Executive Summary

The executive summary gives readers an overview of your business, goals and industry. It
describes the products or services your business provides and how your business distinguishes
itself from competitors.

The executive summary should identify your audience, ideal customer and the outlook of your
company and industry. You could outline your company’s specific goals for the coming year,
three years and five years.

While the executive summary is the first part of your business plan, you may want to write it last,
after you’ve done all the required research.

You can use the following subheads as an outline for organizing your executive summary.

Highlights
You can start with key business highlights. If you’ve patented a new idea, have positive
customer reviews, already raised money or have personal experience in the industry, those
might be highlights.

You could also add charts or graphics. For example, if you’ve launched your business and want
to highlight growing sales or profits.

Objectives and Strategies

What are your business goals?
What are your plans for meeting those goals?
How will you measure your progress?

Vision Statement
What do you want to achieve and what do you want to offer your customers?

Mission Statement
What does your business offer, how it does this and who it helps.
What value do your product or service have?

Company Values
How do you want your company to be seen, How do you want your employees to feel and be
treated
How you hope to affect your community.
What are your own personal values?

Business opportunity
What problem you are solving with your company’s product or service?
Who are those you want to reach. (These are the people who want and can afford your product
or service)

Who are your competitors and what will distinguish your business from other companies that
offer similar products or services.

Description of Business
Company Ownership/Legal Entity
Is your company fully registered?
Is it a sole proprietorship, partnership or limited liability company (LLC)

Do you have business partners, list the partners and what percentage of the business they own.

Do you have specific licenses or permits for business operation?

If yes, listo those requirements for your company, the costs, the process for btaining them and
your plan for getting or keeping the proper license(s) or permit(s).

Location
Do you have a business location? If yes, where

Is your ideal customer close to your business location?

If you don’t have a location yet, explain your ideal location and give examples of potential
locations.

Hours of Operation
What are the days and hours of operation

Products and/or Services

List and describe the products or services your company offers
Why do customers want them and how they benefit your customers.

How does your offerings differ from the your competitors?

Customer Service
What are your approach to customer services.
How will it help you attract and retain customers
How is it different from the competiors?

Suppliers
Do you have supplier?
If yes, list your suppliers and the financial agreements you have with each one.
Key Management
List out the company’s management, their responsibilities, skills and the experience that each
person brings to the business.

If you’re the only owner or manager, list out qualification, work and managerial experience.

Financial Management
What are your budget and savings plan.
Will you borrow money. If yes, how will you borrow money and how will you repay the loans. If
you’ve already borrowed money, list your current loans and loan terms.
What types of payment will you accept from customers, such as cash, checks or credit cards.
How will you manage the month-to-month business expenses while planning for long-term
success (i.e., cash-flow management).

What are your startup expenses,income projections and other finances?

How do you plan to manage your inventory system

Startup/Acquisition
Are you purchasing an established business, if yes what are the process and timeline for the
purchase.

Marketing

Market Analysis
Who are your target customers? (The person who most wants and can afford what you’re
selling)

How will you reach your target customers?

Are offering something that’s brand new, if yes is there a market for it.

What types of research have you done to prove that there’s a demand for what you’re selling?

Has there been growth in your customer base, if yes how does it affect your sales?

Market Segmentation
Demographics
What are the classifications of customers who need your product/services
Age
marital status
behavior
Income
Gender
Location
Educational level
shop online or in stores.

Competition
Who are the closest competitors in your area?
How are their products, services and approach to selling different from yours?
If you were a customer, whose product would you buy and why?

Pricing
What is your pricing strategy?

There are various pricing methods that can help you attract customers and boost sales. A few
pricing strategies include:
● Cost-plus pricing – Calculate your costs and add a markup.
● Competitive pricing – Set a price based on what the competition charges.
● Loss leader – Sell your product at a competitively low price to attract customers who
may buy other more profitable products.
● Odd value pricing – Sell products for $.99 instead of $1.00. Some customers view odd
value prices as being more attractive.
● Price skimming – Set a high price and lower it as the market changes.
● Penetration pricing – Set a lower price to enter a competitive market and raise it later.

Advertising and Promotion

Which advertising or promotion methods do you plan to use (such as online advertising, mailing,
printed flyers or free samples)

How will you track it?

Strategy and Next Steps

What steps will you need to take to grow your business?

You could also list your top three to five goals and describe how you’ll achieve each goal.
Appendix
Budget
A budget is a tool to track when and how you earn or spend money. It allows you to oversee
and better understand whether your business has enough revenue (incoming money) to pay its
expenses.
Create a budget and include a copy in your business plan. If you haven’t started the business
yet, include your projections for how much money you’ll need to start and run the business and
how much you expect to earn from sales.
Startup Expenses
(for new businesses only)
Starting a new business can require a large initial investment. You may need to pay to register
your business, hire professional attorneys to draft your contracts, secure a location and
purchase a variety of supplies. List each of these expenses, and the total amount you’ll need to
spend in order to get your business ready to take on customers.

Expense Amount
Business Licenses and Permits $
Registration or Incorporation Expenses $
Professional Services $
Initial Labor Costs $
Salaries $
Software $
Insurance $
Rent $
Construction/Repairs $
Advertising $
Opening Inventory $
Required Equipment: $
Item 1 $
Item 2 $
Item 3 $
Total Equipment $
Additional Expense 1 $
Additional Expense 2 $
Additional Expense 3 $
Total Initial Expenses $

Sales Forecast
Make an educated guess about how your sales will increase in the coming months and years.
You can base your estimates on your past results and what you learned when researching your
competitors.

Be sure to separate out different types of sales, such as each product or product lines. Also,
include the cost of goods sold for each type of product. These are the direct costs related to
creating and offering the product, including the cost for the raw materials along with the labor
costs for the product and sales (but not indirect labor costs).

You can present your findings as a chart, table or another type of illustration to make it easier to
understand. If you want to use a spreadsheet, you can use this sales forecast template.
Cash Flow Projection
A business’s cash flow shows how much money is coming into, and leaving, the business each
month. A cash flow statement will look back at a chosen period of time to show a business’s
historic cash flow. It’s one of the main three financial statements, along with the profit and loss
statement and balance sheet.

However, in a business plan, you’ll want to include your projections for the business’s cash flow
in the future. You’ll have to make guesses about the sales and expenses to create these
projections. You can use numbers from your expense budget and sales forecast to create your
cash flow projection.

You can use the cash flow projection template to input all the numbers and create the cash flow
projection for your business plan. The template has space for up to 12 months of projected
operational cash flow — sales and expenses from the company's main business activities.
Profit and Loss Statement (and Projection)
The profit and loss statement can give someone insight into how the business has done over a
period of time. It's also called an income statement, revenue statement or P&L.

You can use this profit and loss statement template to create a profit and loss statement for the
business plan. This will show the business’s historic profits and losses.

You can also use the template to create a projected P&L and show estimates for your
business’s profits and losses in the upcoming months or years.

Balance Sheet
A balance sheet shows a business's current assets and liabilities, it’s like a snapshot of the
business’s financial situation at a specific point. You can use this balance sheet template to
create a balance sheet for the business plan.
Milestones
You can create a list of major business goals with the estimated date for when you’ll finish each
one. For example, paying off debt, becoming profitable or hiring a first employee. You can
present this information as a list, timeline or chart.
Break-Even Analysis
A break-even analysis can help determine when a business will become profitable. If your
business is already profitable, you could include an analysis of your main products or services
to show how much money you make from each one relative to the cost of selling the product or
service.

You can use this break-even analysis template to create a break-even analysis for the business
plan. The template is designed to find the break-even points for a single product or service.
However, if you combine all your products and services and consider the total one “unit,” you
can use it to analyze your overall business and find the break-even point for the company.
Miscellaneous Documents
You may want to include a wide variety of additional documents with your business plan. These
can vary depending on who you’re sharing your business plan with — whether it’s a potential
investor, business partner or a friend who will give you feedback.

● A resume and contact information for each owner or executive

● Business and personal credit reports
● Business and personal tax returns
● Contact information for the business’s attorney and accountant
● Copies of leases and rental agreements
● Copies of permits and licenses
● Letters of reference
● Current business contracts
● Positive press coverage of the business or owners