Business Proposal Ideas

When thinking about business proposal ideas, it is best to know all you can about how to write one successfully. A business proposal can make or break your business, so understanding how they work is very important. Outsourcing your business proposals is also an option if you are not confident in creating the proposals yourself, but it should be in partnership with your attorney or a trusted business professional.

What Is a Business Proposal?

A business proposal consists of a document that you will send to potential clients that describes your services and tells why you are the best person to do the job. It is essentially a pitch by you and your business to do a job, project, or service.

Your proposal can be unsolicited or solicited. Solicited proposals occur when potential clients request proposals. With unsolicited proposals, you would approach potential clients with the hope that you will get their business, even when a proposal was not requested.

While both proposal types are common, solicited proposals are easier to sell since the clients know they want to purchase or use a service like yours, and they are just looking for businesses or vendors that offer what they are looking for.

Your client may have issued a request for a proposal (RFP). This simply means they want you to send them a proposal to look at.

A business proposal is not a business plan. This is a commonly made mistake. While there are parts of both documents that can be intertwined, they are quite different.

A proposal is also not an estimate for your services or product. While your costs can be included in your proposal, an estimate is simply a list of the costs involved with a service or set of products.

A business proposal is a course of action that you have not yet moved forward on. It is written as an offer to a buyer from the seller.

Your proposal should include:

  • A quick overview of the business
  • The amount of funding needed
  • A detailed explanation of how the funds will be used
  • A list of the equipment and technology necessary
  • A list of your products and services
  • Your target market
  • Your competition
  • Your sales strategies
  • Your employees and management
  • The goals of your company
  • Your financial projections from at least the last three years

Business Proposal Ideas to Attract Investors

Creating a great business proposal can seem like the hardest part when you start a business. It can look like most creative ideas are already in use. Finding an idea that seems unique can be a challenge. While an idea for your business is very important, the most crucial aspect of turning your business into a reality is turning it into a business proposal.

Not only will a business proposal allow you to present the idea for your business to possible investors, but it will also make you consider all the different parts of taking your idea live.

If you are seeking investors, or trying to convince a bank or others for support, you need a well-thought-out business proposal. The business environment is very competitive today, so you need to be able to write a solid proposal to get you started off right.

You need to make it simple for them to say yes to your proposal. Many proposals are not accepted for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are overly complicated or sound like they will take too much work no matter how much money it will generate. You need to make your business proposal simple so that it is easily understood.

If nothing else, show how your business will make money. This will be the selling point of your proposal. Investors want to know the potential of a business before they are willing to move forward. Your business proposal needs to be urgent but not desperate. While writing your proposal, it is ideal to let any potential partners know that a prompt response is necessary. Make it clear that you will have to move along if you do not hear from them soon.

If you need help with your business proposal ideas, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.