Business Proposal Help - Page 2

If this is just a proposal at this stage, in need of preliminary approval, I wouldn't go in with a full-on business plan. Business plans (in my experience) usually have mission statements, SWOT analyses, detailed market breakdowns, marketing mix stuff, etc. They take pages and pages. I don't know if you'll need to go into all that in detail. Here's what I'd do:

Start with a 1-2 page introduction of the product or service. Define it clearly and summarize why you think it will be a positive addition.

Next, show a basic 3-4 year sales projection, potentially even showing optimistic and pessimistic numbers. I've seen it done on a bar chart effectively. State your assumptions clearly.

Same with costs, particularly upfront investment. Optimistic/pessimistic range. Clearly stated assumptions.

Margin projections as well, again, with assumptions. (Of course, I have no idea if you're offering a product, service, or what here).

I would do a brief marketing section explaining why you think it will work, what sort of competitive threats might emerge, pitfalls to avoid. Aim for 3-4 paragraphs here, IMO.

Be sure to have a clear idea of what you want from them next, specifically. I've seen great presentations where execs get on board, but then everyone says, "Great idea! What's next? How do we get started?" and everyone sits around staring blankly at each other. Know what you need to accomplish next so you don't lose momentum or confidence.

Helps also if you pre-define at this stage any gates or future approval stages, so everyone's comfortable they can pull the plug in future if it becomes necessary or if the project is trending negatively.

This should be a good start. You want this on about 3 nice clear pages, with effective graphs and tables to grab attention and show information highlights clearly.

Anyways, that's how I'd do it.

One other thing - sort of obvious, but remember what you're doing, and never forget the target audience. You want them to feel confident and comfortable investing money, putting their asses on the line, and there should be a demonstrable return. Remember the risk they're taking greenlighting something, and try to make that decision as easy as possible for them.

I think the common theme is: tell the story logically and explain why the organization would want to do your idea.

Take some time to identify risks. You may decide not to go into details in your written proposal, but a lot of your discussions will be around risks, their effects, and contingency / planning.

K