How to Get Your Great Ideas Heard with Just One Page of Proposal
Do you feel painful when you’re reading a proposal with hundreds
of pages? The same feeling goes for people who write them.
People struggle about how to write a good and comprehensive
proposal and get their ideas heard. But they don’t want to receive a comment
saying ‘too long didn’t read’. So it’s time to make good use of executive
summary to highlight your ideas as no one will really read through every single
word if there’re hundreds of pages.
An executive summary summarizes a report, proposal, or any kind
of document. Unlike an abstract, an executive summary is a condensed version of
the full document rather than an overview or orientation. It is mainly produced
for business proposals, allowing readers to be rapidly acquainted with a large
body of material without actually reading it.
A good executive summary can impress your readers immediately.
Here I’ll provide everything you need for a good executive summary.
An executive
summary is your pitch.
Imagine you’re in a bookstore looking for a book. How would you
decide which one to be bought? I’m sure you’ll have a look at the cover, and
then turn to its back and read its summary.
An executive summary is similar. It is an essential gateway for
your business plan to get read. The aim of it is to grab readers’ attention and
make them want to know more about whatever the document is presenting.
While for an entrepreneur, the one who writes the document,
it is also important. Writing an executive summary helps you to develop a
better vision of your business, and you have a more visualized picture of your
story. You will come to know which aspect of your company has the clearest
selling points and which requires more clarification.
Keep it to one
page, followed by easy-to-skim subsections.
An executive summary is to grab attention instead of to provide
details. So you should keep it short
and concise.
One page should be enough to cover all the essential elements of
an executive summary. Emphasize your main points and highlight those important
findings or special ideas only. Don’t try to present all the graphs and figures
in such limited space. And don’t waste a single word in an executive
summary. Every word should exist with a clear purpose there.
Subheading is always important. By dividing your document into
subsections, readers can skim through it quickly and easily. They can grasp
your ideas within a minute or two by only reading the subheadings. This also
helps you to organize your ideas in a much clearer way, which would be easier
for readers to follow.
Make each
section clear with the following structure.
Generally, a well-structured executive summary should include:
- the
mission statement
- company
information/background
- (growth)
highlights
- your
products/services
- a
summary of future plans
But what exactly should be included in different parts of an
executive summary?
It’s straightforward for the mission statement. It explains what your business is all about
and the goal of your business.
For the part about company
information/background, think of the important events of your company
history. When was your business formed? Where was it formed? Who founded it?
What are their roles. You can also mention the size of your business and
anything you think remarkable.
What makes your business outstanding? When you talk about highlights, you can include examples
of business growth, such as financial or market highlights. Profit margin, market
share, or any index you find impressive. Graphs and charts can be also
included. But one or two will do.
You should also briefly describe your products/services you provide. Consider if your readers
are familiar with your products or services. Try to provide a slightly more
detailed description if your readers are not familiar with them.
A summary of future plans is to explain where
you would like to take your business. It can be in short-term or in long-term.
Your readers are interested to know if you share the same vision.
Some good
examples of executive summary
Let’s take a look at the below extract which outlines what
information the report deals with and see if you think it’s good.
Example 1
It (the report)
highlights what type of consumer buying or business buying behaviors are
displayed in the purchase of a product or service and explains why each
behavior may occur. This enables a conclusion to be drawn from applying theory
to reality.
What do you think? Good or bad?
I’d say it’s not a good one. It indeed briefly presents the idea
of the report but it fails to provide a summary of the results gained,
conclusions drawn and recommendations made. Readers gain nothing after reading
such executive summary.
Example 2
The below is an extract from a sample executive summary for
a Washington,
D.C., bakery:
Rutabaga Sweets
Dessert
Bakery Business Plan
Executive
Summary
Rutabaga Sweets is a dessert bar and bakery located in the
Business Improvement District (BID) of Washington DC. We can
loosely be described as a quick-service restaurant where customers sit
around a bar and watch their desserts being made. The show, as well as the
dessert, is our main selling point.
Rutabaga Sweets will hold true to its vision of being a new
concept with an old fashioned feel in order to become a favorite spot for DC
natives. As the reported national leader in money spent in
restaurants, Washington DC is an optimal location for launching a new
restaurant concept. Rutabaga Sweets also hopes to become a destination
for the thousands of tourists, both American and foreign, who visit DC every
year.
We plan to manipulate our location in the Business Improvement
District to our utmost advantage. Both tax incentives and high traffic
due to the MCI Center will give us an edge as a new business. As the BID
fills up with new businesses over the next few years Rutabaga Sweets will
receive an added boost of increased traffic. Therefore, we are
aggressively planning for a 50% increase in sales the second year of business.
By creating a new niche in the restaurant industry, Rutabaga
Sweets will increase sales by more than $145,000 over three
years while maintaining a gross margin of 80%. Through a philosophy of
"nothing but the best" regarding both product and service, Rutabaga
Sweets will establish itself as an exceptional dessert bar in Washington
DC. We also will gain a competitive advantage in take out and catered
desserts.
This plan outlines our company concept, philosophy and
forecasted financials. Rutabaga Sweets hopes to find seed money of
$300,000 to launch our business in June of this year
See the difference? It provides figures and a concrete summary
instead of a vague one. While your readers are reading, they can really feel
your determination from your wordings.
Remember, your executive summary is the first and probably the
only chance for you to impress your readers. So avoid any silly mistakes and be
ready to showcase your brilliant ideas!
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