It is a document that summarises the main points of your project on a single sheet of paper. It is the summary of the summary of your business plan (see TIP). ¡Captivate from the start and with little effort! Demonstrate that the team has the necessary qualities, that the IDEA is a real opportunity, and write it down very clearly: aThe Committee has also noted that a 'napkin' was formerly a 'napkin'. 

The crisis forces us to be much clearer in order to overcome the lack of trust.

Like the elevator pitch (see+ TIP) to buy more time with which to convince the investor, the executive summary is the fundamental part that will allow you to attract business angel (see+ TIP) so that they may wish to analyse all your business plan (see+ TIP)... is one more step towards investment! Investors read too little to make a selection... they don't read a business plan of many pages, that's why the ONE PAGE to make their work easier!

Be unstuck!

Even if you think your business idea is wonderful, the worst thing you can do is to present it in the executive summary as "it's the Google of" or "we have no competition". These are grandiloquent phrases that may be tempting to the writer, but are a turnoff to the investor. Such phrases can cause your proposal to lose interest.

One of the worst mistakes that an executive summary can have is do not say in plain, clear language and without rhetoric what you are selling. Using empty words like 'solutions', 'experience'... What do you sell? What do you put on your invoices? Who do you send them to?

Remember to avoid the entrepreneur syndrome (see+ TIP) "... our child is the most handsome and the smartest and in this business, the entrepreneur's feeling is the same as that of a parent, which often makes him less objective to be able to explain realistically, not without passion and enthusiasm of course, the keys to his business project.

Just the right length. But there is more. The executive summary should be just that: a summary. It is a serious mistake to write pages and pages. You have to be aware that we all lack the time to read, so I recommend that you don't go on for more than one side.

Avoid the temptation to make an executive summary with the breadth of a full business plan. Why You will give the investor the feeling that you are not sure of what you are dealing with and you tend to put in a lot of content in the hope that this will sell your project better. You may think it's better to throw a lot of mud for something you'll get right, but that doesn't work with investors. 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?

The sole and exclusive purpose of the executive summary should be to attract, engage the reader to continue reading the accompanying business plan. ¡¡Es the curriculum vitae of the business plan!!! It has to sell the company, not describe it. It would be like a movie trailer: It doesn't tell you everything that is going on, but it hooks you into watching it. In the case of the executive summary, the investor has to be eager, once read, to continue reading about the business plan or to meet the entrepreneur.

It is important to emphasise that the summary cannot simply be a table of contents of the business plan, nor should it add new information that does not appear in the business plan. Nor can it be a copy and paste of a few paragraphs from the extended report. It should be a summary of the five key ideas that are developed in the subsequent work, written specifically to give a first impression of the company and the entrepreneur. This philosophy is valid whether the business plan is to attract investors, recruit partners or propose changes in the organisation.

The executive summary It should contain the key ideas and do so in a very schematic way. It should be very specific and brief, and easy to read, the addressee must be able to extract the most important points from the business idea being presented. It should concisely demonstrate that the sector has been well studied, that you show ambitious but well-reasoned figures and that you correctly explain the differentiation you want to implement. But, above all, it must be eye-catching and attractive!

THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SHOULD THEREFORE CONTAIN:

• THE IDEA

What is the value proposition (+) we present. What our idea consists of and what will be the key to the success of our project. As Guy Kawasaki explains in The Art of Executive Sumary, must present the big problem for which we have found the big solution. In this paragraph it is not superfluous to explain whether we are dealing with a blue ocean (+) or a red ocean, to help the reader to situate themselves in a specific environment. That is, whether we are dealing with a growing or consolidated market and to whom we are addressing our proposal, although the detailed explanation of the potential and target audience will be developed later, which is something that should be resolved in two or three lines at most.

• COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE (+)

We must be able to demonstrate that the model we are proposing is not easily copied and that it can be sustained over time. This is where most problems tend to arise when it comes to putting it in writing. Here we have to explain very well how the market is currently solving the problem we have detected, how we are going to differentiate ourselves from the rest, if we have a patent, if we stand out in terms of sustainability...

• THE STATE OF THE PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

Where there is some kind of added value related to innovation and technological development it is important toWe will briefly outline here, including if necessary a screenshot or a picture of the type of technology we incorporate.but without going into too much technical detail, unless it is part of your added value, and if it is, it should be explained very succinctly.

It is also important, highlight the stage of development of the business or product: whether it is in development, about to be launched on the market or has been around for some time. Highlight if any alliances have been achieved, if partners are in place, if suppliers have already been approached, if there are any prototypes. It is a reflection of the fact that the project is already becoming a reality.

• THE PROMOTION TEAM (+)

All investors and experts are unanimous on this point. The team behind the idea is more important than the idea itself, because it is easy to deduce from their experience, professionalism, preparation and rapport whether the project will be successful or not. It is not a question of including a CV here, but rather of give a short description of that part of the training or experience of the members that demonstrates experience and knowledge about your project, sector, product, etc...

• FINANCIAL NEEDS AND ECONOMIC VIABILITY EXPECTED PROFITABILITY (+)

Let us not forget that in most cases we are addressing an investor, so it is very important to include figures and calculations that support the numbers we are offering. It is not necessary to give a detailed explanation of how we have reached these accounts, but do set out clearly how we are going to make a profit and when we are going to make it. The revenue numbers to see how much of scalable (+) is the model and expenditure to see how capital-intensive it is and how the cost structure (+).

They must be attractive but realistic numbers. If we fall into complacency or wishful thinking, the investor will is going to dismiss the report without even stopping to analyse the financial plan. It should also be included in this section, how the investor's contribution is to be compensated. It is not necessary to set out specific percentages or timeframes, but to set out broadly what the form of shareholding will be and how it will be used. how and when you will be able to recoup the investment.

• ACHIEVEMENTS, PATENTS (+) AND MILESTONES

Any recognition, milestones, achievements, awards, prizes, grants and distinctions achieved should be included in this section. Also, if there is any alliance for the business as a whole or for a part of it (suppliers, distributors and producers, among others).

Some style guidelines for a good executive summary or ONE PAGE: 

Use short sentences, avoid subordinate clauses and choose a clear typeface.

TYPES OF SENTENCES

Important ideas should always be in simple constructions: subject + verb + predicate. If we use compound sentences, they must be coordinated (those that have an individual meaning on their own) and if they are in a subordinate clause, they must be in the main sentence.

• CHOICE OF VERBS:

Best with action verbs and in a positive form. It makes reading much quicker and gives dynamism to the text.

• PLAIN LANGUAGE:

The shorter a word is, the clearer it is and the more information it conveys. Let us avoid the proliferation of nouns and the nounification of adjectives and verbs which contribute nothing to the writing and hinder the reader's comprehension.

• WORKS ON SYNONYMS:

Strive to find the precise term that best fits the idea you want to convey and avoid repetition of words and overuse of auxiliary verbs.

• FOREIGN WORDS AND NEOLOGISMS SHOULD BE AVOIDED:

Unless they are strictly necessary for the type of business or sector in which the project is involved. Precise language should also be avoided.

• USES A FORMAL STYLE, BUT STILL CONVEYS ENTHUSIASM FOR THE IDEA:

It is important to appeal to terms that are stimulating and persuasive: achievements, benefits, profitability, results....

• WATCH OUT FOR SPELLING MISTAKES:

Although we are looking for financing and it is assumed that the important thing is the numbers, we must not forget that this is the first image that we are going to transmit to the future investor about ourselves and our company and a spelling mistake can ruin that first impression.

• TYPOGRAPHY:

Choose a font that reads well, such as Arial, Courier or Times New Roman, in 11 or 12 point font, with line spacing between 1.15 and 1.5.

• HIGHLIGHTS:

You can use bold type to highlight key ideas, so that the reader can quickly find the relevant information. But, be careful, we have already said that the key ideas should be no more than five, so they should not be more prominent than those five.

KEYS TO STRUCTURING YOUR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Avoid being too academic, avoid the form of wording, which is very unattractive to the recipient. So it is better to visually lighten the text, dividing it into paragraphs of no more than eight lines each. And, preferably, each one should contain a clear and simple explanation of an idea.

SOME STRUCTURE OPTIONS MAY INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• Divide it into four or five paragraphs, heading each of them with a small title: Idea, Team, Advantage, Achievement, Profitability, for example.
• Organise it in the form of questions to which answers are given. In formulating the questions, you have to put yourself in the shoes of an investor who has only one minute to read our text and think about what they are really interested in seeing: 

• • What is our business idea?
  • How are we going to make it profitable?
  • What investment do we need?
  • Who are we?

• Present it as if they were schematic tables with the main items in each section.

WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL LENGTH?

Despite the recommendation that it should be no longer than one page, most experts recommend that it should be two pages long. Some investors accept that it can be as long as five pages, but be very careful.

It is only justifiable if we accompany the key ideas with graphic elements to represent them. And here we come to the next question: With or without graphics? If the idea is conveyed more clearly with graphics, it may be important to include some graphic elements.

The aesthetic aspect is important, the structure and aesthetics of the executive summary is quite important because it reflects how well the entrepreneur has worked on this issue, which is often the first thing an investor is going to know about his or her business. startup (+).

Therefore, I recommend that you work a lot on the graphic aspect of the executive summary in order to be able to reflect the most important aspects of your company in a couple of pages, such as the business idea, the team, the technological development, the business model, the possible competition and the expected projections for the project. If the use of tables, graphs, photographs of the equipment, screenshots of the technology developed or of the web contribute to this, they are welcome.

Normally, the executive summary is done in pdf or Word and Power Point is left for the rest of the business plan, but the slides formula is becoming more and more widespread for this part. In any case, the important thing is that it is well structured and visually attractive. And one last piece of advice: it should always be prepared after the business plan has been written.

THE FIVE MISTAKES TO AVOID

To make your summary attractive, divide it into five sections, each headed with a title. However, you should avoid these five mistakes.

• VAGUEDADES

There is nothing worse than giving the impression that you are not being transparent. One of the worst mistakes an executive summary can make is that it does not say things clearly, that it speaks in code, that it does not say things in a clear way, that it omit the names of the persons involved.

For the entrepreneur, there is always the fear that someone might copy the idea if he or she offers too many data or explanations, but it is important to assume that the key to the success of the project is not so much the idea as our ability to implement it, and that, in addition, the key to the success of the project is not so much the idea as our ability to implement it, As a general rule, you are dealing with professional investors who know how to respect the confidentiality of information.

• INCOHERENCES

It is essential to know your business and the sector in which you operate very well, so that you can If you argue in your executive summary that your idea is difficult to copy, there can be nothing in the further development and explanation of the market or distribution channel that contradicts this idea. The same goes for numbers: the accounts must be very well justified with the information we are providing.

• EMPHASIS ON THE SUPERFLUOUS

We repeat this many times throughout the programme: is a summary, so details and explanations should be reserved for the business plan. This is where you need to expand on the arguments that justify your expectations and your proposals. I remind you that it is about selling your business idea, not describing it. And, of course, with calculations - it can't just be literature!!!

• FARRAGOSITY

It is very important to read the executive summary several times to see if the ideas you want to convey are clear. A good way to fill in the gaps is to read it to someone else. Much more often than we think, we tend to omit on paper ideas that are very clear in our minds and, no matter how much we go over it, we omit them again. That is why it is important, read it or give it to someone outside the project and listen carefully to their questions or doubts. If that impromptu reader doesn't understand any part of it (explanation of the idea, benefits, profitability), the investor probably doesn't either.

• FORECASTS TOO FAR INTO THE FUTURE:

One big mistake is the emphasis of many entrepreneurs on to emphasise profitability in the future, too far into the future. Investors don't want 5-year forecasts, what they need to see is what you have achieved recently, (sales, how they got customers...) until yesterday.