The following pages provide a suggested outline of the material that should be included in your business plan.
However, the final product will need to be tailored to fit the circumstances of your business.
Cover – Title Page
State the business’ name, address, phone number, fax number and the names of the principal owners.
Indicate the date of issue of the plan and the copy number.
Table of Contents
A single page that lists section headings with corresponding page numbers.
The table of contents can be automatically generated (saving time and frustration) by right clicking the mouse and selecting ‘update entire table of contents’. Changes to titles and page number are done in one click.
Executive Summary
The executive summary should be written after the business plan is complete.
It is a brief (one to two pages) summary of the main topics covered within the business plan.
This section may be the most important part of your plan. Investors will read the summary to decide whether to read the entire plan. For this reason, your summary should be convincing, attract the reader’s interest and at the same time, be brief.
Your executive summary should cover the following items:
Type of business
- Type of business structure (sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation)
- Management/key employee background
- Products or service offering and how they are unique
- Target market and its size
- Marketing strategy – how does it differ from the competition
- Financing required and how it will be used
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