An executive summary is a short piece of writing which summarizes a business document. It allows an executive to determine in a very short time things such as: whether the business document is worth reading in its entirety, what the basic points covered in the document are, and what the conclusion of the document is. While an executive summary does not have enough information in it to act on by and of itself, it gives the reader a good sense of the topic so that if there is a reason to read further the document being summarized can be scanned for facts, statistics and details relevant to whatever is being discussed or considered.

One common situation in which an executive summary is used is when you are writing a business plan to show to potential investors. Because the amount of time that investors have to look at your proposal is limited, they will expect an executive summary when you present your business plan so that they can prioritize your plan on their list of reading, and quickly determine whether or not the plan you have devised is something that they should devote further attention to. An executive summary is the most carefully written part of your business plan, and should be perfectly clear. Any kind of advanced details regarding the topic should be left to the business plan itself; an executive summary is simply a kind of outline to give a sense of the contents of the plan.

The executive summary should always be one page in length or shorter. It should be possible to read the executive summary in under a minute and get the drift of the overall business plan. To get started with your executive summary, introduce the industry that your business is targeted at, and describe the niche in the market that your business plan is designed to cover, or the problem which your plan is designed to present a solution to. It is important to give the reader a sense of the other solutions that have been offered for the same problems during your overview of the market. Explain how other companies have developed approaches and how the approach for your company will have an advantage over theirs. As in the business proposal itself, you should be able to demonstrate through your research and with solid reasoning how the proposal that you have devised is superior to others and the one that money should be invested into. Again, do not give examples or details - those are saved for the backup materials such as the plan itself and the appendices. Also, keep in mind the specific audience that you are writing the executive summary for. If the summary is being written for investors, you should give them a sense of the kind of return expected on their investment and what kind of time frame you are giving them for an exit. If the summary is for a plan that will have internal use, the essay should explain how company goals will be met by carrying out the plan. Keep things simple, and know your audience, and your executive summary will be able to meet its intended goal.

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