Executive Summary precedes the business plan, its length should be short, typically only one to two pages and certainly no longer than three pages. This is because the Executive Summary is not meant to tell the whole story of the business opportunity. Rather, the summary must simply stimulate and motivate the investor to learn more about the company in the body of the plan.

The second type of Executive Summary is a stand-alone document. That is, it is given, by itself, to investors for their initial review. If interested, the investor will then request the full business plan. A stand-alone Executive Summary is often used to limit the flow of information. That is, if an investor is not interested in the general opportunity that your summary presents, you don’t want to reveal to them intimate details of your plan.

Regardless of which type of Executive Summary you are developing, the summary must included the following critical elements:

1. A concise explanation of the business

2. A description of the market size and market need for the business

3. A discussion of how the company is uniquely qualified to fulfill this need

In addition, a stand-alone Executive Summary should include summaries of each essential elements of the business plan. This includes paragraphs addressing each of the following:

- Customer Analysis: What specific customer segments the company is targeting and their demographic profiles

- Competition: Who the company’s direct competitors are and the company’s key competitive advantages

- Marketing Plan: How the company will effectively penetrate its target market

- Financial Plan: A summary of the financial projections of the company

- Management Team: Biographies of key management team and Board members

The Executive Summary is the most critical element of the business plan. If it does not grab the investor’s attention, the investor will neither read nor request the full business plan. As such, spend time developing the best possible summary, create two versions (e.g., stand-alone and full plan predecessor) as appropriate, and work to get it in the hands of the right investors

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Follow these simple tips to create a stronger business plan as you outline and write:

Use a Template

Using a template starts you on the right foot, with a standardized order for a business plan which has been vetted by years of use by entrepreneurs and funders. Standing out by creating a new organization system for your plan is a negative way to stand out and will be a distraction. Keep your creativity to your business and marketing ideas. That is where you must prove to funders that you can excel.

Move From Bullet Points to Text

Start the writing process by getting all of your ideas and notes down on paper in bullet point format. If you begin by writing full sentences you may very quickly become hung up on the quality of your writing, which should be the furthest thing from your mind at this stage. Fill the content of each section with your basic ideas in note format at first. Make sure the ideas are sound before writing them as full sentences and paragraphs.

Consistent Headings

The plan should be easy to navigate through and move back and forth between sections. For this reason, make sure the formatting of the content, section headings, and subsection headings are consistent throughout. There is no reason to create distracting new fonts and colors for each section. The plan must be formal, yet attractive in the use of fonts and headings.

Reading Out of Order

Although the plan’s order makes sense and builds the story of the business one piece at a time, you should be prepared for the fact that some funders may read the plan out of order. This may be because they skip ahead to a section they have specific expertise in (such as marketing, operations, or finance) or because their organization has specific requirements which they must see are satisfied before any further consideration. In any case, each section must be able to stand on its own to a certain extent, assuming the reader has covered at least the executive summary and company overview sections.

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Business plan writers must adhere to a basic format. While covering the important sections of a business plan, pay attention to these additional rules which contribute to a more successful plan.

Make the Executive Summary Stand On Its Own

Some funders reading your business plan will only get as far as the executive summary. Some may request that you send only an executive summary with your initial application. For these reasons, make sure that the executive summary hits all of the major points of the business plan and is compelling even as a separate document. While it cannot go into the detail that the rest of the plan will, it should also not be vague or incomplete. Make sure that the executive summary leaves readers wanting more not because it does not answer key questions about the business, but because the strength of the idea itself is contagious.

Make the Plan Easy To Navigate

A table of contents, page numbering, and section headings and subheadings go a long way to making the plan easy to read. A reader should be able to flip between the different sections. For example, some funders may be most concerned with sections covering their specialties, such as strategy, operations, marketing, or finance, and may want to go straight to the relevant section after reading the executive summary.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The maxim that a picture is worth a thousand words is certainly true in a business plan.  Graphics, such as graphs, product photos, and logos can go beyond description to convey more than paragraphs of text can. If numbers are a primary part of what you are trying to explain, or when comparing competitors or customers, a chart can summarize the data simply. Make sure that photos or logos are of high enough resolution to appear clear and not pixelated on the business plan. Also be sure that each graphic is relevant, contributes to supporting the business plan, and is not a distraction from the purpose of the plan.

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Once you have finished with your business plan, next step is to make a business plan presentation that is used to tell investors and lenders about your business, in brief. It is necessary that a business plan presentation you have made; look professional and interesting. It will not make your audiences bore because business plan presentation is like a road map to long-term success. It can give you success and on the other hand, it will lead your business towards failure.
Following are some steps involved in making business plan presentation that will keep the audience interested and engaged:
Images: Collect the images that you want to add in your business plan presentation. Make sure your images must be according to your business type. You can get number of images on Google images. Visuals will enhance your speech and this will attract the audiences.
Cover page: This is the most important slide of your presentation. It is necessary that the cover page of your business plan presentation is that powerful that it attracts potential investors and lenders and create curiosity in your target audience, about your presentation.
Text: A business plan presentation must contain information about your business plan, in a concise manner. If you add too much irrelevant information, the audiences will not take your presentation seriously. An effective business plan presentation must be a conversation with your target audience. You are giving presentation, not telling a story, to your audiences. Use bullet points, instead of long paragraphs. You can make your presentation more powerful by using tables, images, audio, and video; this will create interest in your presentation. Make sure the graphics you use in your business plan are attention catching.
Question: Give space to your audience, so that they ask questions from you, if anything is not understand by them. This will leave good impression on your audiences.
Conclusion: End your business plan presentation by summing up everything, which you have included in the entire presentation.
End slide: End your presentation with “Thank you”. It’s better to give your contact number in last slide so, that your potential investors and lenders can contact you easily.

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Keep your eye on the Executive Summary

The first thing your potential funding audience needs to be reading is your executive summary. There is a saying in the film industry that no great script is written, only rewritten, and in a way that’s how you need to treat your executive summary. It’s the most essential part of your plan because it acts like a shop window to the plan inside, and it needs to draw the potential investor in.

Why use 5 words when you can use 3? Why be vague when you can be direct? It’s got to punch above its weight class and have impact, so don’t be afraid of rewriting it until you know it off by heart.

Start with a paragraph about each important part of the overall plan, and avoid repetition. In the very first paragraphs, spell out what it is that your business does, who does it, and why it does it, and how it makes money doing it, along with the funding requirements and repayment / exit plan.

The more exact you can be, the better.

To Finish first, first you’ve got to Finish.

Knowing when to end your plan is almost an art form in itself, and whilst it’s no bad idea to have a living breathing document for internal purposes, failure to bring things to a conclusion is a real turnoff for external investors. Over half think that business plans are too long, and therefore lose interest, or simply have other pressing engagements they must deal with before they’ll ever get to the end of yours.

The flip side of this is also true: Too short and the investor will be given the impression that you haven’t given this enough thought or done enough research, or worst case scenario will have insufficient information to form a sensible investment decision. Uncertainty is the seed of doubt, and doubt is definitely not a basis for risking investment dollars.

Like the tale of Goldilocks the plan needs to be “just right”, and while each business will vary significantly, some where between 12 and 25 pages seems to be the plan porridge that gets eaten all up!

Demonstrate a Need not Greed.

Somewhere along the way you have to show that you’ve done some market research, and that you’ve thought about what this truly means in respect of your business.

The point here is to think about the niche or zone or subsector you operate in. For example the world car market is billions of dollars, but if you’re setting up a hand car-wash in your local town then this is not the size of your market.

Think about relevance and about the customer’s reality. While you might have the ambition for hand car-wash world domination, take the first step first, then the second. Show how the customer has a need or desire for your product. Don’t assume the investor will know. Spell it out.

Explain how you will fulfil that need with your products and services. Cover how the customer will find you, or how you will get your message across to them. Discuss the frequency of that need. Some sales people call this the itch cycle. Every so often you’ve just got to scratch it.

For example, everyone who has a car has a need to have it serviced at least once a year. Everyone who likes ketchup will want some more when it runs out.

Factor these buy cycles into your research.

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