Your executive summary should be detailed yet concise. Think of it this way: You want a business plan that makes sense to anyone who reads it, even if they read it independently from the rest of the plan or any accompanying presentations.
The ideal executive summary should summarize the scope of your business plan, be fact-based, and highlight all key areas of the business that are vital for the potential reader to understand.
The first thing to include in your executive summary is the company’s mission, and the final section should include the financial aspects of your business plan. For example, this could include your purpose for raising capital, a transaction summary of the funds being pursued, and the projected rewards of the investment.
Nobody will invest in your business unless they know who the key people involved are. So, when you’re writing your cannabis business plan, be sure to mention your management team. And not just their bios and backgrounds; you should also include an elaborate description of the organizational chart that outlines the reporting structure of your proposed business, along with the roles and responsibilities each person undertakes.
The core purpose of any company is rooted in identifying an unmet need in the society or economy, then coming up with an inventive solution to the problem. Likewise, investors want to see this in your business plan. They need to see your value proposition and if what you intend to sell matches up to it.
To increase the chances of having your business plan approved, you need to set yourself apart by making your cannabis company distinct. Products and services in the cannabis industry are becoming more diverse with each passing day, so you won’t have a problem finding a relatively untapped market with a lot of potential. Understanding exactly what you intend to sell will have a significant impact on how you structure your business plan in the next sections.
How does your company plan to make money? You already know the product or service you want to sell. So, in this section, you’ll need to describe how you plan on solving it.
Say, for example, you are a Delta-8 THC brand. In that case, your business model will be centered around sourcing the best quality products, offering them at the best prices, creating a recognizable brand, and outpacing your competitors in every other way.
Financially speaking, this basically means that the sole purpose of your business will be buying Delta-8 THC products at a certain price, then marking it up to make a profit.
In this section, you have to describe the industry your proposed business operates in. Your investors are aware that the cannabis industry is growing exponentially, so you can keep this section brief.
While you’re at it, include research and statistics in your brief and cite your sources whenever you share data. In its essence, your only objective in this section is to validate that you are in a rapidly expanding industry with lots of potential.
Once you’ve got that covered, you need to move into the “addressable” or target market. These are your ideal clients, i.e., the market you can monetize. Therefore, simply stating “cannabis users” won’t cut it. You need to be more specific, and if possible, limit yourself to a particular demographic. This section should also address the needs of your target market that your company is fulfilling.
In this section, you need to describe your sales and marketing strategy. Investors want to know how you will generate sales. Therefore, you’ll need a clearly outlined strategy detailing the marketing efforts you plan to undertake to create potential clients. You also have to elaborate on how you plan on converting those potential clients to sales.
This section should also show how you plan to scale, hire employees, and how you’ll manage them. And finally, you should address other aspects of normal business operations, like commissions, payroll taxes, employee benefits, and payment options.
Your operation plan has a direct impact on your financial projections, operating costs, and your ability to deliver profits. Therefore, this section should include your organizational charts, any third-party companies you’ll need to collaborate with, the terms you’ve negotiated with your distributor, any regulatory or compliance issues you need to solve, and the person responsible for keeping it all together.
Every business faces competition. But it is how you outmaneuver your competition that gets your investors’ interest. In this section, you’ll need to define your competition and then select industry-specific elements that you can use to compare yourself to your competitors.
If your company has been in operation for some time now, you should include your historical statements and projections. This section should also include a profit and loss statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. Your main objective here is to show that there’s viable financial planning in place and that you’re setting feasible targets that you can measure your success with.
The cannabis industry is barred with numerous regulatory risks, and investors know this. As such, you should have a clear understanding of the regulations that impact your business. You should also have risk mitigation strategies and contingency plans that address those regulatory risks if they do happen.
An exit strategy determines how a company will be developed. Therefore, investors will be very interested in reviewing this section to ensure that it is a reasonable investment and they can get a return on their investment.
Despite the legality of cannabis in many states, entrepreneurs cannot seek financial assistance from traditional financial institutions. That’s where a well-thought-out business plan comes into play. With a well-structured plan, you can get investors to make your dream cannabis business a reality.