What should I include in my Executive Summary Entry?

Every business plan begins with an executive summary, a short compelling presentation of the key ideas of the plan and your new business venture. This executive summary is usually the first and sometimes the only document investors ever read, thus its importance cannot be overlooked. This summary may change when you go on to write a full business plan. Many teams fail to consider adequately their markets, their customers and a business model that will enable them to achieve success. Instead they get wrapped up in interesting technology, which is not the same thing as an attractive business.

To help you focus while writing an executive summary (as well as the business plan), you should refer to the ‘Judging Criteria’. We have also listed the key areas that should be addressed:

Opportunity Statement

How would you describe the business to a potential investor or team members if you had only a short elevator ride to share? What is the nature of the opportunity, why is the opportunity now? What is the proposed solution?

Product or Service Concept

Develop a brief concept statement for the product or service that can be shown to potential customers. How will the product be used? What are some of its unique features?

Value Proposition & Market Opportunity/Strategy

What existing problem will you solve with your service or product offering? What is the current size and expected growth of your target market? What are the economies of the markets? What does it take to win this market? What is the level of potential sales of your product or service? How will these sales happen? Who will your first customers be? What level of profits do you expect?

Competitive Advantage

Who are your competitors? What special knowledge or technology do you possess and how will you protect it? What are the barriers to entry?

Teams

Background of core team members and board of advisors. Why will you be the right people to make this business succeed? Include a paragraph summary of each of the team member’s background applicable to the proposed venture. If the full team has not been assembled, include a brief description of the background and skills of team members that you desire to recruit.

Financial Projection

What do you foresee your start-up achieving in the short term, mid-term and long term? What are your cost requirements? How much revenue do you estimate you can generate in a year or five years?  While it may be difficult to forecast an accurate budget, a sound estimate will allow the judges to understand how much you know about the industry as well as how realistic your plan is.

Intellectual Property Statement

Did you know that every business has some form of Intellectual Property (IP)? IP is more than just about high-tech inventions, IP can be in the form of the company’s name to the marketing collaterals and the design of the product itself.  The identification of the IP and protecting it can be crucial to the success and sustainability of your business.

It is strongly recommended that contestants include a short paragraph highlighting the key forms of IP in their business plan (e.g. Patents, Trade Marks, Registered Designs or Copyright) and the IP issues that the team has or would address.