A setp-by-step guide to creating a professional company profile.

Uses for business profile documents.

Your company profile is often the first document you prepare before other business materials. It’s used for:

• Marketing materials
• Funding applications
• Introducing your business to partners, clients, or employees
• It can be a standalone document or adapted into business plans, strategic plans, annual reports, or investor proposals.

1. Title page

Start with a title page that clearly states the title of your business overview document — for example, business profile, company overview or similar, with the date your document was created. Insert your business logo on the title page. And if you have already established branding elements such as fonts and colour palettes, use them from the beginning.

2. Contact Information

Make it clear how customers, partners, stakeholders and any of your intended audience can contact your company. Include your physical and postal addresses, phone number(s), email address and website. With PDF business documents you can make it easy for your readers to contact and communicate with you. Remember to add links to email addresses and your websites to help people get in touch.

3. Executive summary

An executive summary is a concise overview that tells your readers, in a nutshell, what your document is about. Your executive summary should give a brief outline of the highlights and critical elements that you cover in each section of your overall company overview document. Often, it’s best to write and review this section last, after you have fine-tuned everything else.

4. Company profile and overview

Prepare an overview of what your company is, what you do and what your plans are for the future. This section can be written in paragraph form or you can break it down with subheadings that are relevant to your business and the specific purpose and audience of your company overview.

Elements to incorporate into an overview of a company may include —

Company history.
Write a summary of the history of your business. Include when it was established, why and by whom. Note any significant milestones or achievements since your business’s inception. If your business has been operating for a while, mapping noteworthy events on a timeline can be an effective way to show your readers what you’ve accomplished.

Mission, vision and values.
Include brief statements outlining the company's —

• Mission — its purpose or reason for existing.
• Vision — its long-term goals and aspirations.
• Values — its guiding principles and core values.

Ownership structure.
Summarise the ownership structure and/or legal status of your business. For example, whether you are set up as a limited liability company, partnership or charitable trust. If you have a board of directors involved in making key business decisions, include their information.

5. Key people and organisational structure.

Introduce the key members of your management team, including their roles, qualifications and relevant experience. Highlight any expertise or accomplishments that demonstrate their ability to lead your company effectively. Include individual or team photos so your audience can see who they are interacting with.

Business model and key operations.
Give a brief explanation of your business model and operations — the ways your company generates income and any key day-to-day operational activities that your audience may have an interest in knowing.

Products or services.
Describe the products or services your business offers, highlighting their features, benefits and how they address customer and client needs or solve problems and offer solutions.

Target market.
Provide information on your target market, including demographics, geographic location and any niche markets you serve. Incorporate any market analysis you may have done that has identified trends and growth potential.

Marketing and sales strategies.
Outline your marketing and sales strategies and how you plan to attract and retain customers, promote your offerings and generate revenue. Include information about your pricing strategy, distribution channels and promotional tactics.

Market position and competitive advantage.
Explain your position in the market. Identify key competitors in your market and any market analysis you have done on your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Do you offer products or services that are unique or different in some way from your competitors? Make a statement on what sets your company apart from your competitors and include factors such as any unique selling points, strengths or proprietary rights and technologies.

Strategic plans.
Summarise your company’s long-term vision, goals and plans and any strategies you have planned to achieve your plans. This could include management, marketing, sales, financial and human resource goals that you have plans for in the future to grow your business.

Call to action.
Include a call to action at the end of your company profile that invites your readers to contact you. Remember to add links to websites, email addresses and your contact details to help and make it easy for people to contact you directly.

Appendices.
Attach as appendices any additional documents or materials that support your business overview. For example, organisational charts, product or service specifications, market research reports and analyses and legal documents.