How To Write a Business Proposal

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If you want someone’s money for your dream, here's how to create a proposal that will show that you're looking out for their interests, as you’d like them to do for you.

Step 1: Capture their attention
Use no more than three double-spaced pages for the Executive Summary. Detail the company profile, product, management team, market trends, key projections, and financing you need.

Step 2: Identify the mission
Identify the mission and give your company’s history, the proposed legal form the new entity will take, and a sales strategy. Provide competitor research and state your advantage over them.

Step 3: Analyze the market
Analyze the market further, targeting competitors to reassure the reader that your venture anticipates every stumbling block.

Tip
Stick to who, what, why, where, when, and how, like a good reporter, to keep the information succinct and pertinent.

Step 4: Describe responsibilities
Describe the management team’s responsibilities and backgrounds. Outline the organizational structure, board, and ownership.

Step 5: Detail operations
Detail operations by laying out current and future market strategies, production plans, customer support, and key personnel.

Step 6: Add a contingency
Add a section detailing risks and provide a contingency plan. The reader needs to trust that you have thought of everything.

Step 7: Forecast scenarios
Forecast financial scenarios for procurement, investment returns, and cash management. Provide an exit strategy that relies on historical and financial data.

Tip
Add one-page bios with summaries of accomplishments of the founders, central players, and key management.

Step 8: Construct an appendix
Support the proposal with an appendix. Include additional documentation, patents, reviews, and letters of interest. Add non-compete agreements and resumes of technical principals.

Did You Know?
Almost half of all small businesses fail within the first 5 years.