Executive Summary: The Key Part Of The Business Plan

This is the most important part of your business plan, and perhaps the only one that we will read so much!

The executive summary has only one objective: to hook the reader of your business plan.

Ok, but what do you do? This is what we suggest you see in this article.

Reminder: What Is An Executive Summary?

The executive summary, in French summary or operational summary, is the very first part of the business plan.

It aims to give the reader of the business plan an overview of your project (activity, market, profitability potential, need for financing), in order to make him want to spend more time on your file.

How to write a powerful executive summary?

Put Yourself  In The Reader’s Shoes

His mailbox is overflowing with business plans and he has to go down the pile by selecting only the cream of the crop.

He will therefore read them diagonally, in 2 minutes flat, and select only those which seem to him to be the most promising.

How Do You Stand Out?

First of all on the form. The text should be airy: no one wants to make the effort to enter a dense block of text. The executive summary should also be short: one (ideal) or two (maximum) pages, and the information should be easy to find, even when reading diagonally.

Then, on the bottom: get straight to the point. Present in a few lines: the idea, the team, the market, the potential for profitability, and the need for financing. Above all, don’t try to go into details in the executive summary: arouse the reader’s curiosity and let them dig in by reading the rest of your plan or inviting you to meet with them.

Let’s now see in more detail what to put in each part of the executive summary of your business plan.

The Introduction Of  The Executive Summary

The equity investor (or the banker) will start by verifying that the project corresponds to his investment criteria:

• • The idea and size of the financing correspond to the stage at which it invests: seed, series A, growth, or LBO as the case may be
  • The sector is not over-allocated in its portfolio: investors have diversification criteria imposed by their investors, banks by their risk management committee
  • The market is large enough: especially applicable to equity investors

• The team has the necessary skills to carry out the project