What is a Business Plan?
Business proposal is a written document which outlines product or service to be provided, an accompanying plan of execution and a great introduction of yourself(or your firm) to potential clients. A business proposal is prepared to persuade investors, partners to secure a business opportunities. A well – created business proposal is crafted to the procedure in which a specific problem is addressed, and the benefits of the products and how it meets the needs of the recipient.
Business proposals are more likely to be in a clear and brief way. It can be digital or printed overview of the proposed solution and the perks on how the services or product address the concerns of clients. Business proposal can also be a key element in communication and initiating of business relationships.
Typically, a business proposal can either be short or long as long as the desired information is been spoken on as the subject at hand. A well written and compelling business plan increases the rate of successfully securing business opportunities. Here are some advantages of a business proposal:
Advantages of a Business Plan
- Effective communication: A business proposal serves as a communication tool to convey your ideas, plans to potential clients and investors. It helps you articulate your message clearly and effectively. It gives a more detailed information of what has been pitched to them already.
- Helps create a roadmap for the business: A business proposal gives detailed explanation of the goals you have, how you will conduct business and what profit to expect. Employees can refer to business plan and know if they are staying true to the intent. It’s a roadmap because anyone should be able to follow the proposal if it is written well.
- It gives an edge over competitors: Business proposal helps to showcase your unique way of selling. It highlights reasons why your solution or proposition is superior to alternatives. Business proposal assist businesses to compete without even needing to send marketers to pitch physically to prospective customers. If it is well written it is able to do all the promotion and selling.
- It helps to project budget: Business proposal helps by outlining the entire project or idea in the proposal, so the business know the cost to operate, create, develop and execute the project. For instance, the company would want to create a new product using new materials. The proposal should be able to give a summary of how much the new materials will cost to bring in and how much it takes to develop a product. An overall budget should be specific so the company does not face any surprise costs.
- It aids in identification problems and addresses risks: A business proposal aids the business to get a large overview of the entire process. It serves as an opportunity to pinpoint any sections that have not being included in the proposal and any section which needs attention to be considered. A part of the business proposal looks at risks your company faces. A good business proposal shows how to minimize risks. When risks are addressed you have a clearer and more realistic picture of what will take run the business and more likely to recover if something.
How to Write a Business Proposal
The fact that a single proposal format might not be effective in all cases may pose a difficulty in a sense.
However, putting together a good business proposal isn’t difficult and just as simple as a few clicks away if you need a hand. Not to say that writing one yourself is any difficult.
Your business proposal should be flexible enough to scale up or down depending on the company you want to do business with. The following steps will guide you through the creation of a versatile and winning business proposal:
- Gather Details and Information: Take time to understand all the demands of every business opportunity that comes up and identify the vivid needs of the company and possibly all those that might be competing with you on the same opportunity. Treating each business unique in the proposal you send to them will go a long way to give you a competitive advantage.
What is the need/problem of the company? As much previously, the main emphasis is to know the main needs of the company you are going to be serving and tailor your proposal around it.
How are you going to solve the problem? Once you have a clear perspective of what the company’s problem is, you must decide which of your products or services are best suited to solve it efficiently.
Know the hierarchy and who is in charge of decision-making in the firm: It will be important in the way you address and tone your proposal in general.
How much will it cost? This has many phases, but questions around budget for the project should be asked and answered in the proposal. - Define Your Delivery Method: How will the project be undertaken? The scope of your project is a blueprint of how the products and services will be delivered and is as essential for you as it will be for your prospective client. It will also help you determine whether or not you have the necessary resources and logistics in place to fulfill the commitments you are proposing.
- Put The Proposal Together: Carefully craft a business proposal that fits your target company. Throughout your proposal, never make promises you cannot keep and be realistic about your product and service.
Be careful to clearly state the credibility of you and your company, the passion and enthusiasm with which you go about your work, and the logic or reason used when making business decisions or proposals.
Having these ideas in mind, the general structure most business plans take is:
Introduction — Relevance is essential when introducing your company and its mission. The introduction tells a story about your company, product, services, and brand. Be sure to highlight your credentials, accomplishments, and what distinguishes your company from your competitors. The length of your introduction should be relative to the relationship you want to build with your potential client, but no more than one page.
Executive Summary — This is not a detailed summary of the proposal, and should also be kept to a single page. This is where you pitch your reasoning for why your company should be selected while offering the takeaway message of the proposal. Use objective language to focus on the conclusions the reader should reach after reading the proposal.
Body — The body of your proposal is where you get to expound on what you stated in the Executive Summary and provide the answers to the questions about the project scope.
The following can be used to fill the body of your proposal:
• Project Timeline
• Project Budget
• Project Logistics
• Market Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Projections
• Website and Social Network Links
The body is where you should include your company’s limitations or “terms.” While it may not seem necessary, without doing so, your prospective customer may develop expectations for your company to provide services outside the scope of the proposal.
It is common practice to end the body of a proposal with a signed agreement that facilitates the closing of the contract. By adding this agreement, your proposal will double as a contractual agreement. And make sure to include a call-to-action to guide your prospective client in the next steps.
If this process seem daunting to you, you can get a professionally made business plan for you at a bargain price!