How to Write the Company Overview
The company overview section of your plan sets forth basic details about the structure and objectives of your enterprise. It lets readers know whether you’re a service provider, manufacturer, or retailer, or whether you operate under another business model. It includes your legal name and ownership breakdown, and discusses intellectual property such as patents and trademarks.
More important, the company overview demarcates the limits of your business and establishes guidelines for future development. This aspect of the company overview can be an invaluable decision-making tool when customer demands and other market dynamics start pulling you in different directions. In other words, the plan can help you stick to your guns when new business opportunities arise that could lead you off course.
Table of Contents
Typical Company Overview Content
- Company name and location
- Legal and ownership structures
- History and major milestones
- Product and service descriptions
- Description of industry trends
What You Need to Get Started
- Company mission or vision statements
- Business licenses and articles of incorporation
- Legal agreements and contracts
- Product and service overviews
- Patent, trademark, and copyright documentation
- Company press releases, advertisements, and brochures
Company Overview Tips
- Disclose judiciously: Don’t include the details of your secret recipe or any other proprietary information in your business plan. Disclose just enough to pique the reader’s interest.
- Give the gist: If you have a large number of products and services or unusually complicated products and services, don’t tell all. Focus on the big picture by describing logical categories of products and highlighting distinguishing features.
- List milestones: After reading the company overview, readers should have a sense of how long you’ve been in business and how much progress you’ve made toward stated goals. Include milestones such as incorporation dates, product completion, and key contracts to show people how far along you are.