How To Write A Business Proposal

Writing good business proposals is key to expanding your business with quality relationships. However, writing a business proposal can be tricky. You need to promote your business, yet keep the details honest and straightforward. In this guide, we explain how to write a business proposal in 5 easy steps.

Here are the steps to writing a successful business proposal:

1. Gather the Information You Need

When a hot business opportunity becomes available, you may feel pressure to get your proposal sent over as soon as possible. While you certainly want to send it sooner than later, taking some time to learn about the client and project first will help you craft a proposal that’s more likely to be accepted.
Include a personal note that acts as a follow up: “Hey it was great connecting the other day…”, then attach your proposal.

There are exceptions to this rule. For example, if a business has multiple offices/locations, you may need to visit more of them before you can accurately assess the project. In this scenario, timing requires the right balance: You don’t want to send a proposal prematurely— especially if you can’t accurately estimate costs— but you also don’t want to provide too much free labor.

As we’ll explain how to  write a business plan online free, there is only one solution, it is to include caveats. These will allow you to send your proposals quickly, while also protecting you from unexpected turns the project may take.

2. Outline the Scope of the Project

Before you start typing out the proposal itself, take a moment to reflect on the project. Answer the “who, what, where, how, when, and why.”

• Who: who will do the work, who will manage the work, who does the customer call if there is a problem?
• What: what needs to be done/delivered, what will be required to do it, what can the customer expect, what will it cost?
• Where: where will the work be done, where will it be delivered?
• When: when will you start, when will key milestones be scheduled, when will the project be complete, when is payment due?
• How: how will be work be done, how will it be deployed, how will it be managed, how will you achieve quality assurance and customer satisfaction, how will risks be mitigated, how long will it take, how will the work benefit the customer?
• Why: why have you chosen the approaches and alternatives you have selected, why should the customer select you?

Writing these out will give you a head start on your proposal, since these answers will make up the bulk of your body. It also gives you final confirmation that you have the necessary resources to complete the project – or otherwise, will point out any major snags before you get too invested.

Estimating Labor and Costs

Early on, you also want to consider how much the project will cost – and thus, in turn, how much to charge the client. As Andy told us, many businesses use a simple formula to estimate their labor costs: Take a mental walk-through of the project & write down the realistic number of hours it will take for each task. Add all of this up, and multiply it by 1.5.

In other words, if you estimate a project will take 10 hours, write it down as 15 hours in your proposal. (10 * 1.5 = 15)

Why overestimate? Despite how it seems, this isn’t to squeeze any extra bucks out of the customers. Rather, it’s because projects often have unexpected twists and turns. Adding this extra time will help account for any potential snags.

Plus, if everything goes smoothly and you wind up below your estimated hours, you can always offer bonus work, or bill your client a lower amount. Both will make for very happy customers.

3. Start Writing Your Business Proposal

Now it’s time to dive into the actual proposal document. Proposals tend to follow a loose formula: They start with an intro that summarizes your business and the project, followed by a body that fleshes out all the detail (including a pricing table, photos and charts), and a conclusion that tells the customer how to proceed.