Companies seeking capital often ask how long the Executive Summary of their business plan should be. The answer depends upon the use of the summary, mainly determining if 1) it precedes the full business plan, or 2) it will be used as a stand-alone document.

When the Executive Summary precedes the business plan, its length should be short, typically only one to two pages and certainly no longer than three pages. This is because the Executive Summary is not meant to tell the whole story of the business opportunity. Rather, the summary must simply stimulate and motivate the investor to learn more about the company in the body of the plan.

The second type of Executive Summary is a stand-alone document. That is, it is given, by itself, to investors for their initial review. If interested, the investor will then request the full business plan. A stand-alone Executive Summary is often used to limit the flow of information. That is, if an investor is not interested in the general opportunity that your summary presents, you don