The Executive Summary is typically the section that most people who get your Business Plan will read or skim. You should definitely leave writing your Executive Summary at the very end after all your other sections have been outlined and described.

The Executive Summary provides a high-level overview of the business and clarifies and distills the key points that define your business in a very short format, typically one page or less.

It should explain in easy to understand terms what your business does, your team, vision, mission and goals, how your product or service stands out and is different from your competitors, your target market and how you are going to reach it, your projected financials and  what is the amount of funding you require and are currently fundraising for.

What is the background story of your company and why did you decide to start your business at this time? Who is part of your core team and how did you come together?

Describe your business model and how you provide value, what makes you different and better compared to your competitors, what are your goals and why is your company an attractive investment opportunity.

What type of business is it? (Sole proprietorship, S corp, B Corp, General Partnership, Limited Partnership etc) What industry is your company operating in?

What are your values, what is the mission and vision that your company stands for? What is the impact you aim to have on your community and how are you planning to achieve your vision?

What are your company’s short and medium-term business objectives? What are your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and how do you define success?

No matter how much intuition you have about the specific market and industry your company operates in, a sound and thoroughly conducted market research will be key in gaining valuable market intelligence to better position your product and offering, as well as identifying the pain points of customers and targets and the differentiating factors versus your competitors.

For many investors the potential size of the market and opportunity are key for deciding whether to invest in your company.

Basing your analysis on solid supporting data and relevant market sources ( government statistics, industry reports, trade association, university research,  databases and reputable industry coverage in the press) is key to validating your assumptions and gaining trust in your go-to-market strategy.

Clearly identify your ideal target market and customer avatar and tie your analysis with relevant industry trends and consumption patterns in the coming 5 years or so. Segment your customers by demographics and psychographics (i.e. geography, age, education, behavioural patterns, values and preferences, tech-savvy-ness, employement status, earning range etc).

Make sure you include a SWOT analysis of your business and identify both internal and external factors that are expected to impact your business.

This will help you to have a more realistic expectation of your potential and help mitigate some of the risk factors and weaknesses identified in the analysis.

Knowing your competition and what they are offering is key to better positioning your company in terms of offering and identifying the right niche to be operating in. Think about how can you differentiate your product or service and what is the best business model to pursue.

Even if your product is cutting edge and there is no clear competitor yet, think about the current ways your target customers are solving their problems. What alternatives are there to your product and service and why should customers switch to your offering?

Describe your product and service line and the features that make them particularly useful and valuable to potential customers.

Explain the value creation process, the sourcing and manufacturing process if the case and what is the differentiating factor vs. your competition.

Once you clearly identified your ideal customer segment, you can make informed decisions about tailoring your marketing plan and strategy to reach your ideal customers with the right messaging on all channels they like to hang out.

Your marketing plan should include key decisions about the classical four -P’s that create your marketing mix:

• Price: What is the expected price your products and services will sell for and based on what did you make that decision
• Product:  What are you selling and how do your products and services stand out in the market?
• Promotion: How are you going to promote your offering and get it in front of your ideal target customers? What are the channels you will use for finding and communicating with your ideal customers?
• Place: Where will you sell your products? Are you going to have a physical location or will you be online only?

How are your operations actually working? Who are your suppliers? What raw materials or services are they providing you with? Who is manufacturing or producing your product? Will you have your own premises or lease them from someone else? Are you planning to have a physical office or will your team work remotely? Do you need specialized equipment to conduct your operations? How are you going to handle shipment and order fulfillment? Will it be in-house or outsourced to a third-party? How are you going to manage inventory, inhouse or will you outsource it to a fulfillment partner?

What are the expected operational milestones and what resources will you need to make your business model operational? What are your contingency plans in case something goes wrong in your business operations? Did you plan a cash buffer to cover your operations in case of unforeseen events?

This is where you translate your Business Plan into numbers that reflect all the decisions you  are making.

If you do not have a finance or accounting background, you will most likely need some external support from an experienced business plan consultant that can understand your business model and translate it into projected financials.

Ideally, your business should have projected income statements, balance sheet and cash flow statements for the next 3-5 years, ideally split in quarterly or monthly figures.

It’s very likely that these projections will not match the actual figures, however it is still a very useful exercise to model your assumptions and business decisions in a financial blueprint that helps guide your business and that you can refine as you get new data from the market.

Forecasting your cash flow is one of the most important elements of your Business Plan, it determines the amount of capital you actually need to have available to operate your business.

Managing your cash flow is critical for your survival, regardless how much sales or profit you are making, having enough cash to cover your obligation is always the critical part of staying in business.

Clarify your startup costs and ongoing financial requirements and allow yourself sufficient wiggle room rather than assuming to be frugal and only budgeting for the bare minimum.

In the Appendix of your Business Plan you can include important supporting information that was not included in the main sections of your document such as: product mockups, proof of strategic partnerships and letter of intent from potential customers or suppliers, any trademarks, licenses or patents you have in place, supplemental market data or detailed forecasts etc.