insight
communication
B-Plan: The Power of the PrĂŠcis A well-written executive summary can prompt investors to read the entire business plan. Clarity of thoughts and brevity with words can do wonders
Vimarsh Bajpai
B
ack in the school, it used to be a regular exercise in the English language class to summarize a story into as limited words as possible. The prĂŠcis-writing class, as it was called, was all about the economy of words put into use without losing track of the central idea of the story. Much of that comes to haunt an entrepreneur when he sits down to draft the executive summary of his business plan. The B-Plan is a written piece of document that acts not only as a roadmap for the founding team but also as a sales pitch while hunting for funds from some quarters. For every busy investor who sifts through a deluge of such plans, all vying for funds, it is quite a challenge to pick the right one for deeper analysis. Much depends on the first few paragraphs that are said about the idea, the business model, the team and the prospective customer. 22 MARCH 2011 | dare.co.in
While placed right after the title page, it is best to write it after your have written the entire business plan. Spend more time on writing this summary instead of just jotting down in a hurry. If you are a good story teller, the executive summary is like a blank sheet that is used to tell your prospective investor about the birth of the idea and how you would execute it on the ground. The business plan itself is a dynamic document, particularly for a startup, because the market forces may prompt you to keep tweaking it in bits and pieces. The executive summary tells the central idea behind the business. As investors would have little time to read through the entire business plan, this summary becomes all the more important. Here are a few elements of an executive summary and how it could be improved: