Maintenance
Part of Company descriptions: reading yours as a lender, then as an investor
Company descriptions template: structure, wording and the parts to adapt
Use this company descriptions template to fill fourteen fields, draft three paragraphs, and adapt the wording for pre-opening or operating businesses.
Company descriptions template: structure, wording and the parts to adapt
Use the records to decide what the company description can say. The working version has fourteen fields followed by three short paragraphs; when completed honestly from documents, it is about a page. Choose the branch that matches the evidence and the business stage. Any unsupported field stays blank until its source document is obtained.
If an entry lacks a supporting document
Leave the entry empty rather than write around missing evidence. Fill the fact block from documents already held, and note when each blank will be resolved. Placing the block before the prose lets recorded facts, not memory or polished wording, set the limits of the description.
Fact block fields to fill
- Legal nameexactly as filed, with suffix
- Entity typethe form you registered as
- Ownerseach name and percentage, totaling 100
- Unit of salewhat one customer buys, once
- Licenses and permitsissuing body and status
- Fiscal year endthe date your books close
- Related entitiesanything you own that trades here
| Field | What to enter | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Legal name | Exactly as filed, including the suffix | The formation filing |
| Trading name | Any other name you operate under | The assumed name registration |
| Entity type | The form you actually registered as | Formation documents |
| Formed | Date and state | The registry record |
| Registered agent | The name and address on file | The registry record |
| Operating address | Where the work happens, and owned, leased or home based | Lease or deed |
| Owners | Each name and percentage, totaling one hundred | Operating agreement or stock ledger |
| Industry classification | The code you put on filings | Your tax return |
| Licenses and permits | Each one, with issuing body and status | The permit itself |
| Stage | Pre-revenue, first year, established, expanding | Bank statements and returns |
| Unit of sale | What one customer buys, once | Your own price list |
| Customer type | Who buys it, in plain words | Your records |
| Fiscal year end | The date your books close | Your tax filing |
| Related entities | Anything you own or control that trades with this business | Your own knowledge, disclosed |
For each license or permit, enter its issuing body and status, using the permit itself as the source. Keep sensitive identifiers out of the plan: do not print account numbers, bank details or the employer identification number. State that the identifiers exist and provide them through the channel the reader specifies.
- Rule of thumb: If a document cannot support an entry, leave it blank and record when you will resolve it.
If blanks remain after the first check
Treat every empty field as unfinished work, not as permission to estimate. Resolve the source or decision behind each blank in the sequence below; each check has a defined next move, and the order prevents later parts of the plan from relying on a choice that has not been made.
Work the blanks in this order
Registered agent missing?
registration lapsed or never completed; check the registry first
check permit status next
- No registered agent on file usually indicates registration has lapsed or was never completed. Requirements differ by state, so check the registry before proceeding with the rest of the plan.
- A missing permit status means no application has been made; that detail often determines the opening date.
- Owner percentages that do not total one hundred indicate a promised share nobody recorded. Put the agreement on paper before a lender spots the gap.
- Without a unit of sale, the pricing choice is unsettled, so the downstream model cannot be built.
- Without a fiscal year end, the accountant has not been engaged. That conversation often brings two or three other blanks to light.
Follow that order and the section can be completed through the work each gap identifies. The template does not supply content: its gaps point to missing work, not language to write around it. The same standard applies throughout the document, as the plan template demonstrates for whole sections.
- Rule of thumb: Resolve the evidence and decisions behind blanks in sequence; do not fill them with estimates.
If trading has not started
Do not imply that sales have begun. Use present tense for what already exists, including the entity, registration and preparation; describe remaining steps in future tense and attach dates to future events. Readers can assess a business before opening when completed work is clearly separated from intended work.
- Rule of thumb: Describe preparation as present, and give future events dates.
If the facts support a short description
Convert the verified block into three concise paragraphs instead of repeating the table. Draft them only after the fields are complete, since the record block shows what needs explanation and keeps unsupported detail out. Use the following order as a drafting sequence, then retain only what identifies the business.
- What the business is.Begin by stating what one customer buys, who buys it and how it reaches them, using plain statements without adjectives. If three sentences cannot describe the business, name its separate activities instead of combining them under one label. The company description examples help distinguish activities without losing what the business is.
- How it got here.Record dated events, not a founding story: formation, first sale, first employee, a move, a new line, equipment debt or a license application. Before opening, state completed steps such as forming the entity, obtaining quotes, negotiating a lease and money already spent. Dates clarify how the sections hand off.
- Where it stands now.Set out the current stage, premises, head count and the next change. This gives the forecast a visible starting point: explain what is true now, so a reader can interpret the first forecast month against the current operation rather than treating it as an unexplained number. Keep present conditions distinct from the planned change.
Three paragraphs, in order
- Onewhat the business is, in three sentences
- Twohow it got here, events with dates
- Threewhere it stands now, stage and premises
- Rule of thumb: Identify the offer, record dated progress, then describe the current starting point.
Copy-ready wording
Use the bracketed prompts for facts supported by records. Leave a prompt blank until its source is available, and remove anything that does not apply.
What the business is: “[Legal name] is a [entity type] formed in [state] on [date], doing business as [trading name, if applicable]. It sells [unit of sale] to [customer type] through [channel].”
How it got here: “It was formed on [date]. Since then, [dated event] and [dated event]. If it has not started trading, say so and describe only completed preparation, such as [verified steps].”
Where it stands now: “It is currently [stage], operating from [owned, leased, or home-based address], with [head count]. Its next planned change is [change], expected [date].” Include only details that are supported; omit a next change if none is documented.
Illustrative examples
These hypothetical examples show how the wording changes with the business stage; they do not describe actual companies.
Pre-opening: “A neighborhood bakery is preparing to open and has not started trading. It plans to sell baked goods directly to walk-in customers. It has formed its entity, obtained quotes, negotiated a lease, and spent money. Its current work is preparation; the opening remains a future event, and its date should be added once confirmed.”
Operating: “A residential cleaning business sells cleaning visits to households. It is established and operates from a home-based address. It is currently serving customers. If there is no documented next change, leave that detail out rather than imply one.”
If other material is taking over the description
Keep this section to identifying the business. Move material whose purpose is to sell, compare competitors or explain work beyond identification into the plan section where it can be supported or explained. The diagram marks four common diversions and their better destinations; use the distinctions below when editing.
Belongs here vs belongs elsewhere
In the description
- Marketing
- No
- Competitors
- No
- Aspiration
- As intention, with date
- Biographies
- Who owns what
In another section
- Marketing
- Where evidence supports it
- Competitors
- Market analysis
- Aspiration
- Nowhere as present tense
- Biographies
- Organization plan: who does what
- Marketing:Identify the business here; put persuasion in the sales and marketing plan, where evidence can support it.
- Competitors:Do not turn identification into a pitch by naming competitors here. Place them in the market analysis.
- Aspiration in the present tense:Two locations planned are not two locations already operating. Present the intention as an intention and state when it is expected to become true.
- Full biographies:Ownership belongs here; responsibilities belong in the organization plan. Repeating duties in both places can leave the two sections in disagreement.
- Rule of thumb:Keep identification here and move selling, competitor detail and role descriptions to their proper sections.
If the draft exceeds about one page
About one page is normal for this section. If the draft reaches two, look first for complicated ownership or prose that has become sales language. Neither changes the job: describe the company plainly and accurately, and treat the extra length as a reason to inspect the draft.
Write this section late, after market and financial work. Drafting first can describe an imagined business instead of the operation represented by the numbers, and a reader comparing the two will see the mismatch. The company descriptions guide explains the section's scope; start from verified records rather than recollection.
If complex ownership explains the added page, compare it with organization plan examples. If sales language caused the growth, remove it. The point is not to fill a page, but to keep recorded facts and the forecast describing the same business.
- Rule of thumb: Draft late, keep to about a page, and investigate either ownership complexity or sales language when it runs longer.
If the business is small, has two names, or must use a set format
Retain all fourteen fields even for a small business; filling them takes twenty minutes. Smaller operations may have mismatches because details have not been checked since registration, not because the fields are unnecessary. Use the complete block regardless of size, then make each name and requested presentation explicit.
A legal name and trading name may differ, which is common and acceptable. Enter both, state which name appears on invoices, and verify that the trading-name registration exists. A reader can handle two names; a name that appears in no records is the problem.
Present the fact block as a table if useful; reviewers tend to prefer this because it is quicker to check. When the reader has supplied a format, follow it. Whichever layout is used, state the facts directly instead of dispersing them through paragraphs.
- Rule of thumb: Keep all fields, identify both names clearly, and follow the reader's requested format.
