59+ Free Proposal Templates for MS Word
Businesses are potentially all about using just the right tactics for turning the tables in your favor and winning over the clients. “Selling” is by far the most vital way of making your business reach its goals. A business not having the right strategies for promoting its products or services is very likely to fail in its ambitions.
A well-put business proposal is, therefore, just the right tool for you to endorse your business and present its products/services in a way that results in attracting clients for you. A business proposal is far more than just a well-compiled piece of writing, rather is an entire deal of ideas and policies that you put into practice. It is a document created by a company that helps it bridge the gap between the business and the potential clients, helps persuade them to invest in your business, and helps you seek new customers. It might also be used as a document that persuades another business or a company to partner up with you and trusts your services. In short, a business proposal is a “value proposition on a paper.”
Event Proposals
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Accounting Proposals
Bid Proposals
Marketing Proposals
Business Proposals
Consulting Proposals
Construction Proposals
Common misconceptions surrounding business proposals:
Proposal writers might come across a huge number of unsolicited advice and unwelcomed opinions, a few of which have been put down here:
- A business proposal is mere wastage of time, you don’t necessarily need one.
- The clients/investors would invest no energy in reading your business proposal.
- Business proposals should be lengthy, all-embracing, and extensive.
- Businesses today are no more interested in creating business proposals.
- You don’t have to be prompt in creating a business proposal.
- Our business proposal will blow the customers away once they read it, therefore we don’t need to personally go see the customers.
The truth is business proposals have been and still are the need of the time. For you to be able to win over the confidence of your clients you will have to prepare a timely, short yet comprehensive proposal that covers your potentials and credentials in the best possible way. Meeting the clients personally for you to be able to put forward your proposal by yourself will yield the best results. The clients are always looking for the best ideas to come their way, once they find ones they are sure to welcome those, provided you have your knacks covered!
Types of business proposals:
Business proposals have been classified based on how they are created (solicited or unsolicited) and who are they meant for (internal or external):
- Solicited business proposals:
The proposals that have been generally asked for are known as solicited proposals. The company might have released a request for the submission of business proposals for a particular project or task.- Formally Solicited business proposals:
A formal request has been made in this case. The writer is aware of all the official guidelines, requirements, and detailed information in this case. - Informally Solicited business proposals:
In cases where there isn’t an official business request for the creation of the business proposal, rather an informal request has been made from one of the potential clients or buyers in order to give them an insight into the credentials and services of the business they are interested in.
- Formally Solicited business proposals:
- Unsolicited business proposals:
The “un-asked-for” or unsolicited proposals are created when the recipient has not requested the proposal by itself, rather the writer might need to convince the business of the need for the origination of a proposal based on the type of the project. These do not include a detailed involvement of the business or the client rather is more of a generic document that can be rendered suitable for more than one type of situation. These can also be customized based on the needs of the party involved. - Internal business proposals:
Just as the name depicts, an internal business proposal is meant to stay “within” the organization and is generally designed for the people and officials within the same organization. This is prepared for providing them an idea of the information that will be included inside a proper business proposal meant for a specific project or service, helping them approve or reject one. The ease with this kind is that these need not embrace all and every detail, and can be comprised of a more “generic” approach too. - External business proposals:
Written with a far more informal approach as compared to the internal ones, these proposals are prepared with an intention to be sent “outside” and organization and are designated to be received by any particular entity, organization, or a decision-maker external to your own company.
Process of creating a business proposal:
- Get ready, fold your arms, and make sure you have the right information required for outlining the proposal.
- Carve out the potential scope of your business proposal; ask yourself all the “hows, whats, whys, whens, and ifs.”
- Calculate the expected cost
- Read and proofread
- Submit!
This is what your business proposal outline should look like:
- A title page
- A cover letter
- An Executive summary
- Table of Contents
- Main Body:
- Solution
- Services and Methodology
- Deliverables
- Milestones
- Estimated Budget/Pricing
- About the business
- Past clients and contacts
- Terms and Conditions
- Conclusion
- Disclaimer
Things to avoid in your business proposal:
- Going overboard with your qualities and concealing your flaws
- Not enough research
- Underestimating the competitors
- Including more information than needed.
The strength of your business proposal will very likely determine the strength and success of your business, idea, service, or project. It will determine how credible you are to sell out your plan and what chances you have of engaging the buyers, investors, and clients. It is, therefore, highly important for you to come up with the best and most finely devised proposal that catches attention and is way far from the traditional ones all of us come across!