What Is a Business Plan Template?

The business world is highly competitive, and it takes a lot of careful planning to achieve your goals. There are many factors to consider when starting a business or adjusting the course of a current enterprise. Making plans and decisions without a clear idea of where you are headed and what your resources are can be a recipe for failure.
A business plan template serves as a guide that will help you navigate the future of your business. With so many obstacles to overcome and a huge number of details to scrutinize, it is a good idea to have a template that keeps you on track. There are a variety of business plan templates to choose from, but they all share some common characteristics.

Concept

The most basic part of a business plan template is the concept of the business. It's here that you will lay out exactly what the business is and what it is designed to do. You should list a description of products or services to be sold, what makes your business unique, the history of the company and the founders, owners or directors on the board.

Objectives and Goals

The next aspect of a business plan template is an outline of your objectives. What do you expect the business to achieve? What do you want the business to be like in five or 10 years? What plans for expansion, if any, do you have? List your long-term goals here.
You should also include operational objectives. These goals are more specific and relate to precise objectives such as sales numbers, profit goals, market share and production numbers.

Market Research

A business plan template will help you analyze information relating to the market for your particular company. You need to have a firm grip on industry trends, demographics, location and market size. It's key to estimate how much demand there will be for your product or service. This will let you know if the business is feasible.

Production Plans

This part of the template helps you plan how to produce the product or service your company provides. You will calculate costs for labor, equipment, parts and facilities. It's important to outline the sources and costs of raw materials and inventory. Figuring out labor demand is also crucial. This will give you an idea of the overall cost to run the business.

Marketing Plans

Most business plan templates include a section for marketing. Here you will lay out your options for reaching potential customers. You will outline methods of selling and advertising, channels of distribution, pricing levels, competition and the overall budget for marketing. You cannot sell something if nobody knows about it, so marketing is a key area.

Financial Projections

One of the most elementary parts of a business plan template is the financial projections section. You will create a cash flow projection with details that include cash in, or revenue, and cash out, or costs. Finally, you will outline the timing for all cash flow to see how the costs and revenue line up.

Ownership and Staff

A standard business plan template also designates ownership and staff. Is the business run by a sole proprietor, a partnership, a limited liability company or a corporation? There are a variety of legal and tax implications of this decision.
You also will outline the number of staff, job descriptions, pay rates, incentives, benefits and projected expansion for future hiring.