5 Things You Should Avoid
Author: Keith Huggett
The executive summary is a key part of your business plan. It's the point where a potential investor decides whether to continue learning the details of your business, or whether to move on to the next business plan. The purpose of the executive summary is to give an overview of your business and grab the attention of the reader. This is often more difficult than you may expect, especially since you only have a couple of pages to work with.
When preparing your executive summary, avoid these five common mistakes to improve your chances of success:
- Don't get too detailed. While the details of your business may be very compelling, the executive summary is not the right place to elaborate. Stick to an overview of the content included in the report and leave the details for later.
- Don't make it too long. If you follow the first rule, this shouldn't be a problem. There is no set guideline for length, but in general you want to keep it between one and four pages.
- Don't have unrealistic expectations. The purpose of the summary is not to land an investor, but to generate interest in your business and start a conversation.
- Don't overstate your selling points. Investors can see right through superlatives and selling language. Simply state the problem, the solution and how your business idea solves it. The facts should be enough to convince a reader that your business is worth the investment.
- Don't set the wrong tone. Every business is different, and so is every business plan. While it's important to stand out from the crowd, it's also important to understand your target audience. Consider the background of the type of person reading your business plan and use language that they are likely to respond to.
