How to write a business proposal
If you want to learn how to write a business proposals then you have found an amazing source to quench your curiosity.
We really hope that this article will teach you how to write a business proposal.
What’s a business proposal?
A business proposal is a written document that is primarily used when presenting an offer for a particular project, job, service or a product.
What does a business proposal entail?
Here is the basic format that will give you an idea of the information that should be included in a business proposal:
- Title
- Table of contents (optional)
- Executive summary
- Acknowledgement of the problem.
- Proposed solution
- Deliverables.
- Timeline.
- Pricing.
- Company information.
- Case studies and testimonials
- Terms and conditions.
- CTA / how to proceed.
How to write a business proposal
• Useful questions to ask yourself
Below is a list of questions to ask yourself before you start writing the business proposal:
- Have I spoken to the client?
- Do I fully understand the requirements?
- Can I deliver what they’re asking for? You need to make sure that you fully understand the problem / pain points and that you have a compelling solution to offer.
- Is this the first attempt to solve this issue? – You don’t want to suggest something that’s already been tried.Looking at prior attempts and why they failed can provide a useful framework that could help you provide a better solution.
- Do I have any questions?
- Do I need to do some research?
- Who will be reading the proposal?
- Who is the final decision maker?
- What are the budget and timeline expectations?
After you are done with all the research and you’re prepared now it’s time to start writing your business proposal.
We’re going to break it down into sections and take it step by step:
1. Cover / title page.
An attractive proposal will definitely make your proposal more attractive. Most people prefer to read something that’s well designed instead of plain.
Even if your proposal is well written, offers a cost effective creative solution and adds a ton of value.
Design isn’t just about the visuals. It also extends to the layout of your document. Poorly formatted proposals can be unappealing, confusing or hard to read.
Below is a list of all the information that should be included on a cover page/title:
- Your name and contact information.
- Your client’s name.
- The name of the person you’re submitting the proposal to.
- The date of submission.
- Any useful reference numbers.
2. Introduction or cover letter.
Whether you include your introduction in the main body of your report or send it separately as a covering letter is up to you.
In either case, you’ll want to keep this section fairly short. 1 or 2 paragraphs is fine too.
Introduce yourself and your company in a couple of sentences. You may want to explain your background briefly.
Highlight your strengths and make it clear why you stand out. This will help if you keep your clients needs in mind while writing and presenting your strengths in a way that makes it clear how they can benefit from working with you.
3.Executive Summary.
Most people believe that this is where you present the project in a nutshell. While you do want to summarise your proposal, the main goal of this section is not to provide a basic overview of the whole project, but to highlight.
A good executive summary needs to be persuasive and benefit focused.
While writing start with something that will quickly grab their attention and makes them want to keep reading.
4. Table of contents (optional).
Depending on how long your proposal is, you may want to include a table of contents.
A table (showing the page number where each section can be found) will help the reader navigate your proposal more easily.
5. Main body
This section will make up the majority of your proposal.
There’s a lot of information that needs to be included, so let’s break it down into smaller sub-sections that are easier to manage.
•Approach / solution.
Here’s where you delve into detail about your client’s problem and your solution to it.
You need to go through your entire process, detailing exactly how you intend to approach the problem and what results the client can expect.
You will need to demonstrate that you are aware of any potential challenges and ensure that your solution is customised to your potential client as much as possible.
Changing a few details, making the proposal feel more tailored, adds a personal touch that goes a long way to improving your results.
•Deliverables
What exactly do you intend to deliver?
It’s important to have an itemised list of everything that’s included in the price and a detailed description for each item on your list.
•Project milestones.
It’s a good idea to break down the project into several phases. This gives the client a good idea of how the project is likely to progress.
Outline the key events involved with each stage. Give a realistic time frame for each part of the project, and say who is responsible for each deliverable.
•Budget & pricing.
Here you have to maintain good profit margins in order to win the client’s hearth, you’ll need to price your jobs up accurately.
It’s a good idea to have an itemized table that clearly shows all of your costs.
•Clients and references (optional).
Including contact information for one or two previous clients will be better for good results (make sure you are ok it with them first) shows that you’re confident and can help to build trust.
If you have a bunch of particularly impressive clients, you may want to include a slightly longer client list.
• Terms & conditions / moving forward.
The final section for your main body should first include your terms and conditions and then provide information / steps and a call to action for moving forward.
This section serves as a conclusion to the main body. Basically, you want to briefly reiterate how you can help, and go over what you and the client are both promising by agreeing to the proposal.
Specify the duration of the agreement, the timescale for completion, and payment types and dates.
6. Edit and proofread
Once you’re done writing the proposal, you’ll want to go over it and check for any mistakes.
It’s also a good idea to run it through grammarly just don’t rely on it completely as it will only pick up on basic spelling and grammar mistakes and not misused or unintended words.
A good test to check if your offer is well explained is to give the proposal to someone who doesn’t work in your industry and ask them if it’s clear what you’re offering.
After the last step above you’re all set and done to send the business proposal.
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