Have you ever encountered a situation where you sent a business proposal but got rejected? Nothing speaks to investors’ needs like a well-written business proposal.
A comprehensive, carefully thought-out business proposal is essential to the success of entrepreneurs and corporate managers.
Whether you are starting a new business, seeking additional capital for existing product lines, or proposing a new activity in a corporate division, crafting a strategic business proposal is the key to new opportunities, securing lucrative deals, and watching your ideas flourish.
Key Insights
1. It is important to tailor your proposal to address your capabilities, market needs, and investor interests.
2. You need to pre-qualify investment leads to ensure they are serious and aligned with your business goals.
3. Answer key questions about your unique selling point and competitive edge to persuade investors.
4. Your proposal should demonstrate thorough understanding of investors’ challenges and how your solution addresses them.
What is a Business Proposal?
A business proposal is a written document that outlines a specific product, service, or project that a company offers to potential clients or partners to persuade them that the business can meet their needs.
It can also be a written product or service offer most commonly sent to prospective customers. Moreover, they can also be presented to existing customers, such as when a company tries to upsell an additional product or service.
How your business proposal is written can be the difference between winning or losing a client.
Typically, a business deal follows after a proposal has been accepted. However, not all proposals are the same. The content included in the business proposal format may vary depending on the client’s needs and the industry you occupy.
It’s fair to say that the proposal required for building construction is probably longer, takes more time to create, and is likely to include a broader variety of topics than that of a sales representative trying to close a marketing deal.
But how do you ensure that your proposal engages every potential investor and business owner? That is why you must take note of these three perspectives;
- The market includes existing and prospective clients, customers, and users of the planned product or service.
- The investors, whether of financial or other resources.
- The producer, whether the entrepreneur or the inventor
A well-conceived and well-packaged proposal can win your idea’s necessary investment and support. It must describe the company or proposed project accurately and attractively.
You must logically and convincingly present and justify ongoing and changing resource requirements, marketing decisions, financial projections, production demands, and personnel needs.
Before you start writing a proposal, you must understand the various types of business proposals and their differences. Understanding these differences will help you match its intended use.
Types of Business Proposals
There are generally two distinct categories of business proposals;
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Solicited Proposal
Solicited proposals are mostly written and submitted in response to a specific request from a prospective investor. The client could either ask for them verbally or issue a request for proposal (RFP), request for quotation (RFQ), or request for information (RFI).
Sometimes, the client may also give you formatting instructions or the evaluation criteria that will be used when making a selection.
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Unsolicited Proposal
Unsolicited proposals are sent to investors who have not requested them. They are always generic, with no direct connection between the prospect and the specified requirements.
You can send an unsolicited proposal to introduce a product or service to a customer and try to convince them to hire your business.
With unsolicited proposals, getting the deal depends on how smart and accurate your proposal is, as well as on your ability to win the heart of your prospect.
4 Crucial Points to Note Before Writing a Business Proposal
Creating a business proposal can be overwhelming, especially when starting a business. However, you need to consider these four crucial point
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Pre-Qualify Your Lead
Only some leads that contact you will be qualified to invest in your proposal idea. Some may seek the cheapest investment route, while others may need to learn about your business.
When qualifying your lead, the best thing to do is call or email them and ask essential questions that show your seriousness as a person. Their response lets you know if they are ready to do business with you and deserve your commitment.
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Answer 4 Key Questions
Before rolling up your sleeves to put together your proposal, ask yourself these questions:
- Why should prospective investors invest in my idea?
- What is my business’s unique selling point (USP)?
- Why shouldn’t they pick my competitors?
- Why is my solution the best?
The secret to winning a business proposal is to answer every “why question” that could ruin your persuasion efforts by providing appropriate and compelling solutions.
You’ve probably been in a situation where investors chose a competitor’s product or service even though your solution was better.
Why is this?
This is because proposals are not about choosing the most experienced, skilled, or proficient; they are about choosing the best fit.
From an investor’s viewpoint, they want to know who best understands people’s needs and who will provide the best solution.
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Understand the Investor
Your proposal must demonstrate that you completely understand the investors’ entrepreneurship journey and expertise and the setbacks they are facing.
Hence, you need to conduct extensive research. Proving to potential investors that you understand their situation entirely opens a win-win platform, where they are open to whatever you are saying and more easily persuaded by what you are offering.
In particular, every part of your proposal should portray one loud message — here’s how I intend to solve the problem
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Offer an Upfront Meeting
Now that you have completed your background research on the investor and what he’ll likely invest in, you should do one more thing before you start writing your proposal.
It would help if you offered an upfront consultation. Although some people may find this pointless, it is essential to consider what an upfront consultation can do for you in terms of winning an investment contract.
First, it allows the investor to know you on a personal level rather than being just an anonymous salesperson. This will increase the chances that your business proposal will receive the attention it deserves.
Secondly, it enables you to understand the prospect’s needs more fully. Once you meet with an investor, you’ll uncover deeper insights into what problems they are willing to invest in and the best way to solve them.
Creating a business proposal doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be easy, especially using a professional template-based business proposal creation tool like ClientPoint. It will help you create outstanding business proposals without worrying about design or formatting.
In addition, ClientPoint contains different templates that can be easily customized create a custom proposal that perfectly fits your company’s brand image.
Where to Get Business Proposal Templates
There are dozens of pre-made business proposal templates that you can download for free. But whether they will meet your needs is another matter. I have prepared a list of websites you should check out first. Not all of them are free, but they are worth your attention.
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Conclusion
Your business proposal is your compass. It maps out a new course for your business and helps investors to know why they should invest in your endeavor.
Whether you’re writing a solicited or unsolicited proposal, you can win if you stick to the points I have provided in this article.
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