A business proposal introduction is an important part of your business plan. It gives potential investors an overview with enough information about your prospective business to, hopefully, get their interest. Without going into the full details, you can talk about the business structure and its objectives, your target market, the unique selling point, profit forecast, and when you expect to reach profitability.

Introduction of a Business Plan

The introduction to your business plan differs from the executive summary in that, without going into detail, it gives a general overview of your proposal. Coming right after your executive summary, it sets the tone of your plan.

Your introduction should consist of two or three pages outlining the business from a management perspective. It describes the business, its objectives, and why the venture is a good one to start. Along with other parts of your business proposal, such as an overview of the management team, your financial plan, and your marketing strategy, this will give the reader a close-up look at the prospective business and how it will be a success.

You should write the introduction to your proposal first, quickly summarizing all sections of the business plan. It should also be the last part of the plan you work on. The overview in the introduction will help you to know what to cover as you write all parts of the business plan in greater detail. When you have finished writing the proposal, go to the introduction again to ensure that you have covered every crucial point that you need to put across.

In the introduction, you are trying to answer a series of questions, and you can use the following as a template:

  • Why is this a good business?
  • Why is this a good time to start the business?
  • What is the target market?
  • How will they make the purchase? What is the model for the transaction process?
  • How is my business going to differ from my competitor's?
  • What is my route to profitability?
  • How soon will my business be profitable?
  • What is my profit forecast and the timescale to reach it?

Business Plan Introduction Example

Your business proposal introduction should briefly cover what you hope to achieve with your business and your vision of how it will work.

For example, the business plan for a coffee shop could discuss how market forces have currently made specialty coffee outlets extremely popular. Provide information on why your chosen location is ideal for your business. You don't need to go into the details here as that will be covered later in the individual analysis parts of your plan. Instead, you want to simply give an overview to excite the reader.

So, for the coffee shop, the introduction can say how high the profit margins are for coffee, that a coffee expert and a marketing expert will be running the business, and how it will cater to local people.

The business plan introduction for a business providing technology or professional services should cover the unique selling proposition (USP) you will use to attract customers in a competitive market. You might target a specific market or demographic.

In the introduction, discuss the marketing strategy for your niche business to keep the interest of the reader. As an example, the business plan introduction for a clothing line should talk about how your brand is unique and what you will do to generate a buzz about it.

Address the Big Question: Profitability

Those who invest in your business, or you alone where you don't have investors, will want to ensure that the business succeeds.

You don't need to provide all of the details in the introduction of your business proposal, but the overview should be clear and factual. Be aware that this is the second aspect of your plan to be read by the potential investor. They might not be quite as convinced as you are about your business opportunity.

The ultimate aim of your business proposal introduction is to answer the investor's core question: is this business going to be profitable, and will I get a return on my investment?

Help With Your Business Proposal Introduction

If you need help with putting together a business proposal, you can post your job on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top five percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.