If you’re the owner of your own business, it’s safe to say you’re eager for more clients. Thanks to today’s economy, there’s no room for subpar business proposals. Instead of winging it, find sample business proposals and use them to build a solid foundation for a business offer that will attract clients and score some work before you’re desperate.
First, never underestimate the power of pre-writing. Since this is your first draft and you’re not submitting it to potential customers at this time, relax and try to have fun. Do your pre-writing and figure out what exactly you are going to pitch in this proposal, what goals you have and what will differentiate your services from the other distractions your clients have to weed through every day.
Try organizing your thoughts. Break down any goals you may have into simple steps and take notes on what is needed to make each step safely. Be certain to write each of these steps in such a way as to lead the reader to the inevitable goal you stated during your pre-writing.
The next stage is writing your cover letter. Make it short and simple, at maximum only three paragraphs that declare the main thoughts behind your proposal — for instance, you could write “Our company helps X number of businesses in the region. Our company can help you too by doing x, y, and z for you.” Go ahead and elaborate on any successful stories you may have, but don’t drown your proposal in a lengthy cover letter.
Next, the hard part: actually write your business proposal. Proposals are usually split into five pieces: the executive summary which states what you do and who you are, a statement of work dictating what services you plan to give your client, a list of steps to achieve your goal, a list of reasons why you are better than the next guy, and last but not least the legalese terms of your contract and payment arrangements.
Don’t let yourself freak out over mistakes, as this is still your first draft and will probably be prone to more than a few goofups. Imagine your client sitting with you right now. What could you tell them that would cause them to invest in your ideas?|
Since this is the first draft, quality is not overly crucial at this stage. Realistically, the only thing you need to worry about here is finishing your proposal and fitting your information into the well defined structure of a proposal. If there’s anything you want to change — spelling, grammar, anything else — it can be done later.
Take a look at the prices you’re offering and the terms of your contract. Try searching the web for businesses that are similar so you can be sure to offer competitive prices. If it turns out you are overcharging, it is far better to discover this now than when you are sitting across from your future client.
Rewriting begins when your first draft is finally complete. Try having a friend give your proposal a once over to see if they can find any obvious typo’s or other mistakes. If you’re still holding on tight to what you needed to fix and doctor up from your first draft, do so at this time.
If you’ve never tried role-playing, now might be a good time to start. Put on your client’s shoes for a few minutes and think about how they might react to your proposal as it’s written now. Can you think of anything they might complain about? Does something in the proposal seem likely to make them hesitant? Come up with tons of reasons they could refuse you, and then think of counterarguments to calm their worries.
Building a business proposal on your own might seem like hard work, and it is — but if you find a sample business proposal to use as a template, the pieces will fall into place faster than you might think. Use the above suggestions and you’ll be able to churn out intriguing business proposals that will lead clients to you over the long haul.
If you are going to write your very own proposal, it’s a good idea to find a sample business proposal that will serve as a starting point. Download sample business proposals from a site with real scenarios, so you can be sure you’re getting genuine proposals that have been actually been used.
Morgan Stewart :: Nov.29.2009 ::
Investing ::
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