Yes. Business Wales provides business-planning guidance and a business plan template that you can use to organise your idea, test its assumptions and explain it to other people. Check the current Business Wales website for the latest version; the practical blank template below is also a starting point you can copy and adapt.
What the Business Wales template is for
A business plan is a working description of what a business intends to do and how it expects to do it. Business Wales is a Welsh business-support service, and its planning resources are intended to help people turn an idea into a considered plan. The template is not a guarantee of funding, a substitute for research or a promise that a business will succeed. It gives structure to questions that are easy to overlook when an idea still feels informal.
To find the official material, search the Business Wales website for “business plan” or “business planning”. Resource names, downloads and web pages can change, so use the current official page rather than relying on an old saved copy. Check whether the guidance includes explanatory notes as well as a blank document: the notes can clarify what a section is asking for, while the blank document is where you record your own information.
You can use a plan to clarify your next steps, brief a business partner, discuss an idea with an adviser or prepare information requested by a lender or another organisation. Different readers need different levels of detail. A document for your own use can be concise and revised often; a plan requested for a formal application should follow that organisation’s instructions and include the evidence it asks for.
What a useful business plan should cover
A useful plan tells a connected story: what customers need, what you will offer, how customers will find and buy it, what resources delivery requires, and what could prevent the plan working. The sections below are common elements of a business plan, whether you use the official resource or another format.
- Executive summary: A brief overview of the business, its offer, intended customers, objectives and main requirements. Write it after the other sections, even though it appears first.
- Business and offer: Describe what you sell or provide, the problem it addresses and what makes the offer relevant to a particular customer group.
- Market and customers: Identify likely customers, their needs, how you have researched demand and what alternatives they can choose.
- Marketing and sales: Explain how people will hear about the offer, how enquiries become sales, and how you will encourage repeat business where appropriate.
- Operations and people: Set out how the product or service will be delivered, what equipment or premises may be needed, and which roles or skills are important.
- Risks and milestones: Identify meaningful uncertainties, ways to respond, and dated actions that show progress.
- Financial information: State the assumptions behind expected income and costs, and show how the business expects to manage its resources.
These sections should agree with each other. For example, if the marketing section predicts a high volume of orders, the operations section should explain who can fulfil them and the financial assumptions should account for the materials, time and other costs involved.
Business Wales business plan template
Use this generic template alongside any current Business Wales guidance. Add rows or separate pages if you need more space. Keep answers specific: replace broad claims such as “there is lots of demand” with what you observed, who you spoke to or what evidence you still need to collect.
| Section | Prompt | Your notes |
|---|---|---|
| Business summary | What is the business, where will it operate, and what is its current stage? | |
| Offer | What product or service will you provide, and what customer need does it address? | |
| Objectives | What are your next three measurable milestones and target dates? | |
| Customers | Who is most likely to buy, and what evidence supports this? | |
| Market and alternatives | What competing or substitute options do customers have? | |
| Marketing and sales | How will customers discover, consider and purchase your offer? | |
| Operations | How will you deliver the offer, and what resources or suppliers are needed? | |
| People and skills | Who will do the work, and what skills or support may be required? | |
| Risks and responses | What could disrupt the plan, and what practical response can you prepare? | |
| Financial assumptions | What income, costs and timing assumptions need to be checked? | |
| Evidence and next actions | What information is missing, who will obtain it, and by when? |
Sample — fictional example: “Harbour Street Repairs” is an imaginary bicycle-repair service serving residents in a small coastal town. Its first milestone is to speak with 15 potential customers by 30 April. It plans to test demand for booked repairs before committing to a permanent workshop. These details are illustrative only, not claims about a real business or market.
How to complete the plan step by step
Start with what you know, label what you are assuming, and give yourself actions for filling the gaps. A plan becomes more useful when its statements can be checked rather than simply sounding persuasive.
- Describe the idea plainly. Explain what you will offer and who it is for in a few sentences. Avoid relying on specialist language that a customer or potential partner may not understand.
- Define a specific customer group. “Everyone” is rarely a useful first description. Consider the customer’s situation, need, location or buying behaviour, while avoiding unsupported claims about how many people will buy.
- Gather evidence. Record conversations, observations, enquiries, trial results or other relevant research. Separate direct evidence from your interpretation of it, and note when information was collected.
- Map the route to delivery. Describe the steps from a customer’s first contact through to receiving the product or service. Identify dependencies such as skills, stock, premises, equipment or supplier availability.
- Set milestones and owners. Turn broad intentions into actions with a responsible person and a target date. “Improve the website” is vague; “draft the service descriptions by 15 May” is easier to review.
- Check that the sections fit. Compare the sales assumptions with your delivery capacity and the resources required. Revise any section that depends on a different version of the business idea.
- Summarise and review. Write the executive summary last, then revisit the plan when you learn something material or reach a milestone.
For instance, someone considering a local food-delivery service might initially assume that nearby offices are the main customers. Before building a plan around that assumption, they could ask potential customers how they currently buy lunch, what would influence a change and which delivery times matter. The plan should record what those conversations indicate, not present a few informal responses as proof of demand across the whole area.
Making the financial section meaningful
Readers often treat the financial pages as a set of figures to fill in at the end. In practice, the figures depend on choices elsewhere in the plan: what is sold, how often customers buy, what it costs to deliver, and when money is expected to come in or go out. State the assumptions clearly so that another person can understand how you arrived at your estimates.
Separate one-off setup items from recurring costs, and distinguish an estimate from a confirmed quotation or known commitment. Note the time period covered and the basis for each important assumption. If the plan expects sales to grow, explain what needs to happen for that growth, such as securing repeat orders or adding delivery capacity. Avoid presenting a best-case scenario as certain; it can be more informative to identify what would change if sales were slower or costs higher than expected.
Financial requirements differ according to the business and the purpose of the plan. Use any relevant current guidance and the format requested by the organisation receiving it. If your situation requires legal, tax or financial-planning advice, ask a qualified professional.
Adapting the plan to a business in Wales
A business operating in Wales should make its location and operating area clear, especially if customers, suppliers or delivery arrangements cross local boundaries. Describe the real market you intend to serve rather than assuming that a national or local average describes your customers. Depending on the business, useful questions may include whether customers need information in Welsh, how seasonal demand affects the offer, and whether travel distances affect delivery or staffing.
These are prompts for research, not assumptions that every Welsh business has the same needs. A shop serving a neighbourhood, a service working across several counties and an online business may have very different customer bases and operating constraints. If a plan refers to permissions, regulation, employment obligations or sector-specific requirements, verify the current requirements with an appropriate official source or adviser rather than relying on a generic template to settle the issue.
Business Wales guidance can provide a Wales-specific starting point for planning and business support, but a template cannot confirm that a particular market exists or that a proposed activity meets every requirement. Use the document to identify questions to investigate, then record where you obtained important information and when you checked it.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Making claims without evidence. Replace “customers will love it” with what you have learned so far and what remains untested. A small piece of research is more useful when its limits are acknowledged.
- Describing the product but not the buyer. Explain who has the need, when it arises and how that person might choose between available options.
- Ignoring delivery capacity. A strong sales idea still needs a realistic account of time, skills, stock, equipment and service standards.
- Using figures without explaining assumptions. Label estimates, show the logic behind them and revisit them when evidence changes.
- Writing a plan once and filing it away. Give it a review date, update completed milestones and note significant changes in the market or the offer.
- Making the document too long or too vague. Include enough detail for the reader’s purpose, but remove repetition and unsupported background. Attach research or detailed workings separately when that makes the main plan easier to read.
A common misconception is that a polished document itself makes a business viable. Presentation helps readers follow the argument, but clear assumptions, relevant evidence and realistic actions matter more than decorative formatting. Another misconception is that the same plan suits every purpose: a funding application may ask for information that a personal planning document does not, so always check the request before submitting anything.
Choosing between a template and other formats
A structured template is a good choice if you want prompts that reduce the chance of missing a major topic. It is particularly helpful when you are new to business planning or need to share a consistent document with an adviser. Its limitation is that fixed headings may not fit every business neatly. Add a section where needed, and do not fill a heading with irrelevant material merely because it appears in the template.
A short one-page plan can be useful for an early idea or a quick internal review. It can capture the customer, offer, evidence, next milestone and main uncertainty, but it may not provide enough detail for a formal request. A more detailed plan is appropriate when other people need to assess operations, risks or assumptions. You can begin with a short version and expand it as the questions become clearer; the important thing is to use the level of detail that serves the decision at hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get the official Business Wales business plan template?
Search the current Business Wales website for “business plan” or “business planning”. Use the latest official page, because downloadable resources and page addresses can change.
Is the Business Wales business plan template free?
Check the current official resource page for its access and use terms. This article’s blank template is included here as a generic planning aid; it is not represented as an official Business Wales document.
What should I write in a business plan if my idea is not launched yet?
Explain the idea, intended customer, evidence gathered so far and the assumptions still to test. Set practical next steps for gathering evidence rather than writing uncertain predictions as established facts.
Does a business plan guarantee funding?
No. A plan can help explain a proposal, but any funder or organisation sets its own criteria and makes its own decision. Follow the requested format and provide the information and supporting evidence it asks for.
How often should I update my business plan?
Review it after important milestones, new research or a significant change in the offer, costs, customers or delivery arrangements. A regular review date also helps keep actions and assumptions current.