A synopsis for a business is called an executive summary. It provides a history of your business and an overview of your business plan. When you are seeking financing for your business, you may encounter financiers who only request an executive summary rather than your entire business plan. Your executive summary should be detailed, succinct and well-researched.

Things You Will Need

  • Business plan

  • Market research

Write your business plan. Though the executive summary is a condensed form of your business plan, this does not mean you can simply provide a synopsis of what you intend to include in your business plan in an executive summary. A business plan requires that you perform extensive, detailed research and compile data necessary to effectively communicate your business information. You will need to work from this data and research to create your executive summary.

Write the first draft of your executive summary. Summarize points from your business plan that highlight issues critical to the success of your business. These issues are likely to be the strengths of your business along with its largest weaknesses and your plan to account for these weaknesses. "Show how the expertise you have will allow you to make significant inroads into the market. ... Convince the reader that there is a need for your service or product, then go ahead and address [the company's] future plans," recommends the Small Business Administration.

Edit your executive summary down to two-four pages. With so much content in your business plan, the first draft of your executive summary will likely be lengthy. Make sure it includes the following information: a Mission Statement, date business began, names of founders and the functions they perform, number of employees, location of business and any branches or subsidiaries, description of plant or facilities, products manufactured/services rendered, banking relationships, summary of financial growth, and information regarding current investors. If you don't have information to cover all these points, "focus on your experience and background as well as the decisions that led you to start this particular enterprise," recommends the Small Business Administration.

Tip

Readers should be able to finish reading your executive summary in less than five minutes.