An executive summary is the first page of your business plan and a short version of the whole thing. In half a page to one page, it says what your negosyo sells, who buys it, where it operates, how much puhunan you need and what you will do with it, and how the business will earn the money back. Write it last, after the other sections are done.
What the executive summary is for
Most readers decide in the first page whether to keep reading. A loan officer at a bank or cooperative may read only this page before deciding whether your file goes forward. A teacher grading a feasibility study reads it to see if you understood your own plan. The summary has to stand on its own: someone who reads nothing else should still know what you are asking for and why it makes sense.
It is not an introduction or a mission statement. It is a compressed version of the numbers and decisions in the rest of the plan. That is why you write it after the market, operations and financial sections, when you know what they say.
What to put in it
Keep each item to one or two sentences. If you cannot say it briefly, the section behind it probably needs more work.
- The business: name, what you sell, and the legal form (sole proprietorship, partnership, OPC or corporation).
- Location: barangay and city, and why that spot works.
- Customers: who buys, and roughly how many pass by or live nearby, based on your own count.
- What makes you different: one concrete reason a customer picks you over the store next door.
- Puhunan needed: the total startup cost, how much you are putting in yourself, and how much you are asking for.
- Use of funds: the two or three biggest items the money pays for.
- Payback: when you expect to cover monthly costs, and how a loan will be repaid, using the figures from your financial plan.
- Status: what is already done, such as DTI name registered, space leased, equipment bought.
Worked example: a carinderia
This is an illustration with blanks for your own figures. It does not describe a business that exists. Replace every blank with numbers from your own financial plan.
Example: a carinderia in a Cebu City barangay. "[Business name] is a carinderia serving lunch and early dinner to tricycle drivers, market vendors and office staff on [street], Barangay [name], Cebu City. It will be registered with DTI as a sole proprietorship owned by [owner]. Within two blocks there are [number] workplaces and a jeepney terminal where we counted about [number] people passing between 11am and 1pm on three weekdays. Two other carinderias operate nearby; we will be the only one offering a rice-and-ulam meal under ₱____ with free soup and a suki stamp card. Total startup cost is ₱____ (your figure). The owner is contributing ₱____ and is requesting a loan of ₱____ for cooking equipment, tables and the first month of stock. Based on the financial plan, we expect to cover monthly costs by month [number] and repay the loan in [number] monthly payments of ₱____. The business name is registered and a lease for the space is signed."
Notice what the example does: it names the customers, gives a count the owner made, states one clear difference, and points every peso figure back to the financial plan. It does not claim the carinderia will be "the best in Cebu".
Common mistakes
- Writing it first, then never updating it when the numbers change.
- Using adjectives instead of facts: "high-quality food at affordable prices" tells a lender nothing.
- Leaving out how much money you are asking for, or what it is for.
- Giving a sales figure that does not match the financial plan.
- Going past one page. If it runs long, cut background and keep the numbers.
- Promising profit by a date without showing how you got there.
When the reader is not a lender
For a school project, the summary should also state your main finding: whether the business is feasible and why. For a partner or family investor, add how profits and losses will be shared. For your own use, the summary works as a one-page check: if you cannot fill in every blank above, you are not ready to spend the puhunan yet.
Executive summary checklist
- Write it after every other section is finished
- State what you sell, to whom and where in two sentences
- Give the total puhunan and the amount you are asking for
- Name the two or three biggest uses of the money
- Copy payback figures straight from your financial plan
- Keep it to one page
- Have someone outside the business read it and repeat it back
Questions people ask
- How long should an executive summary be?
- Half a page to one page for a micro business plan. If yours runs longer, move details into the sections they belong to and keep only the key facts and figures.
- Should the executive summary come first even if I write it last?
- Yes. It goes right after the cover page so the reader sees it first. You write it last because it summarises decisions you make in the other sections.
- Can I include my mission and vision?
- You can add one line, but lenders care more about what you sell, who buys it and how the money comes back. Put a longer mission statement in the business description if your school or lender asks for it.
- What if I am not asking for a loan?
- Replace the funding request with how much of your own puhunan you are putting in and when you expect to earn it back. The rest of the summary stays the same.