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Company Summary

The company summary should give the reader an understanding of what your company does - what is your company all about?

Remember this is a summary - so you don't need to go into detail - you should have sections in your business plan that go into more detail later on.

There are two ways of doing this - if your company is a start-up then you can only describe your background and any of the other important people involved in the company as well as the angle you are coming from, if your company has any kind of Unique Selling Point. If you have been in business for a while you can put here exactly how it has gone so far. Don't be afraid to divulge times where the business has dipped...as long as there is a good explanation for this...remember it is usually best to tell the truth if you are looking for new investment for instance.

Next you need to explain your business structure, and the reasons for your choices. It may not be obvious the reason behind your choices - usually it is - but if not this needs explaining.

If the company has been trading you need to give a summary of usually the last 3 years trading - obviously if you are a start up you cannot do this and you must fall back on projections. If you are looking for investment then it is beneficial that the potential investor can see that there is potential for good profits from the business...or consistent profits. If there are any discrepancies in the financials then it's vital you give the reasons why.

Give an explanation of your marketing strategies of how you obtained the sales - only give a brief outline as you will go into this in further detail later on in the business plan within your marketing plan.

Next you want to cover the running of the business - the business operations. If the business produces products this section should outline the manufacturing processes. It should highlight the main Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used to measure performance. These may include:

  • Total Output
  • Productivity Measures
  • Percentage of output with tolerance levels
  • Amount of re-work required
  • Amount of downtime

If your business is a service industry it is important to manage demand levels, maintain a consistent level of customer service and managing time efficiently.

You need to cover the number of staff required to run your business and who the key players are in the company. So this will be management team and the general staff. It is useful to put what functions members of staff carry out so you can see the importance of their roles with in the company.

You will want to give some background to some of the personnel which should highlight their skills.

Lastly you want to put the direction of where your company is heading so investors can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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