This article may be freely reprinted as long as the bio is included.

Writing your business plan is actually storytelling

[Adapted from How To Tell A Great Story (7^th Edition)]

It is often said that the most important part of your entire business plan is the Executive Summary. Still, if that is so, then it is even more important for you to get it right from the start. But really, how do you this? How much information do you give in this Executive Summary? How much do you leave out? What do you concentrate on? Is it the description of the product itself? But if you concentrate on the product, then how do you keep it to only three pages when there is so much more to say about the history of the company, the people who run it and the financial status of the company? What about the dreams and aspirations of the company? How really can it all be said in just three pages?

The usual advice given when writing the Executive Summary is something along these lines:

• Highlights and key issues.

• Avoid detail.

• Address the needs and interest of the reader.

• Use bullet points.

• Keep the length of this Executive Summary to no more than three pages.

Well, people who write successful business plans utilise the same principles of storytelling to achieve their aim. Indeed, storytelling and writing a business plan actually go hand in hand. Let’s use a very simple example to illustrate the point. Assume that the business plan you are writing is for the launch of a new face cream called Madame Belle, by a company known as Acme Creams Inc.. Your Executive Summary could read like this:

1. To revive our ailing company and generate some revenue, we are proud to introduce our new product, Madame Belle.

2. Madame Belle is a new age-defying face. The ingredients of this product are derived mainly from the aloe vera plant. Using our secret formula, we have extracted the glue-like substance from the plant and combined it with some other materials to produce Madame Belle.

3. The research and development team for the product is headed by Professor Bloggs. The marketing and sales of this product will be carried out by a team headed by Mr. John Stone, our Director of Sales and Marketing. The entire project has been funded by our company, Acme Creams Inc.

4. The distribution of the product will, in the first two years of production, be focused mainly in the U.S. market. Thereafter, the plan is to expand production and sales to Europe.

5. The date for the launch of this product has been fixed for January 27^th 2005 and Ms Gloria Vanderbilt has agreed to be our guest of honour. 

Where are the ingredients of a story in this?

Well, in sentence 1, the ingredient of ‘Why’ was used. The product was created to generate revenue.

In sentence 2, the ingredient ‘What’ was used to describe the product.

In sentence 3, the ingredient of ‘Who’ was used to provide information about who was involved in the project.

In sentence 4, it is the ingredient ‘Where’ that is used to show the geographical location of where this product will be sold.

Finally, in sentence 5, it is the ingredients of ‘When’ and ‘How’ this product is going to be launched that are described.

The description above is but a sample; in truth, when writing a proper Executive Summary, there will be a need to expand on each one of the items stated above. If used, undoubtedly, one finds that the business plan is likely to succeed.

Copyright © Aneeta Sundararaj

‘How To Tell A Great Story’ is an ebook that caters for beginners to storytelling and in particular, how storytelling can be used in every day life. The author of this popular ebook is Aneeta Sundararaj. This ebook is now in its 7^th Edition and to find out more, visit http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com.