Business proposal is a formal document created by a company and provides the prospective client with the aim of reaching to a business agreement.
Business proposal can be used by Business-Business where the seller veins at making greater sales.
Business proposals can be unsolicited and solicited. Unsolicited implies that a client may not have asked for a business proposal from a company, rather the company provides the client with proposals in order to see their chances of making greater sales.
It is solicited when a prospective client demands for a business proposal from a particular company.
For a company to present a sound business proposal, it should have a good knowledge of the business. Such Company can go as far as meeting with the new client in order to understand their needs.
This approach will enable the company pitch a good business proposal.
In writing a business proposal, there are certain things that are not supposed to be missing, They include:
- Title: A business proposal title should be compelling at the first sight. The title should contain the name of the company, name of prospective client and date.
Example of a title page - Table of content: it reduces time spent in reading a proposal by making it scannable and easy to read. Most executives do not have all the time in the world to read everything contained in the business proposal, so an easy scanning on the table of contents would be a quick guide.
Table of content - An executive summary: It provides a brief summary of everything contained in the proposal. The business plan should be able to make your company known to the buyer, give an overview of your company goals, give a breakdown of your company’s milestone. The summary should provide an opportunity for the client to have a clear idea about what your company does and can be of help.
- Problem statement: A problem statement should tell your prospective client that you have done your homework instead of using a general knowledge. It creates an opportunity for you to point out a problem and offer a ray of hope.
- A proposed solution: it should contain a detailed explanation on how you intend to go about finding solutions.
- Qualifications: your business proposal should have years of experience and completed previous jobs. This will increase trust on the side of the prospective client.
- Timeline: this include delivery prices.
- Pricing/billing and Legal: This includes your payment schedule, payment terms and legal aspects. Prospective buyers can be given options to choose from, it should scare them of undervalue your worth.
- Terms and conditions: It is a summary of what your business proposal has promised to deliver and and it’s payment schedule/method.
- Signature : The business proposal should have a space for appending signatures of prospective client and the company. After this the two can partner.
