Executive Summary

The most important part of your plan and it should be written last. This will inform everybody who reads your business plan what it actually entails, and it is worth noting that it is in fact the only part of your plan that may be read of the whole document. The executive summary should include highlighted parts from each section which will explain to the reader what the business is about. You must ensure that you cover all the points your business plan talks about, and not make it simply an extended table of contents because this will add no value. You should ensure that your summary is truthful because although you want it to interest its readers it must not undermine the credibility of the whole document.

Your business its products and services

You must be able to get across clearly what your business will be doing. This section of the business plan explains who you are, what you intend to be doing and the market in which you will enter. Basically this section will answer if your plan viable.

The first part of your plan should start with an overview of your business.

• when you want to start trading

• any information that may be relevant, for example, how you acquired the business if you did so

• if you already have a business talk about this and what products and/or services it offers

• talk about your mission statement and your aims and objectives

The second part should talk about the products and/or services you will be offering.

• how it will benefit the market

• how it will benefit others

• why customers would want to use your service

• whether you have any design rights, copyrights, patents or trademarks

• include what your Unique Selling Points will be

• use business tools such as the Boston Matrix to explain whether your service will have a low or high market share in a growing or mature market