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Company Overview

What is the Company Overview Section of a Business Plan?

A company overview, also called the company description, offers a snapshot of your business as it stands today. This section is designed to give the reader a general idea of your company, the company’s products and services, its legal structure, the company’s mission statement and goals, how it operates, where it is based, as well as how it makes money.

The terms company overview, company description, and company summary are all used synonymously to describe this section of a business plan.

Why Your Company Overview is Important

In this section of your plan, you need to give a snapshot of your company’s structure and history.

This is important since readers need to know, for example, if you are a new company or an existing one. And they need to understand what your company has accomplished to date.

As mentioned earlier, the greatest predictor of future success is past accomplishments.

What to Include When Writing a Company Overview

Start by stating when your company was formed and where you are located in just a few sentences. Location is very important since most potential investors prefer to invest in companies that are local to them.

In just a few words, mention your legal structure. The most common options here are Corporation, Limited Liability Company, Sole Proprietorship, Non-Profit Organization, or Not Yet Incorporated.

Next, provide a brief description of what your company does. This is where you talk about the products and services you offer, as well as any other unique aspects of your business.

If there are any key customers, partners, or suppliers that are critical to your business, mention them here as well.

Next, write a sentence or two about each of the company’s primary goals.

Include a sentence or two about the company’s history, including any major milestones or achievements you’ve accomplished. If you are a startup, this is a good place to talk about your management team or key roles and how you came up with the idea for your business.

As mentioned above, as appropriate specify what your company has achieved to date. These achievements or milestones might include:

Sales (e.g., reached $100,000 in sales on [enter date])
Number of customers served
Prototypes or products built
Location built out and/or lease secured
Employees hired

Lastly, mention how your company makes money. This could be through product sales, services, or some other revenue streams.

In just a few paragraphs, you should be able to provide a snapshot of your company that gives the reader a good understanding of what you do, who you serve, and what you have accomplished to date.