help with writing a business proposal

4. State the problem or need.

This is where you provide a summary of the issue impacting the potential client. It provides you with the opportunity to show them you clearly understand their needs and the problem they need help solving.

Research, critical thinking, and extra thought are key here. You have to do your homework. Take a holistic look at the specific issues your client faces that you can help solve. Then, compellingly frame them in a way that sets you up for the next step.

7. Include pricing options.

Pricing is where things can get a bit tricky, as you don't want to under or over-price your product. If you'd like to provide the prospect with a few pricing options for their budget, include an optional fee table . Some proposal software offer responsive pricing tables which allow clients to check the products or services they're interested in, and the price will automatically adjust.

8. Summarize with a conclusion.

After providing the above information, it’s necessary to simplify it into one final section. Briefly summarize the proposal. Touch on your qualifications and why you’d serve as the best choice. To prompt further conversation, confirm your availability. At the end of the proposal, the goal is to have the client ready to work with you. Provide your contact information to allow them to follow up easily.

9. Clarify your terms and conditions.

This is where you go into detail about the project timeline, pricing, and payment schedules. It's essentially a summary of what you and the client agree to if they accept your proposal. Make sure you clear the terms and conditions with your own legal team before sending the proposal to the client.

Image Source

We know how crucial a great business proposal is to your and your clients' success. That's why we've compiled  2 Free Business Proposal Templates for you to use and customize for any of your projects. You'll gain access to a concise, one-page template (pictured above), as well as a longer template for you to embellish on your plan and proposal. Download the templates now to get started on building your proposal. 

2. Web Design Proposal

Companies, big and small, dedicate resources to establishing a noticeable social media presence. With advertising on social networks projected to reach $56.85 billion dollars in 2022 , it's in your business's best interest to have a plan for growing your client's social media presence.

To help you in that effort, the information in this social media marketing proposal includes an executive summary to help introduce your high-level ideas, an assessment of the client’s company to demonstrate your diligence, and a breakdown of billing to show how your company charges for posting, content creation, and analytics.

8. Content Marketing Proposal

When pitching your content marketing services to clients, this template can help you organize your ideas. While it walks you through initial objectives and how to communicate your prospected results, one of the most helpful parts of this template is the pricing ideas it gives you when charging for your services.

Business proposal templates are helpful places to get started, but what should your business proposal look like when it's complete? Below, we share an example of a business proposal template that will inspire you.

In the business template example above, Social Portal Consulting (SPC) pitches a marketing proposal to Graphic Bean. At first sight, this proposal appeals to the creative. A nice touch would include designing the layout in your or your client’s brand colors. In addition to the design, the use of social media icons quickly tells the prospect what platforms Social Portal is pitching. Because we see Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest icons, the client instantly knows that this proposal does not include LinkedIn, YouTube, or other platforms.

While maintaining its design, this example outlines Social Portal Consulting’s plans efficiently. It begins by providing insight into Graphic Bean and its goals before elaborating on how SPC can leverage its expertise to help them achieve it. This business proposal template includes an easy-to-follow timeframe for goals and objectives while keeping the client abreast of how payment will happen across the project.

Overall, this is an excellent example of how to combine the elements of social media marketing into a creative and concise business proposal. Finally, we'll leave you with some business proposal ideas to get you started on your own.

• Start with an outline.
• Include data and visuals.
• Add social proof.
• Incorporate video into your proposal.
• Use a call-to-action.
• Include up-sell and add-on opportunities.
• Create a sense of urgency.
• Keep it simple.
• Make the decision for them.
• Stay on brand.
• Quality control.

There's a lot to keep in mind when writing a business proposal. Here are a few tips to help you out:

1. Start with an outline.

If you want to produce a thoughtful, effective business proposal, you need to have some idea of what you're hoping to achieve with it. So before you dive into writing, outline the major sections of your business proposal and the pertinent information you want to include. This will ensure you stay focused and your message stays intact as you write.

2. Include data and visuals.

You want your business proposal to capture your prospect's attention and help set you apart from any other ones they might have received. One of the best ways to do that is to include hard, quantitative data that helps stress the value of your business.

If you can find some relevant, compelling figures that highlight what you have to offer, you can establish authority and make yourself that much more convincing. It also helps to include visuals such as charts and graphs to enhance your proposal.

3. Add social proof.

Like the previous point, adding social proof lends your proposal another degree of credibility. You can only be so convincing when you're personally talking up how great your business is.

Prospects are skeptical. In many — if not most — cases, they probably won't take you at your word. They'll likely trust peers and fellow customers more than someone trying to win their business. That's why including elements like customer quotes and testimonials can go a long way.

4. Incorporate video into your proposal.

If you're creating an online proposal using document file formats like PDF, you can include multimedia elements to enhance the proposal experience. They can make your document richer and more engaging.

Whether you add video at the beginning as an intro to your proposal or in the project breakdown to verbally discuss some of the more confusing parts, extras like this can make an impression. This works especially on prospects who are visual or auditory communicators.

5. Use a call-to-action.

Prospects need direction. The best proposal in the world can only take you so far if you don't clearly define the next steps. That's why you have to make sure the reader knows what to do next after reading your proposal.

A clear-cut call-to-action is the best way to get there. Define and highlight exactly what they should do to act on the interest your proposal has generated. Without that guidance, you might leave your reader in limbo.

6. Include up-sell and add-on opportunities.

They say you won't receive unless you ask. Readers won't explore the upper tiers of your solutions if you don't give them the opportunity. If you want to use your business proposal as a chance to get the most out of a reader's interest, you need to include some additional information about your business for them to act on. They need to know what else you have to offer.

7. Create a sense of urgency.

No one wants to feel as if they missed out on a great opportunity. A lack of urgency tends to cause people to drag their feet and take time when making a decision. As you create your business proposal, your goal should be to create a sense of urgency.

Prospective clients should read your business proposal and feel that now is the best time to sign up for your service. A way you can accomplish this is by stating your short and long-term goals for their business. While they will have to wait for the long-term goals, make the short-term goals so enticing that they are instantly ready to begin a collaboration.

8. Keep it simple.

There's no definitive blueprint for how long a business proposal has to be. Yours should be however long it takes to convey the information you want to get across.

That said, you're best off focusing on quality over quantity. Keep your sentences short and simple, and avoid including too much business jargon. You want your proposal to be straightforward enough for anyone who picks it up to make sense of it. So don't get carried away with being too fancy.

9. Make the decision for them.

Craft your copy in a way that seems like saying "no" to the proposal would be stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Your offer should go above and beyond their expectations, and you should do everything in your power to eliminate friction and objections along the way.

10. Stay on brand.

Don't be afraid to let your company's personality shine through in your proposal. Stay true to your brand and show the client what sets you apart from your competitors.

11. Quality control.

Your proposal needs to be clean and airtight. You don't want to undermine your messaging by coming off as sloppy and unprofessional. Before you send the proposal out, make sure to read and reread it for any typos or grammatical errors.

Let your business proposal do the talking.

Depending on the type of business you're in, your business proposal elements will vary based on the prospect's needs. After reading through your plan, prospective clients should have very few questions about your company and what it can do for them. With the tips and examples in this article, you have all the tools to guide you through the process. With a professional, customized business proposal, you're sure to delight your client and potentially gain their business.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in February 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Don't forget to share this post!

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Propose your business as the ideal solution using this free template.

How to Write a Business Proposal in 2023 (the A-Z Guide)

• April 6, 2020
• 19 min read

• Mar 10, 2023

You just finished an amazing meeting with a potential client, they seem ready to pull the trigger and excited to work with you. Then they utter the following sentence:

 “Please send me a business proposal”

As a business owner or salesperson, that’s the best thing you’ll hear all day. Until you get back to the office and realize you actually have to write it. This guide will give you a system and guidelines on how to write a successful business proposal and make that process super easy. Whether you’re forming an LLC and need consultation or are looking for new business partners, your pitch should be professional and engaging.

You can seek the assistance of a skilled writer who can offer the best custom writing service for a better and more captivating proposal.

Writing a business proposal is actually not that fun. In fact, most business owners absolutely hate this task. However, if you have amazing business proposal templates to rely on, you can speed up this process and quickly start working on the client’s problem.

If you want to learn how to write a business proposal like a professional, read on to find out:

• The key elements of a winning business proposal
• Which sections you NEED to include in every proposal
• What to do before you even begin writing
• Examples of successful business proposal ideas from different industries
• Quotes from industry experts on the proposals they’ve written and sent

Things to know before you start writing business proposals

At the most basic level, your proposal writing system is two things:

• Having a great business proposal template written with everything in it
• Knowing what needs editing each time

The importance of a good business proposal template

The first thing, getting your business proposal template in order is vital. The best tip we have is to choose your next proposal and allocate a good day to getting it as good as it can be.

This means editing the copy like it’s a headline on your website. Consider the wording, your client and the emotions you want to evoke and really make each section as good as it can be. Putting in effort in business proposal writing makes all the difference.

Later in this article, we’ll look at what is included in a business proposal , and that goes for your template too. We’ll also provide business proposal examples as well.

When you’re having that meeting with your potential client and they ask you to write them a business proposal for your proposed solution, you can confidently walk away, knowing exactly what to do.

What is a Business Proposal?

An effective business proposal is a formal document created with the purpose of persuading your potential customers to work with you.

Whether you’re starting a new business or growing an existing one, a business proposal is used in a variety of industries to help sell a wide range of products or services. From selling carpets to offering enterprise software solutions, and social media marketing , all of it starts with a business proposal.

Two types of business proposals

Besides the difference in the industry, the main division is between solicited and unsolicited business proposals. A solicited business proposal is sent when you already have a connection with the potential customer and they’re interested in what you’re selling.

Usually, the buyer themselves will ask for a proposal outlining your problem statement. Whether they’re a small business or government agencies, your proposal should follow the project details they’ve outlined.

On the other hand, unsolicited proposals are sent without the explicit request of someone who may be interested in what you’re selling. Whether you’re writing formally solicited proposals or unsolicited ones, you’ll need to know how to structure them.

Although it’s easier to create a solicited proposal, don’t stress out about writing unsolicited ones. Our guide can help you in both situations.

How to write a business proposal

Most people think that writing a business proposal is boring and time-consuming. And for the most part, they’re right. There really is no creative flare in writing them and it’s all about pitching your product or service so that the new client says yes and gives you money. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. There is a way to make proposal writing easier and more efficient and get your prospective client on board more quickly.

In the following sections, we’ll show you that writing a business proposal is more about preparation and using the right tools to make writing easier. In other words, we’ll teach you how to write a business proposal with minimal effort and maximum sales performance.

Once you pick the right proposal software tools, you’ll see how easy it is to create a winning proposal.

But first, let’s tackle a very important term – business proposal templates .

What is a business proposal template?

Put simply, a proposal template is a proposal that is about 90% finished. As mentioned above, a template includes everything that you want to send in a single proposal.

Your best introduction describing the problem statement, your best pricing strategy , your best type of proof, the best title page, etc. A template combines all the best elements of the proposals you’ve sent which resulted in sales for your product or service.

If you want to create a template of your own, simply think of the best sales proposals you’ve ever written and grab the most effective piece of content. If you’re using proposal software like Better Proposals, this shouldn’t be difficult, because you will know which proposals work for your target audience.

What if you’ve never sent proposals before so you don’t have a basis for templates? What if you don’t have the time or you just don’t know a thing about proposals? The good news is, you have no reason to worry – our proposal library has more than 100 different proposal templates for a variety of industries and different applications.

Once you have your template, you can fill out the major details, such as:

• The client and their personal information
• Details about the specific offer
• Pricing, timelines, detailed specification
• A proof section with an example similar to the offer you’re sending

Once you add these, your business proposal is ready to go. The main idea is that templates help you write proposals in 15 minutes instead of 5 hours.

What questions are your customers asking?

When writing a business proposal , there’s a situation going on that only the best salespeople understand.

Your potential client has a list of questions. They’ll rarely tell you what those questions are. Mostly because they’re pretty awkward. For example, we had a situation when I quoted someone £40,000 for some software once. The proposal was about 17 pages long and the client replied with one sentence.

“Sounds good. What happens if you die? How do I get my data back?”

I didn’t think it was an appropriate time to go back to him and explain I probably wouldn’t care about his data if I was dead . I did explain to him a contingency plan that we had in place for nearly a decade now for this exact situation. I told him, and he signed up.

This got me thinking. This guy was bold enough to ask that question but he can’t have been the first guy to think it . From that moment on, we included that in every business proposal we sent under a section called How we protect your data.

What other questions might your potential customers have that they won’t ask you:

• What happens if he dies?
• What will I do if they screw up my search engine rankings?
• What happens if they take over my website and vanish?
• What happens if they redesign my website and I get fewer conversions than I got before?

You can’t assume that potential clients will ask these questions. Think about it. How many questions do people actually ask on the back of proposals? Answer these questions in your proposal before the client gets a chance to ask them.

How do you want your potential clients to feel?

Don’t think of business proposals as just sales documents. Think of them as taking someone on an experience.

Think about movies. The emotions override the content. It’s less important how you get them to feel sadness at the end, so long as you do and they’ll use every trick in the book to do it.

When you write a business proposal, think about the emotion you want your potential client to feel at the end of reading your proposal .

• Excitement – Describing possibilities, using uplifting pictures, and success stories will be good here. Don’t bore them with a document resembling a long business plan.
• Confidence – Include lots of proof and trust-building elements into this. You wouldn’t be making suggestions; you’d be certain in your wording.
• Action taking – Lots of commanding words, talking about the next step, don’t bog them down with a list of 42 things to decide. Just get them to do the “next” thing.

Only you know what’s most appropriate. What you don’t want to be doing is talking in “maybes”, and “ifs” and using suggestive wording when you want someone to trust you. It sounds like you’re not sure.

Here’s a good example

As a good friend Mitch Miller says:

“The doctor doesn’t ask the patient if it’s the right prescription. He just prescribes the right thing and tells them to get out of the office”.

Take an appropriate stance when thinking about the language of your proposals in relation to how you want them to feel at the end.

Consider using proposal software instead of writing manually

The truth is, rarely anyone writes proposals these days – most people use proposal software. Here’s why it’s a good idea.

• Proposal software is web-based. You can send your clients links instead of PDF files.
• Proposals are optimized for different devices. They look and feel the same on a phone, laptop or tablet.

• You get to use proposal templates. (We have more than 100 of them.)
• You can track what the client does with the proposal. You get notifications when they read, forward and sign. 

• Clients can instantly sign proposals electronically. This means your proposals are considered legally binding contracts. No need for third-party tools like DocuSign or DocuSign alternatives – good proposal software has that already built in.  
• Clients can pay from the proposal. Paypal, Stripe, GoCardless, you name it.

• You can use a variety of integrations. MailChimp, Zapier, Salesforce, HubSpot or whatever you are using in your sales workflow. 
• Detailed reporting. Find out what works and what doesn’t, no guessing.

• The ability to use live chat. You can chat with the client as they’re reading the proposal, increasing your conversions.
• You get to write your proposals in 15 minutes, not 5 hours.

These are just some of the many reasons why you should consider using proposal software rather than opening Word the next time you want to write an effective business proposal.

The 8 key elements of every winning business proposal

There are 8 elements most business proposals should include. Some are absolutely essential; some are not – that depends on your specific situation. Here they are:

1. Introduction or Executive summary

2. Detailed specification

3. Timescales

6. Guarantee

7. Next steps

8. Terms and conditions

Does your proposal need to have all of these sections? Maybe yes, maybe not – it depends. However, all of our proposal templates have these sections out of the box.

There is one thing that we didn’t mention on purpose – the title page. 

All proposals should have a well-designed title page, with an image and some text to address the specific client. We’re leaving it out because all of our business proposal templates come with a beautiful title page out of the box.

A beautifully designed title page can help your small business stand out because it gives your entire document a level of professionalism.

The introduction – also known as executive summary

Good business proposals always start with a great introduction . This is the most read part of your proposal so it needs to get across that you understand their situation and you’re clear on their goal. Your meetings and discovery sessions should be heavily predicated on getting the information for this section of the proposal.

The reason you don’t win new business is that you didn’t get a chance to do a meeting or initial call about the job. As a result, you never discovered what the client wants to achieve, what’s important to them and what makes them tick. This is one of the most important things to include when you learn how to write a business proposal.

As a result, because you don’t know that information, you lead with the things that don’t matter as much. For example the price or the technicalities of what you’re trying to do when writing a business proposal for them.

The importance of a good proposal introduction

Your introduction should show the client that you’ve listened to their problem and that you have the cure, which you will show them in the next section. If you want to create an ongoing relationship, you need to show that you’ve researched your client’s company.

If you want to present your clients with a custom service, this is the place to stress that. Show them how you customize your usual offer to match their exact pain point.

According to our own research, this is the most-read section of all business proposals besides the pricing. Most clients read just these two sections, so make sure that you invest extra time and care in this one.

What about the executive summary?

This section is also known as a summary or an executive summary, depending on your resources. Even though the title is different, everything else is the same – it’s a section where you discuss how you’re going to solve the client’s problem and present your value proposition.

Make sure to keep it short and to the point. You want to keep your entire proposal easy to read and as enjoyable of an experience for your potential client as possible.

Since the executive summary is such an important part of any standard business proposal, don’t be afraid of asking your team members to read it and give you feedback.

Business Proposal Cover Letter

You may have heard about the term business proposal cover letter . A cover letter is essentially the same as an introduction. It’s an addition that should be read before the “meat” of the proposal document.

Its purpose is to convince the potential client that you know their business and their needs and it should get them hooked to read the actual body of the proposal, which describes your proposed solution.

To keep things simple, we use the executive summary of the proposal for the purpose of a cover letter.

The detailed specification

This part varies depending on what you’re selling. If it’s a website, this could be a list of pages and features. If you’re writing a social media marketing proposal, then this could be the strategy or the talent and credentials of your team. It’ll vary.

The basic idea is to be as detailed as possible in your offer. That way, the prospective client understands exactly how your proposed solutions work.

The reason it’s important is that if the deal goes bad, you both have this section to refer back to. Your business proposal outlines accountability and what the client should hope for. Moreover, it also serves as a good exercise for you when writing a good business proposal as this is all the information you’re going to gather in any discovery phase of the deal.

It’s important here to keep this in plain English. Stay far away from jargon as it will only confuse the potential client. The less the reader understands, the less they trust you.

Also, if you absolutely must write about your company, this might be the place to do it. Who you are, what you do, how long you’ve been doing it and what makes you stand out. However, don’t spend too much time or space on this because the focus is on the client, not you.

The timescales

It doesn’t matter if it’s a wide bracket like 2-4 weeks – you have to give the client some clue about your project timeline. Otherwise, it’s a massive unknown.

It can be really useful to find out if they have a special event, or reason for a project timeline to be important to them. If there is, tie that in. You can even tie that into scarcity to give them the incentive to sign the proposal off by a certain date.

If you’re writing unsolicited proposals, you need to be especially convincing and present your project timeline in a way that will be hard to say no to.

Be as specific as possible, but also use this section to your advantage. More time to deliver means two things:

1. You can finish earlier than promised and impress your client

2. You have more time to spare if something goes unexpectedly wrong

More time is always better, but make sure that you consider the need for urgency as well.

You must prove to your client that you can actually deliver your proposed solution. Now, you might say “we have examples on our website”. That’s nice – but the client is not looking at your website, they’re reading your proposal – your one big “ask” for the business. They want solid proof and a few good case studies will do.

You need to have sufficient proof in a good business proposal . This could be examples, testimonials, video case studies, screenshots from a client proving you helped them with something, a recording of a voicemail – anything.

To help them feel like they’ll be in good hands, indicate relevant credentials and certifications your team managers and members have. After all, product managers and team leaders will play a massive role in ensuring that your product or service will be of top quality.

Take some time to check out Foundr’s guide for freelancers with useful tips on self-branding, like when to include a company logo .

As you can see in our business proposal example, it doesn’t have to be complex and have the production value of a Spielberg classic. It just needs to get the point across.

The good news is, there is more than one type of proof that you can choose. Case studies, testimonials, portfolio pieces, explainer videos – there are lots of ways to convince your clients that you’re the real deal.

Based on some of our own data, this is the second most read section of any business proposal – people usually jump straight from the executive summary to the pricing table. Needless to say, spend some extra time here to make it look right.

When using our business proposal templates, you can choose how to format your price based on project details.

That said, there are a few things you want to make sure of. The first is that the pricing is super clear. If you have somewhat of a confusing pricing structure then this might be time to think about simplifying it.

Speaking of which, we’ve done some research on pricing in business proposals and you can see our results in the latest Proposal Report . As it turns out, it’s a better idea to have a single offer and price instead of trying to get more money with upsells. Proposals with a single offer sold significantly more – 20.6% for offers with upfront costs and 33% higher for offers with monthly retainer costs.

The reason is that a business proposal is a matter of getting a simple answer – yes or no. The more options you add, the more difficult it gets for them to decide whether to sign or not. Keep your responsive pricing tables super simple. 

Along with your price, try and include a testimonial from a past client suggesting that your price is a good value for their money. Another thing is how you charge. Ideally, you want to focus on value rather than a day or hourly rate.

The way you format your price can help avoid further negotiations.

How to name your pricing section

Finally, there is one more thing that you should know about the pricing section – don’t call it that way . We’ve discovered that these names work better:

• Return on investment
• And others following this pattern

Basically, you want your clients to see your services as an investment in their business, rather than a simple cost and money down the drain. Small businesses or enterprise clients, no one wants to spend money, they want to invest it.

The guarantee

Some people love the idea of a guarantee. Others don’t like giving guarantees for fear of abuse. However, a guarantee is a great way to push new clients further towards conversion.

Instead of a typical money-back guarantee, consider guaranteeing a part of your service or a timescale.

Good business proposal example

Cheryl Laidlaw has her service “Website in a day”. She (at the time of writing) charges £1,995 for the day and delivers the website THAT NIGHT. The client doesn’t go home and neither does Cheryl until it’s done – which is an amazing offer .

The next steps

A lot of times, people seem to forget the very basics – to show the client what to do next. Sure, some people might read your business proposal and say “Great, okay let’s go ahead”. But why would you leave it up to them to figure it out?

It’s not their job to figure out how to buy from you, especially if you’re sending informally solicited proposals. Just make sure to tell them what the next steps are.

Usually, this will be something like:

Step 1: Sign the proposal by typing your name in the box below and hitting ‘Accept’. This makes the proposal a legally binding contract.

Step 2: We’ll invoice you for 50%. Please, pay for this immediately.

Step 3: We’ll arrange our initial consultation call with you.

Anyone can do these tasks on their own – they’re not all that complex. The problem is that if you leave all of this unsaid, you’re leaving your clients wondering.

Explain all the details of what’s going to happen next.

Terms & conditions

You absolutely should be including your contract or terms and conditions. Just put it on a separate page called Terms & Conditions or Terms of Business .

There’s a great contract written for freelancers which covers 98% of the basics. If you’re not using a contract in your business right now, use this until your legal team demands something better.

You should always include your terms in your business proposals because when someone signs the proposal, they automatically sign the contract . It covers you and it covers the client, so it’s only natural to include it.

Just reading the words “terms and conditions” may make you feel dizzy because of the work ahead, but it’s actually something that you can do once and never fret about it later.

After all, once clients sign your proposals, they become legally binding contracts, so you need to make sure you’ve covered all legal aspects.

The takeaways

If you follow our guide, you’ll dramatically increase the number of people who say yes to your proposals. In summary, here are the exact steps that you need to take to write an amazing business proposal:

1. Start off with a proposal template

2. Find out the questions that your clients are asking

3. Think of how you want the clients to feel as they read the proposal

4. Include the 8 elements of a winning business proposal, as listed above

5. Use proposal software to automate the writing process

One of the biggest reasons people take forever to write business proposals and ultimately do a bad job is because they are using software that simply isn’t geared up to doing the job in an effective way. It might sound like a self-serving suggestion , but you should take a look at using Better Proposals for writing your next business proposal.

The business proposal templates in the Proposal Marketplace alone will save you a ton of time with many business proposal examples to browse, and our proposal software has everything you need for writing proposals in one place.

Now that you know how to write a business proposal , it’s time to use the right tool for the job. Sign up for Better Proposals today and find out how to win more business with less work!

Start sending high conversion proposals today

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› Blog › Writing A Business Proposal: The Step-By-Step Guide

Writing A Business Proposal: The Step-By-Step Guide

B2B and B2C companies share the same general objective: convincing potential customers to give them their business. The specific actions involved in this process, however, differ tremendously between the two. B2C companies usually don’t have to take any steps outside of marketing themselves. There’s no special procedure required for the acquisition of new customers. For B2B companies, on the other hand, marketing is only part of the battle . To officially acquire a new customer, the two parties must strike a deal. The desired terms of the deal are outlined in the company’s business proposal. What happens next is directly determined by the contents of this document.

For this reason, writing a business proposal is among the most important skills for owners of B2B companies. The more you hone this skill, the more work you will receive. Your first proposals are especially crucial since you need the work to establish a reputation. Thus, it only makes sense to learn how to write a business proposal as early as possible. New entrepreneurs cannot afford to mess this up.

Different Industries, Different Standards

Yes, different industries have different standards for business proposals. And your proposals do not have to look exactly like your competitors’. But there is a general formula you can follow to make this process much less stressful. Following clear, structural guidelines also allows you to focus more on developing the terms of the deal.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through each step of a successful business proposal. You’ll learn how to decide what kind of business proposal to write, the information you need to include, and what makes a proposal stand out from the competition.

In this guide, we’ll answer these common questions and more:

Join our newsletter for great tips and updates., we will help you grow your small business., what is the purpose of a business proposal.

The first step to writing a business proposal is understanding the document’s main objectives . From a broader perspective, you must promote your business while simultaneously addressing your potential client’s needs. Every component of the proposal should maintain that you fully understand what must be done and are indeed the best business for the job.

More specifically, it would help if you answered a series of questions concerning the task at hand. This includes:

• What specific tasks does this job entail?
• Which team members will complete each task?
• Who will supervise the team and oversee the whole process?
• How much will this job cost? Why are you charging this amount?
• How long will this job take? When will it be done?
• Why should you receive this job, as opposed to your competitors?
• How will you deliver high-quality work in the desired time frame?

It would help if you did not begin writing your proposal until you can clearly answer each question. Throughout this guide, we’ll explain which questions should be answered straight and to the point, and which require more detail. Certain parts of the proposal allow you to explain what sets your business apart from your competitors, and why you are the ideal long-term partner for this specific client.

Is Your Business Proposal Solicited or Unsolicited?

Once you’ve solidified the main objectives, you can move on to distinguish the two types of business proposals: solicited and unsolicited. Solicited proposals are sent because the recipient previously sent you a formal Request for Proposal (RFP). Unsolicited proposals are sent with no prior requested from the recipient.

Request for Business Proposal (RFPs)

If a potential client sends you an RFP, it’s usually because that potential client has heard of your business and is aware of your track record thus far. In this case, you probably don’t have to spend too much time convincing this potential client that you’re the right fit for the job. Instead, you can concentrate on making sure your proposal addresses their specific needs, as well as what sets them apart from other businesses.

Odds are, this is why the company reached out to you in the first place. Your proposal must, therefore, show them that they made the right decision by choosing you. They don’t want to see a generic proposal that seems like it could have been written for anyone.

Unsolicited Business Proposal

As you can imagine, unsolicited proposals require a lot more self-promotion. In addition to explaining what makes your company special, you must convince the potential client that they even need your services in the first place.

Until receiving your proposal, the potential client probably hasn’t thought about the benefits of working with a company like yours. Thus, it’s up to you to tell the company what they are missing. Think of it as introducing someone to an opportunity they didn’t know existed. Unsolicited proposals are especially challenging if there are few (if any) easily-discernable differences between you and your top competitors.

What Are The Main Sections of a Business Proposal?

A typical business proposal is composed of 7 or 8 sections:

• Introduction
• Table of contents
• Executive summary
• Project details
• Deliverables and milestones
• Bonus: Appendix (if necessary)

If you’ve previously written a business plan , this structure should look pretty familiar. Like a business plan , the best way to avoid mistakes and not spend too much time writing a business proposal is to start from the beginning and work your way down. Every proposal you write should be approached in this manner to ensure consistency. New businesses must show the same degree of professionalism to every potential client to establish and maintain their reputations.

Section 1: Introduction

The introduction to a business proposal is very similar to the company overview of a business plan. Your proposal should begin with a brief and concise summary of what your business does, what separates you from your competitors, and why your business is the perfect fit for this particular job.

The goal is to answer these questions in as few words as possible effectively. Your introduction should be no more than one page long, though you should probably aim more towards half a page. Though your business is likely special for many reasons, you must pick the reasons that matter most to this client. You’re going to be doing a lot of succinct pitching ( or elevator pitching ) a lot throughout your career. Thus, it’s constructive to learn which attributes to emphasize early on.

Section 2: Table of Contents

Your table contents should include all of the aforementioned sections. This tells the potential client what kind of information they should expect to see throughout the document.

Nowadays, most business proposals are sent online. Certain programs allow you to make each section of the table of contents clickable. This allows the reader to easily jump to different parts without scrolling up and down.

Section 3: Executive Summary

Your executive summary is essentially an expanded version of your introduction. You don’t have to hold back in this section when explaining your business’s biggest strengths and most distinguishing attributes.

Your introduction is mostly about you. The executive summary, on the other hand, revolves around the potential client’s needs and goals. This section should show the potential client that you understand exactly what they’re looking for and how this partnership will grow their overall success. Remember to focus on benefits that only you can offer; things the potential client hasn’t heard before.

You can go into detail when explaining why and how you’ll be able to complete the work by the desired time frame.  Also, you should support your argument by discussing similar jobs you’ve from the past. Why were you able to fulfill the previous client’s needs so effectively?

Section 4: Project Details

Steps four, five, and six of your proposal should answer the questions from the “Getting Started” section of this guide. This is where you’ll detail how you will complete the job, i.e., the resources involved.

The Project Details section is like an essay’s body: the part with the most important information. It should begin with an explanation of your general strategy or approach. Like the Executive Summary’s benefits, your strategy should be uniquely innovative and clearly derived from this potential client’s individual needs. This section should reinforce the notion that you created this proposal exclusively for this opportunity.

Specifically, you should discuss every component of your strategy, or the smaller steps you will take to achieve the desired objective. The potential client must ultimately be convinced that your approach is the best solution on the market.

Section 5: Deliverables and Milestones

This is a highly specific section that outlines everything you’ll be doing for the potential client. Common examples include the tasks you will perform or quantities of products. It would be best to have a Deliverables and Milestones section to prevent potential clients from developing false expectations.

Any service-based business owner will tell you never to assume that you and your client have the same definition of the required tasks and responsibilities. If you don’t clearly define everything you’ll be doing and providing, the client could expect something different and deem the results unsatisfactory. Failing to define the scope of your services sets you up for being accused of over-promising.

Many businesses use this section to outline what they won’t be doing for the potential client. They do this for several reasons. First, they are likely concerned that performing one task will make the client assume they will also perform another commonly associated task. They may also be concerned that offering one service will lead to a request for another service they aren’t prepared to perform.

The “Milestones” part of this section refers to important due dates. Businesses often break projects into phases and use milestones to mark the completion of each phase. Common examples include the expected delivery date of certain materials or the day the potential client can expect to receive the first draft of a blueprint. Though they may only apply to longer projects, milestones show the potential client that your business has a very organized approach.

Section 6: Budget

Coming up with the right price for your services isn’t easy. Your proposed price must denote high-quality work without scaring the potential client away. And if you price your services too high, a competitor could undercut you.

As you can see, figuring out the perfect price can take time. So, you should probably tackle this process well before you begin writing your proposal.

You may be concerned that your potential client will immediately dismiss your proposed price, even if you are sure that it’s appropriate for the job. In this case, you could express the total price by listing the costs of each contributing expense. Some businesses aren’t aware of how expensive certain resources are these days.

Section 7: Conclusion

Your conclusion should reiterate the most important points of the proposal. Though you may feel like a broken record, you must once again explain the services you will provide, how you will provide them, and why your strategy is a better choice for this specific client than your competitors’ strategies.

If you’re writing a solicited proposal, you may want to include a terms and conditions section in your conclusion. This is yet another reiteration of your price, milestones, and the specific tasks involved. An RFP implies that the potential client is already interested in working with you. Thus, you can focus less on making a case for your business and more time stating your services’ terms.

Section 8: Appendix (Optional)

An Appendix consists of any supplemental information that doesn’t fall into the previous sections or makes the section fall under too long. Common examples include graphs, illustrations, rough sketches, or additional statistics related to your industry or track record. You could also use this section to provide detailed summaries of similar jobs from the past.

If you feel that a larger piece of information will help convince this particular client to work with you, save it for the appendix. But as we’ve said before, the information’s relevance depends on the client’s specific needs. You shouldn’t include general information that could be sent to virtually any potential client.

Depending on the size of the job, you might want to include contact information for the senior team members involved, as well as their prior experience with similar jobs.

If you can’t think of any additional information to include, that’s okay. It’s perfectly acceptable to omit an Appendix and close your proposal with your conclusion.

How To Follow Best Practices for Writing a Business Proposal:

Though each proposal’s subject matter will differ, there are certain elements of style that every reputable business likes to see. Regardless of your industry or the potential client’s size, we all want deals to be handled smoothly. The following guidelines will convey professionalism and help you express your thoughts clearly and succinctly. If you adhere to these guidelines in your first few proposals, this writing style will soon become natural.

1. Be Straightforward

Even if you’re a gifted writer, business proposals are supposed to be very straightforward. None of the content should seem remotely unnecessary or give the impression that you’re trying to fill more space. Except for your Project Details section, your business proposal should be short and sweet. You can show passion and enthusiasm in your Executive Summary as long as you’re careful not to get carried away.

2. Don’t Use Technical Language/Industry Jargon

This isn’t an opportunity to impress your potential client with technical knowledge. Using superfluous, vague language, or industry jargon runs the risk of misinterpretation.

Your Project Details section should explain precisely what you’re going to do. Also, do not make overly bold or ambiguous promises when discussing how the partnership will benefit the potential client. If you aren’t 100% sure that you can provide a certain benefit or reach a certain goal, don’t mention it.

3. Write for this Specific Audience

The tone and voice of your proposal should reflect the nature of your industry. Is your industry very serious and professional, or does it attract many creative and eccentric people? If you’re not sure which direction to lean, examine your potential client’s marketing materials.

Tailoring your language to your audience shows that you truly know your industry and are a logical choice for a business partner. It also proves that you didn’t just do the bare minimum and craft a generic proposal that could have been sent to any company from any industry.

4. Include a Title Page

Your proposal may turn out to be on the longer side due to the job’s scope or the amount of information used to prove your track record. In this case, you might consider a title page to make the proposal seem more organized and interesting.

A typical title page includes the business’s name, contact information, and the potential client’s name. Regardless of your proposal’s length, the decision to include a title page ultimately depends on the recipient’s preferences. The previous section emphasized knowing your audience. Well, would this particular client be impressed by a cover page or find it unnecessary?

5. Have it Reviewed by a Content Professional

People who don’t write or edit content for a living tend to over-write. They use too many words, repeat themselves, and can’t always tell the difference between necessary and unnecessary information.

For this reason, it’s never a bad idea to have a content professional take a quick look at your proposal. Odds are, they will be able to re-phrase certain sentences so you can get your point across without sounding too wordy. The chance to make your proposal shorter without compromising its quality or clarity shouldn’t be passed up.

Business Proposal: Practice Makes Perfect

Writing a business proposal can be very intimidating at first, but it gets much easier over time. Certain sections, like the Executive Summary, will become second nature to you. And as you write more proposals, you’ll acquire more data about what works and what doesn’t. You’ll be able to discern the key characteristics of a successful proposal and maintain those characteristics moving forward. Eventually, you’ll develop general strategies and guidelines for each section. Future proposals will essentially write themselves.

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How to Write a Business Proposal in 7 Steps

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Whether you’re a B2B or a B2C company, you’re in the business of convincing customers to choose to spend their money with your business. For a B2B company that process usually involves a business proposal. In the B2B industry, once you've attracted new customers, which are most likely other businesses, you have to actually make a deal. Unlike B2C companies, who use marketing strategies and then hope their customers respond and purchase their product and service, there's a little more involved in this exchange. That's where your business proposal will come into the picture.

Luckily, even though your process and the exact format for your business proposal can be unique to your company, there is also a general formula you can follow to make things easier, especially the first few times you write a proposal.

In this guide, we'll walk you through the general steps of how to write a business proposal—including how to decide what kind of proposal you're writing, how you should organize it, and what information you should include.

How to write a b usiness proposal: 7 essential steps to follow

With these starting points in mind, let's get down to the process. Whether you’re just learning how to write a business proposal, or want to change up the one you’ve already been using, you’ll want to break down writing into a step-by-step approach. The organization is key when you’re writing a business proposal—structure will not only help you answer the core questions mentioned above, but it’ll also help you create consistent, successful proposals every time you’re pitching new business.

This being said, when writing a business proposal, you can break down the document into these sections:

Introduction

Table of contents

Executive summary

Project details

Deliverables and milestones

Bonus: Appendix (if necessary)

Step 1: Introduction

The introduction to your business proposal should provide your client with a succinct overview of what your company does (similar to the company overview in your business plan). It should also include what sets your company apart from its peers, and why it’s particularly well-suited to be the selected vendor to undertake a job—whether the assignment is a singular arrangement or an ongoing relationship.

The most effective business proposal introductions accomplish more with less: It’s important to be comprehensive without being overly wordy. You'll want to resist the temptation to share every detail about your company’s history and lines of business, and don’t feel the need to outline every detail of your proposal. You'll want to keep the introduction section to one page or shorter.

Step 2: Table of contents

Once you've introduced your business and why you're the right fit for the client you're submitting the proposal to (a quasi-cover letter), you'll want to next create a table of contents. Like any typical table of contents, this section will simply outline what the client can expect to find in the remainder of the proposal. You'll include all of the sections that we'll cover below, simply laid out as we just did above.

If you're sending an electronic proposal, you may want to make the table of contents clickable so the client can easily jump from section to section by clicking the links within the actual table of contents.

Step 3: Executive summary

Next, your business proposal should always include an executive summary that frames out answers to the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions that you’re proposing to the client lead. Here, the client will understand that you understand them.

It's important to note that despite the word "summary," this section shouldn't be a summary of your whole business proposal. Instead, this section should serve as your elevator pitch or value proposition. You'll use the executive summary to make an explicit case for why your company is the best fit for your prospect’s needs. Talk about your strengths, areas of expertise, similar problems you’ve solved, and the advantages you provide over your competitors—all from the lens of how these components could help your would-be client’s business thrive.

Step 4: Project details

When it comes to how to write a business proposal, steps four through six will encompass the main body of your proposal—where your potential client will understand how you’ll address their project and the scope of the work.

Within this body, you'll start by explaining your recommendation, solution, or approach to servicing the client. As you get deeper within your explanation, your main goal will be to convey to the client that you’re bringing something truly custom to the table. Show that you've created this proposal entirely for them based on their needs and any problems they need to solve. At this point, you'll detail your proposed solution, the tactics you’ll undertake to deliver on it, and any other details that relate to your company’s recommended approach.

Step 5: Deliverables and milestones

This section will nest inside the project details section, but it’s an essential step on its own.

Your proposal recipient doesn’t get merely an idea of your plan, of course—they get proposed deliverables. You'll outline your proposed deliverables here with in-depth descriptions of each (that might include quantities or the scope of services, depending on the kind of business you run). You never want to assume a client is on the same page as you with expectations, because if you’re not aligned, they might think you over-promised and under-delivered. Therefore, this is the section where you'll want to go into the most detail.

Along these lines, you can also use this section of the prospective client's proposal to restrict the terms and scope of your services. This can come in handy if you’re concerned that the work you’re outlining could lead to additional projects or responsibilities that you’re not planning to include within your budget.

Moreover, you might also want to consider adding milestones to this section, either alongside deliverables or entirely separately. Milestones can be small, such as delivery dates for a specific package of project components, or when you send over your first draft of a design. Or, you can choose to break out the project into phases. For longer projects, milestones can be a great way to convey your company’s organization and responsibility.

Step 6: Budget

There’s no way around the fact that pricing projects isn’t easy or fun—after all, you need to balance earning what you’re worth and proving value, while also not scaring away a potential client, or getting beaten out by a competitor with a cheaper price. Nevertheless, a budget or pricing section is an integral part of a business proposal, so you'll want to prepare your pricing strategy ahead of time before getting into the weeds of any proposal writing.

This being said, if you fear the fee might seem too high to your potential client, you might decide to break out the individual components of the budget—for example: social media services, $700; web copywriting $1,500—or create a few different tiers of pricing with different services contained in each. The second approach might not work for all types of businesses or proposal requests, but it may be worth considering if you’re worried about your overall fee appearing steep.

With these points in mind, once you've determined how to outline your pricing, you'll list it out (you might even include optional fees or services) and the overall cost for the scope of work you've described.

Step 7: Conclusion

Finally, your conclusion should wrap up your understanding of the project, your proposed solutions, and what kind of work (and costs) are involved. This is your last opportunity to make a compelling case within your business proposal—reiterate what you intend to do, and why it beats your competitors’ ideas.

If you're writing an RFP, again, meaning a potential client has requested this document from you, you might also include a terms and conditions section at this point. This end-on piece would detail the terms of your pricing, schedule, and scope of work that the client would be agreeing to by accepting this proposal.

Bonus step: Appendix (optional)

After the conclusion, you might also decide to include an appendix—where you add any supplemental information that that either doesn’t fit within the main proposal without being disruptive for the reader, or is less than essential to understanding the main components of your proposal. You’ll likely only need an appendix if you have stats, figures, illustrations, or examples of work that you want to share with your potential client. This being said, you might also include contact information, details about your team, and other relevant information in this section.

If you don't have any additional information to include, don't worry—you can end your business proposal with the conclusion section.

Business proposal considerations

Before you dive into determining how to write a business proposal that will give you a competitive edge, there are a few important things to keep in mind.

First, you'll want to make sure that you’re accomplishing the right objectives with your proposal. When writing a business proposal, you’re trying to walk a line between both promoting your company and addressing the needs of your would-be client, which can be difficult for any company to do.

This being said, you'll want to remember that a business proposal is different than a business plan, which you likely already wrote for your company when you were starting your business. Your business plan spells out your company's overall growth goals and objectives, but a business proposal speaks directly to a specific could-be client with the purpose of winning their business for your company.

With this in mind, in order to write a business proposal for any potential client, you'll need to establish your internal objectives and how these will contribute to the work you're proposing. To explain, you'll need to consider the following:

What tasks will need to be done for this work?

Who will do each task, and oversee the job at large?

What you’ll charge for the job?

Where will the work be delivered?

When will it be done?

Why are you the best fit for the job the client needs to be accomplished?

How will you achieve results?

Not only are these questions at the heart of clear and concise writing, but you also won't be able to write your business proposal without answers to them. So as you're going through the different pieces of your business proposal, keep in mind the objectives of your business, while also remaining persuasive regarding why the potential client should work with you instead of someone else.

The next important thing you'll need to keep in mind before you start writing a business proposal is what kind of proposal are you writing. Essentially, there are two types of business proposals—solicited proposals where someone requested the proposal from your company—and unsolicited proposals, where you're sending the document to another business unprompted.

In the case of solicited proposals, often called RFPs (short for a request for proposal), it’s likely that this potential client already knows at least a little about your business. With these kinds of business proposals, you'll want to spend less time convincing the client that you're the best small business consultant for the job and more on making your proposal feel custom to their specific brief, project, or problem. On the whole, the less generic your business proposal is, the more likely you are to win the work.

Unsolicited proposals, on the other hand, are much harder to sell.

As you’re writing a business proposal to a company that doesn’t know they may need your services, you’ll want to focus on getting them to understand why your company is specifically unique. You want to show them that you can add significant value to their business that they don’t already have. If there is currently someone performing the function you would like to, the sell will even be more difficult.

Business proposal examples

So, now that we've gone through all of the steps to show you how to write a business proposal, let's discuss some examples. As you go through the writing process, you might find it's helpful to consult external resources to review business proposal samples or templates and see how other businesses have structured these types of documents. Specifically, it might be even more helpful to review business proposal examples that relate to your particular industry—such as marketing, advertising, or finance.

General business proposal sample

If you're looking for a general business proposal example, you might consult BPlan, which offers advice, examples, and templates for the documents that are required to plan and operate a small business. In the BPlan sample, BPlan breaks their example into three overarching parts—a problem statement, a proposed solution, and a pricing estimate. This may be a good place to start if you're writing a business proposal for the first time and need a simple, general example to follow.

For a solicited proposal or RFP, you may want to reference a business proposal example that specifically operates under the assumption that you've been asked for this proposal. In this case, you may check out one of the downloadable RFP templates from Template Lab.

Template Lab offers both Word and PDF versions of their templates—and these business proposal samples will include sections more appropriate for RFPs including terms and conditions, scheduling, and points of contact.

Business proposal template services or software

For the most advanced and plug-and-play type business proposal samples, you may decide to utilize a service like Proposify or PandaDoc. These software services allow you to choose from their library of professionally designed and outlined business proposal examples (which are also usually industry-specific) and customize the template for your business's needs.

It's important to note, however, that although you may be able to sign up for a free trial for these services, most of them will eventually require a paid subscription.

5 best practices for writing a business proposal

Writing a business proposal can seem overwhelming at first, as it requires you to provide information about your company and its services as they relate specifically to what your prospect needs. As you go through the process again and again, however, it will become easier and easier to write a succinct and effective business proposal.

This being said, there are a few best practices you can keep in mind to help you as you get started:

1. Be direct.

Although you might feel the urge to show off your language skills while trying to impress a client, when you’re writing a business proposal, tour best bet to win business is to be clear, concise, and direct. You won't want to use overly flowery language or anything that could possibly be misconstrued.

2. Don’t leave room for ambiguity.

You'll want to make sure your proposal is straightforward and easy to understand, with no room for misinterpretation around what you say you’ll do or deliver.

Therefore, you'll want to avoid overly complicated industry jargon to be sure your client can understand exactly what you're talking about and what it means within the scope of your (and their) business.

3. Write for the right audience.

If you were writing a proposal for a specialty food business, it shouldn't look or sound exactly the same as if you were writing a proposal for an asset management company. You'll always want to keep your audience in mind as your craft and develop your proposal.

Ultimately, your best bet is to be straightforward, clear, and stick to the details, but you also shouldn't be afraid to tailor your writing to your audience so that your client feels that the proposal has truly been created with their business in mind.

This being said, your proposal should show that you not only understand your potential client but that you also respect them professionally.

4. Consider a title page.

Although this may not be necessary for a shorter business proposal, a title page can help with the general organization, flow, and professional feel of your document.

Like a title page for any other type of report, this one-page cover sheet would precede the remainder of your proposal and would likely include your business's name, contact information, and logo, as well as who you're submitting the proposal to.

Depending on your business or the potential client you're submitting the proposal to, you might decide that a title page is unnecessary, however, it's worth keeping in mind that it may be something to visually draw in your reader from the start.

5. Err on the side of brevity.

Finally, within the world of business proposals, shorter is usually better. This isn't to say, of course, that you should leave out details or omit important sections—it simply means that you should try to find the most succinct way to say what you need to say and get your point across to the potential client.

The bottom line

There's no doubt about it—learning how to write a business proposal is a lot of work. Luckily, however, you can follow our steps so you know what to include in your proposal and how to include it.

Ultimately, selling your services to potential clients is part of running and managing your business and as you do it again and again, it will only become easier.

This being said, as you go through the lifecycle of your business, you'll begin to accumulate a library of business proposals that you can continuously reference and use to develop your pitching strategy and writing process based on proposals that have and have not worked. And, hopefully, by taking the time to invest in this business proposal process, you'll be winning the work you need to grow your business.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

How to Write a Business Proposal — 2022 Guide and Template

A business proposal can make or break your chances of securing a new client. Write a great one, and you’ll likely snag their business.

Write a poor one, and you might lose out—even if you’re offering the best service out there. So, how do you write a business proposal? What is the proper format? What do you need to include?

While it all depends on your industry, and whether or not you’re offering a product or service, writing a business proposal is pretty straightforward. We’ll answer all those questions and more throughout the course of this guide. 

What to expect with this business proposal guide

Whether you’re starting fresh or need to look at a specific section, here’s what we’ll be covering in this guide. 

• What a business proposal is
• The differences between a business proposal and a business plan
• The format of a business proposal
• How long to make your business proposal

How to write a business proposal

You can download a free business proposal template here to start writing up your own proposal as you work through this article. By the end, you’ll be prepared to develop a well-written business proposal that can explain your business clearly and win more clients. Let’s get started.

What is a business proposal ?

A business proposal is a document you’d send to a prospective client, outlining the service you’re offering, and explaining why you’re the best person for the job. 

It’s a pitch by a business or individual to complete a specific job or project, to supply a service, or, in some instances, to be the vendor of a certain product.

What are the different types of business proposals?

A business proposal can be either solicited or unsolicited. With a solicited proposal, the prospective client will put out a request for proposals; with an unsolicited business proposal, you are approaching a client in hopes of attracting their business, even though they did not explicitly request a proposal.  

While both are commonplace, a solicited proposal is an easier sell, as your prospective client has already decided that they want to make a purchase or use a service, and they’re evaluating possible vendors or businesses.

With a solicited proposal, your prospective client might have issued an RFP, or “request for proposal.” This is exactly what it sounds like—they want you to send over a business proposal so they can take a look at it.

Differences between a business proposal and a business plan

A business proposal is not the same as a business plan . This is the most common misconception, but while there are areas of overlap (like your executive summary ) the two are different.

That being said, you can certainly pull information from your business plan while writing your business proposal—in fact, that’s a great way to start.

But don’t confuse the two; they are distinct and separate. In short, a business plan represents the cohesive strategy of how your business operates and makes money. A business proposal is an official pitch to clients selling your products or services. 

A business proposal outlines a particular product or service offered by an established business to a prospective client.

You’re trying to sell your prospective client on your product or service, not on your business itself. You’re not after funding, as you are with a business plan, you’re trying to make a sale.

A business proposal is also not an estimate; although you’ll likely touch on costs and pricing in your business proposal, an estimate is much more informal and just a quick look at the costs, not the whole picture.

What goes into a business proposal?

Your business proposal should address the three Ps:

• Problem statement: What your customer’s current problem is
• Proposed solution: How your business solves that problem better than other solutions
• Pricing: How much that solution costs compared to alternatives

If you’re stuck on how to start, maybe try brainstorming first; start with these three points, and you’ll have a rough, bare-bones version of your business proposal.

Once you’ve done that if you’re ready to go more in-depth, here is a step-by-step look at how to format your business proposal.

Your business proposal should start with a title page, which should include your name, the name of your company, the name of the person to whom you’re submitting your proposal, and the date submitted.

Table of contents

Depending on how long your business proposal is, a table of contents is a nice touch. Include it after your title page, and before you launch into any details. If you’re delivering it as a PDF, including anchor links down to each section, so it’s easy to get to specific areas. 

Executive summary

Introduce your proposal with a great executive summary, one that really sells your business and the products or services you provide—it’s about why you’re the right company for the job. You can draw from your business plan’s executive summary here, too.

Statement of problem, issue, or job at hand

Following your executive summary, go on to discuss the problem that the client is currently facing. Think of “problem” or “issue” loosely; after all, their main problem may just be finding the right person to complete their project. But be sure you understand why they want the product or service they’re seeking. If the proposal is for developing a brand new website, make sure you understand what they want to get out of the site—better sales, more content management flexibility. 

This is the place to show your new client that you understand their needs , and fully grasp the issue they are trying to solve. Take this opportunity to restate the issue they are facing in your own words so that they know you understand what they are looking for.

Approach and methodology

This section shows how you plan to tackle your potential client’s problem, and the steps you’ll take to carry out your plan.

This is where you’ll get into the nitty-gritty of how you actually plan to fulfill your client’s needs. While earlier sections might have been a bit surface-level, this section of the business proposal is where you’ll go into detail about what steps you’ll take to solve their problem.

Be careful of going into too much detail, though—keep the jargon to a minimum. Your client should be able to follow along and get a clear sense of your plan, but you don’t want to drown them in minutiae.

Qualifications

Go ahead, brag a little—this is the section of your business proposal where you get to convince your potential client why you are the most qualified person to take on the job.

You can mention any relevant education, industry-specific training, or certifications you have, your past successful projects of a similar nature, years of experience, and so on.

Schedule and benchmarks

Be clear with your potential client: How long will your proposed project take?

Making sure you and your prospective client are on the same page from the outset will help make sure that the relationship stays positive for both of you, and that you don’t set your client up with unrealistic expectations.

While you might be tempted to underestimate how long it will take you to complete the project, don’t. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver!

If you’re offering a product, this section might not be applicable to you, so feel free to omit it. The business proposal format is flexible, so tailor it to suit your business and industry.

Cost, payment, and any legal matters

Here is where you get down to brass tacks and state the cost, and payment schedule if necessary.

How you structure this section will largely depend on the particular project or service you are offering. A section entitled “Fee Summary” may be sufficient if one-time payment is required; otherwise, a “Fee Schedule” list or pricing table might be more appropriate. Always refer back to the client’s RFP whenever possible, to make sure you’re supplying them with all the information they need to help make their decision.

If there are any legal issues to attend to, such as permits or licensing, include this information here. Feel free to add a section entirely devoted to handling the legal side of the project if need be.

This is your final sell—don’t be afraid to detail for your prospective client all they have to gain by choosing you to complete the project.

Impress upon your clients why you are the best choice, and all the ways in which their business will benefit from choosing you and your business as their solution.

How long should a business proposal be?

When it comes to the format of a business proposal, this is the million-dollar question without an answer. Remember in school, when you’d ask your teacher how long an essay should be, and they’d reply, “as long as it takes to answer the question.”

The same applies to your business proposal. It ultimately depends on your industry, the scope of the project, and the client’s specifications in terms of detail and elements included.

That being said, the tighter your initial proposal can be and the more directly you can make your point, the easier it will be to pitch it to clients. Start by following the business proposal format above as a guide, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a winning business proposal—and securing new clients.

Editor’s note: This article was originally written in 2018 and updated for 2021.

Briana Morgaine

Briana is a content and digital marketing specialist, editor, and writer. She enjoys discussing business, marketing, and social media, and is a big fan of the Oxford comma. Bri is a resident of Portland, Oregon, and she can be found, infrequently, on Twitter.

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