Writing Executive Summary

There are six or seven ingredients that usually make up an executive summary (Note: there is no one size fit all method and the idea of this article is to give you an outline how to do it)

a. Type of business: Ask yourself what kind of business is your enterprise based on. Is it a product based or a service based company? You need to give a quick introduction of your company's core competency in the start.

b. Problem and Opportunity: Usually, you pinpoint that there is a gap in the market, and the important part here is to signpost the reader that you have the game plan to turn that deficiency into a profit making enterprise.

c. Technology (only for technology startups): You need to explain in simple words that what your technology does. The rule of thumb is never to use technical jargon unless you are pitching to a venture capitalist, who specializes in a certain area, for example, biotechnology. The way to get this right is to get a person with nontechnical background to read your summary. If he or she can understand the technology, then you are halfway there.

d. Management Team: Who is on your team? Why are they on the team? What make their individual strengths to be useful to the business? You have to explain how the individual strengths of the team can complement the big picture and making the

business work. Some business angels have said to me that they usually invest in the team, not the idea.

e. Route to Market and Business Strategy: How are you going to market your services or products to your customers? Can you give a few examples who your potential customers are? What are the risks that are involved in your business and

what kind of strategies you are adopting to deal with them? These are important questions to determine whether your team has a good business model to turn the idea into opportunity. It is always important to remember that your business model must be sustainable and is able to fend off possible competitors.

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