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How to Write a Detailed Company Profile for a Business Plan

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business Plans

If you own a company, the only way for people to have a quick preview of what your company is all about, the products or services you offer, and who are the owners of the company is through your company profile. This section of your business plan will fundamentally answer two important questions:

• Who are you?
• What do you plan to do ?

Answering these questions in a succinct and simple manner would provide an ample introduction of why you are in business, why you are different from the competition, what you have going for you, and why investing in your business would be a good bet.

In essence, if you want to introduce your company to potential clients or to organizations calling for bids and submission of proposals, then you must have a detailed and self-explanatory company profile.

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Interestingly, there are several business doors a good company profile can open. For example, an angel investor who is looking to invest in a business would naturally read through the profiles of all the companies he or she is interested in.

The company profile that catches his or her fancy would no doubt be the company he or she would invest in. This is just a bit of what a good company profile can do for a business.

This section of your business plan also offers you the opportunity, if you haven’t done so before, to evaluate and document the intangible facets of your business principles, ideals, and cultural philosophies that will allow you to better grasp your own corporate identity. Here are the necessary components that should go under your company profile:

What is a Company’s Profile?

A company profile is a formal introduction of your business. It usually contains all you would want potential clients, investors, and the general public to know about your business. It is used as a marketing tool and it is your company’s unique selling point.

A complete company profile is expected to contain the vision, mission, and goals of the company, a detailed description of the product and service offering of the company, the profile of the founding members of the company, a brief story of how the company got started and what they intend to achieve. So also, information like company name, address, phone number, website and email et al must be part of your company profile.

Components of your Company’s Profile

• Structure of your business ( sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, or an incorporated company )
• The date your business was established ( for existing businesses )
• The nature of your business ( what are you selling, or what are you planning to sell ?)
• The industry you are in
• Business vision, mission, and values
• Background information on your business or its history
• Business Objectives ( short and long-term )
• The Business team

Now, let’s discuss tips for tackling some of the more tricky components in the list above:

If you are looking forward to writing a top selling company profile, then the following guide will come in very handy for you.

Study Other Company Profiles

The first step when it comes to writing a good company’s profile is to study other profiles. To better put it, you should go source for companies that are doing the same thing as your do; companies that are selling the same services or products as you do.

If you study their profiles properly, you will be able to have a clear-cut idea of what you should capture in your own profile, and of course, you will be able to improve on it to make yours better.

Please note that you are not expected to plagiarize any company’s profile when writing yours because you can be sued for plagiarism.

Create an Outline

The next step to take after you must have carefully studied several companies’ profiles is to create an outline of your own profile. You can start this by making use of bullet points to highlight the main points you want to make in your company profile.

You should also figure out the angle you want your readers to see your company from, what your company represents, and of course the caliber of people that formed the company et al. This will help you determine what information you need to gather.

Interview Potential Clients

If you truly you want to capture information on your company profile that will resonate with your potential clients, then you will need their inputs. Some of the ways you can get their input is to interview them or via questioners and surveys.

Please make sure that you are prepared with your questions but also be ready to follow the natural flow of the conversation. Ask questions during your meeting that you think readers will want to know.

Pose questions that will encourage your potential clients to give you useful information. Ask them to share anecdotes. Avoid yes or no questions. You want them to open up. Make sure to record and transcribe the entire interview.

As you review their answers on paper or on your computer, highlight the best quotes that can guide you to describe and give reasons why your products or services will better serve them.

Start Writing Your Company Profile

Once you are done with gathering the information that will aid you in writing a fantastic company profile, what is left for you is to start writing. You can settle down in your study, library, hotel room, or any location that will give the concentration that is needed for this all important task.

Although a company profile is not expected to be a large document, but it should capture all that your company represents, the products and services your company offers, and of course all that you want people to know about your company. This information can be captured in a simple and easy to understand format.

Put Your Best Foot Forward

No matter how fantastic your company is especially as it relates to your product and service offering, there will still be some drawbacks that can dissuade potential clients from patronizing your products or services.

For example, if you have someone who has been involved in financial crime in time past as a founding member of your company or a financier of your company, it will not be a wise decision to capture such a person in your profile.

What is expected from you when writing your company profile is to put your best foot forward by projecting people without any controversy around them.

Please note that your company profile is supposed to capture a brief profile of the board of directors, executive members, and key persons that are part of the company.

Edit and Edit

After you have finished writing your profile, you should make sure that it is properly edited. You can contract the editing to a professional. Although it is going to cost you a bit, but trust me, it is worth every cent you will spend.

Please note that you shouldn’t just settle for just one editor, you can give it out to two or more editors to edit until you get a perfect piece. This is important because a good company profile will easily sell your company (products and services) to potential clients with little or no additional effort from your end.

In Conclusion;

A company profile is an essential part of a business plan and a business plan cannot be complete without a company profile. So, when writing your business plan, make sure you come up with a good and highly sellable company profile, and the guide you have here will help you achieve this.