A.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is arguably the most important section of the business plan. It must
be concise, specific, and well-written. It summarizes the highlights of the completed
business plan and provides a brief snapshot of the plan, with sales, spending, and profit
summary figures. The summary emphasizes those factors that will make the business a
success. It must contain sound numbers for market size, trends, company goals, spending,
return on investment, capital expenditures, and funding required. For new businesses or
businesses seeking funding, credibility and excitement are key elements of the executive
summary. Venture capitalists receive hundreds of plans each month, and just a few are
actually being read from cover to cover. A quick 20-second scan of the executive summary
is the basis for screening which plans to read and which companies to interview for
investment. When the plan is the vehicle used to attract financing or investment, the
executive summary should make it clear to the reader who is a potential source of funds
why this is a sound investment.

Every business plan has key sections such as management and marketing. It should also
have an executive summary, which is a synopsis of each of the plan sections in a one- to
two-page overview. This guide will help you create an executive summary for your
business plan that is comprehensive while being concise.

Components of an Executive Summary:

The executive summary should mimic the sections found in the business plan. It is just a
more concise way of stating what’s in the plan so that a reader can get a broad overview of
what to expect.
 Mission
State the company’s mission statement and provide a few sentences on what the
company’s purpose is.
 Company History and Management
 This section describes the basics of where the company is located, how long it has
been in operation, who is running it and what their level of experience is.
Remember that this is a summary and that you’ll expand on management
experience within the business plan itself. But the reader should know the basics of
the company structure and who is running the company from this section.
 Products or Services
This section tells the reader what the product or service of the company is. Every
company does something. This is where you outline exactly what you do and how
you solve a problem for the consumer.
 The Market
This is an important section that summarizes how large the market is for the
product or service. In the business plan, you’ll do a complete market analysis. Here,
you will write the key takeaways that show that you have the potential to grow the
business because there are consumers in the market for it.
 Competitive Advantages
This is where you will summarize what makes you better than the competitors.
Identify key strengths that will be reasons why consumers will choose you over
another company.
 Financial Projections
This is where you estimate the sales projections for the first years in business. At a
minimum, you should have at least one year’s projections, but it may be better to
have three to five years if you can project that far ahead.
 Startup Financing Requirements
This states what it will cost to get the company launched and running. You may
tackle this as a first-year requirement or if you have made further projections, look
at two to three years of cost needs.
https://www.forbes.com/. (October 17, 2022). Business Plan Executive Summary.
Accessed at March 18, 2023
B. Business Planning
When writing a business plan for your company, you'll often notice that business plan
templates or experts suggest you include a vision statement, a mission statement, and
objectives. What are the differences between these three elements?
a. Mission
A mission statement defines the long-term goals of your business in three ways:
 What does your company do for its customers? Think broadly about the benefits
you offer. Starbucks, for example, offers a lot more than coffee, including a certain
environment, an affordable luxury, or a meeting place.
 What does your company do for its employees? If you want employees to stay with
your company, you need to provide meaningful work, useful feedback, training,
benefits, and more.
 What do you want from your business? Your mission is probably to grow and
produce profits, and your mission statement should say so.

Your business's mission statement is more permanent than an objective in a business

plan. It must be applied consistently over time. The mission statement serves as a
reminder—to you, your employees, and your customers—of the main purpose of your
business. To avoid vague, fuzzy mission statements, review your statement for useless
comparisons. Do your competitors do the same thing? Are your missions identical?
Think about how your company is different, and use that to influence your mission.

b. Goals and Objectives

What are business goals?
Business goals are a predetermined target that a business or individual plans to achieve
in a set period of time. These goals are often split into short-term goals and long-term
goals. Business goals can be general and high level, or they can focus on specific
measurable actions. Setting business goals is a best practice for a reason—goals help
drive businesses in the right direction.
Here are a few more reasons why companies take the time to establish strong goals:
  Confidently define success
One of the easiest ways to know if your team is successful is by clearly
outlining what success looks like. When you set your goals, take into
consideration what you know your team is capable of, and push them slightly
farther than expected.
 Connect work to goals
A good business strategy to get into the habit of doing is connecting your
business goals to the work your team is already doing. When you connect daily
work to short- and long-term goals, individual team members have a clear sense
of what they need to do, when they need to complete it, and the strategies
they're doing to achieve those goals.
 Keep teams aligned
A key benefit of using business goals is to align teams towards a common goal.
Establishing clear business objectives allows team leaders to define which
tactics their individual teams should use to achieve these goals.
 Maintain accountability
Once you set business goals, you can then break them down to the individual
level. Using a technique like this can help maintain accountability from the
leadership level all the way down to individual team members. When individual
team members are responsible for their individual goals, it's easy for managers
to gauge how they're performing and when they might need more support.
 Inform decision-making
If your company regularly tracks its business goals, you can use past goals as a
way to inform your decision making process. For example, if your team sets up
a new marketing strategy to track your goals and progress, you can use that
information to set your business strategy for the next year based on
performance.

How to establish business goals is start with the big picture. When you're establishing
your goals, choosing numbers and tactics can feel overwhelming. To prevent that, start
with the big picture first. Focus on answering the questions:
What do you want your company to stand for? Why was your company created?
Where do you want to be in 10 years? What about 25 years? Once you’ve defined a big
picture mission, break it down into smaller, more actionable goals. What steps can you
take to get there? What new products can you introduce to help achieve that overall, big
picture mission? With goal setting, there is no right or wrong answer. It's all about
finding the strategies and methodologies that work best for your team.
Also, the objectives of your business plan are the most important part. Spell out your
goals; specify results and activities that can be easily tracked. Goals may include
increasing monthly sales or profits to some specific number or by a specific percentage;
decreasing costs or operating expenses to a specific number or percent; or finding a
specific amount of new funding.
Objectives don't have to be financial. You can set objectives for performance, customer
satisfaction, and other key elements of success, as long as you define how they will be
measured. For example, if your business wants to serve the best coffee on the block,
add that it will be determined by a random survey of customers (or by some other
method). "Being the best" is great, but it isn't a business objective unless you can
measure it.

https://www.allbusiness.com. (June 24, 2022). Business Plan Basics: Objectives,

Mission Statements, and Vision Statements. Accessed at March 18, 2023.
https://asana.com. (October 13, 2022). Setting business goals: The first step to a
successful business. Accessed at March 18, 2023.