Defining an Abridged Business Plan

Daniel Tolliday reports:

"If a business plan has been labeled 'abridged,' this means it is a condensed version of the original document. Abridged business plans do not usually exceed five to ten pages in length, and should contain only the most important information about the direction of your business. If you need to create an abridged business plan, simply condense the original one by summarizing each section in just a few short sentences each...The purpose of an abridged business plan is to give your reader a quick overview of each section contained within the original document. An example of when you need to submit an abridged business plan is when you are applying for grant funding. Grant selectors often request abridged business plans in order to swiftly browse through as many other business plans as possible, with time being an important factor. You're essentially providing readers with a snapshot of your business plan to generate interest...The front page should clearly tell the reader that they're reading an abridged version of your business plan. Alternatively, you may elect to include this information in the footer of the document. To make the business plan shorter in length, you could include the title on the front page with the table of contents...Abridged business plans should still contain a table of contents and regular sections...Remember to only include important information, as the primary goal of the abridged business plan is to tell the reader what your business is about in a shorter amount of time...When creating an abridged version of your business plan, write two or three sentences in each section and try to summarize as much as possible. If you're finding that there are too many sections and sub-sections, delete those which are of least importance. The description of your business is the most vital aspect of the abridged business plan, to give readers the main idea of your goals, objectives and direction."