How to write a business plan executive summary in five steps

You’ve spent weeks crafting your business plan, ensuring your business proposal is watertight. You’ve added the detailed evidence needed to show your business could be a success with the right backing, but how do you get potential investors and partners to buy in if they’re too busy to read through your entire business plan?

The answer is to craft an effective business plan executive summary. This guide explains how this top-level outline can provide stakeholders with everything they need to know about your business.

What is an executive summary? 

An executive summary is a concise snapshot found at the beginning of a document that highlights its main points and provides essential information.

In the case of your business plan, the executive summary provides investors, partners, loan providers and other stakeholders with the key information required to get an overview of your proposal.

What should an executive summary include?

Your business plan’s executive summary should include the key sections covered in your business plan. These include:

• Your business idea

• Its goals

• Your target market

• Its unique selling proposition (USP)

• Your business’s financial projections

What is the purpose of writing an executive summary?

An executive summary is a crucial part of any business plan for several reasons:

• It provides a clear, concise, and comprehensive overview of the business plan

• It grabs the attention of prospective stakeholders and encourages them to read the full document

• It offers a roadmap or basic outline to help navigate through the main document

Since your executive summary might be the only section potential investors and executives have time to read, it needs to engage, inform, and encourage them to investigate further

How to write an executive summary for a business plan

Break down the task of writing your executive summary into the following steps:

Step 1: Start at the end

Wait until you’ve written your business plan. The completed document will give you everything you need to know about your goals, strategies, target market, financial details and more. You can’t write your executive summary without it.

Step 2: Produce a list of key points

Read your business plan from start to finish. Pull out any key points, arguments or statistics you want to highlight in your executive summary.

Step 3: Create an outline

Your executive summary is an outline of your business plan, so it should follow a similar structure. However, make sure it includes key information like:

• An overview of your business

• Market analysis – including opportunities and USPs

• An operational overview

• A financial plan – including facts and figures to back up your claims

• Funding needs (if required)

Read more: How to write a business plan for a loan

Step 4: Write your summary

Once you’ve broken down your executive summary, write each section from the notes you took in step 2. See below for tips on providing a strong, compelling narrative to help sell your proposition.

Step 5: Edit and proofread

Don’t aim for perfection with your first draft. Focus on getting the key information down and then look to rewrite and polish as required.

After your final edit, wait 24 hours to get a fresh view before re-reading for clarity, grammar and tone. Finally, get someone else to proofread the executive summary to spot errors you may have missed.

Tips for writing a strong executive summary

Your executive summary needs to be both compelling and concise. When writing, consider the following when looking to grab investors’ attention:

• Keep it short: Make sure the summary is contained within 1-2 pages

• Start strongly: Take the time to develop a strong opening statement about your business. Treat it like an elevator pitch

• Cover all bases: Make sure your executive summary provides the essential information about your business, from its basic details and business model to the market opportunity and plans for future growth

• Follow your business plan: Make sure the structure of your executive summary is the same as your plan

• Keep it simple: Avoid long sentences and jargon

• Include plenty of data: Support your claims with facts, figures and evidence

It’s also important to write in the correct tone of voice, which should be:

• Persuasive yet professional

• True to your brand or target audience

• Objective and free of any personal opinions

• Clear, simple and articulate – avoid jargon and don’t assume any knowledge on the part of your reader

• Written in the ‘active’ voice rather than the passive

• Free from hyperbole, cliches (like “thinking outside of the box”), buzzwords and unrealistic claims

Read your executive summary to someone else as part of the editing process. Hearing it out loud can help you simplify your language and highlight areas that might need additional explanation.

How long should an executive summary be?

Your summary should ideally fit into just a single page but could run up to two pages if needed. Treat it like an elevator pitch, where you don’t have much time to grab your audience’s attention.

Use an executive summary template or example

If you’re struggling to come up with an outline for your executive summary, try one of the following examples depending on how your business plan has been structured.

Executive summary template example #1

1. Hook

Capture your audience’s attention with a compelling statement.

2. Business Description

Look to include the following:

• Business name

• Location

• Description

3. Market Opportunity:

Use this section to cover the following:

• Market gap or need

• Target audience

4. Mission Statement:

Include your core goals and objectives.

5. Market Overview:

Provide insights into your target market, including:

• Competitive advantage – what sets you apart from your competitors?

6. Business Model:

Include sections on:

• Your business operation

• Revenue streams

7. Financial Highlights:

Include the following information, backed up with facts and figures where possible:

• Key financial projections

• Sales targets

• Profit margins

• Break-even analysis

8. Future Plans:

Use this section to summarise your:

• Long-term vision

• Growth strategies

9. Closing Statement:

Finish with a strong statement to encourage potential stakeholders and investors to read further.

Executive summary template example #2

This example of a business plan executive summary template is even simpler, but again remember it should follow your business plan’s structure as closely as possible.

1. The problem

Defines the problem your business or product plans to solve.

2. The proposed solution

Provides a description of how your product solves this problem.

3. The opportunity

Gives a summary of your product’s potential.

4. The value

Explains the value of your product or business.

Common mistakes to avoid when writing an executive summary

When producing your business plan’s executive summary, avoid the following pitfalls:

• Going off topic: Remember your executive summary is a top-level outline of your business plan, providing key details for busy stakeholders, executives and investors

• Being too vague: While this is a summary, don’t skim over key details. Provide enough information to make your points clear and compelling

• Overloading with data: It’s important to include some data, but not so much you overwhelm your reader

• Writing for the wrong audience: Are you pitching to potential investors or partners? Tailor your executive summary accordingly

• Forgetting your USP: Make sure you highlight your competitive advantage

• Offering unrealistic financial projections: Be accurate and realistic to retain credibility

• Poorly structured: Make sure your summary flows logically from start to finish

• Forgetting to include a strong closing line: Your conclusion needs to leave a lasting impression

Read more: Business plan mistakes to avoid