If you have been in business any length of time, it is highly likely that you have created a business proposal or two; I certainly have. In fact, I have thought a lot about business proposals as I have both created and reviewed many.
And that brings us to the question of the day: How do you create a great one?
One thing I know for sure: The business of writing proposals has changed a lot. I created my first business proposal almost 20 years ago when I was trying to first get published. It was a 20 page Word document that I shipped via FedEx to the publisher. Of course, not only would any proposal today be e-mailed, but I would also venture to say that it would be shorter, and a format like PowerPoint or some other similar visual medium (video, websites even) is the preferred method of delivery.
One person who has looked at a lot of proposals over the years is Guy Kawasaki, a well-known entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Here is what Guy has to say about good, and bad, proposals:
?As a venture capitalist, I have to listen to hundreds of entrepreneurs pitch their companies. Most of these pitches are crap: sixty slides about a ?patent pending? ?first mover advantage,? ?all we have to do is get 1% of the people in China to buy our product? startup.
To [solve this problem], I am evangelizing the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. It?s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have 10 slides, last no more than 20 minutes, and contain no font smaller than 30 points. While I?m in the venture capital business, this rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example, raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.?
Personally, I am not sure that a persuasive proposal can actually be done in 10 slides, but the point is well-taken: If you want to win someone over with your proposal, it needs to be tight, to the point, and compelling.
Beyond that, let me suggest that any good business proposals also offer the following:
1. A clear benefit: Your proposal is a sales document. It?s purpose is not to show how clever you are, but how this person needs what you are proposing and the way to do that is to show them how the idea benefits him or her.
It is not about you, it is about them.
2. Some secret sauce: Why you? Why this idea? Why now? You need to create a convincing reason explaining why what you are offering is unique and better than what else is out there. Back when I wrote a lot of book proposals, I would need to explain to the publisher how my proposed book, while seemingly similar to other books that were out there, was actually better. That is what you need to do as well.
A good proposal is a sales brochure, bright idea, and concise pitch all rolled into one.
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Source: http://www.bizengine.com/small-business-proposal/
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