Executive Summary

The first section, the executive summary, is the most important

one. It is only if they find this section attractive enough that
potential investors will dive into the other sections of your plan to
get more details.

Because this section is a summary of the rest of the plan this is

the one you will write last.

The executive summary is all about getting your investor excited

in 5 minutes. Do not try to tell everything about your business.
Keep it short and to the point.
There are four things that you must to cover:

 who you are

 what you sell

 how big and profitable it can get

 how much you need

2. Company
The objective of this section is to
introduce the company and its
management. The content of this section
will vary slightly depending if you already
have a business or if you are starting a
new venture.
Structure & Ownership
This is a purely descriptive part, the key questions you need to answer
here are:

who are the shareholders: as part of the anti-money laundering

regulation, investors have the legal obligation to check the identity of
the shareholders of any business they invest in or lend money to.
Giving them the full list enables them to do a quick sanity check and
gives them the opportunity to raise any concern they might have. If
your reader is an equity investor it also gives him a grasp of who the
other shareholders are.
 where is the company registered and what
is the legal structure:
 this is also one of the anti-money laundering
requirements. But it also gives the reader an indication
on the size of the business and the applicable tax
system. Some investors also have geographical
restrictions on investments, hence this is also where
they will check if you are eligible.
History
If you are writing a business plan for an existing company this is where you
would present the key highlights to date. The idea here is to build your
credibility and show to your reader that you have a viable business. The main
points you want to touch on are:

 how long you have been in business for: this is a real reassuring factor
for any investor as it proves that your business is a viable one.
 company milestones: you want to show what has been achieved so far
in terms of growth, product launches, internationalisation. If you are
seeking growth capital this will build your credibility and show that you
have the ability to execute your plan.
 past difficulties:
if there have been periods when the
company was in danger (for example
because of a new entrant in the market, or
a sudden drop in demand) and you
managed to turn things around and stay in
business.
Location
If you are writing a plan for a business for which
location is important (for example a shop or a
restaurant) or if you are managing a large business
with multiple stores or factories this is where you
would describe (ideally using a map) the main
location(s) of your business.
Management Team
This is one of the most important section of your business plan. You mus
demonstrate that your team has a strong experience in your sector and
the skills to run this business.

If there are any important skill gaps in your team, you need to address
them and mitigate them here. It could be that you are looking for someone
with these skills or that you have a board member or a non executive
director that can fill the gap.

Try to put some pictures if you can. It is always better when one can put a
face on a name! And it helps if you are due to meet your investors at
some point. Now that you have introduced the company it is time to dive
into what it does.
3. Products and Services
The key to writing a good product and services section
is to be precise about the product or service you sell, the
client
. you are targeting, and the channel you are
targeting him through.
If you can try to include pictures of your products.
By now your reader knows who you are and what
business you are in. It is time you show him why this is a
good opportunity.