What should go into a business proposal?

There are some things that tend to be similar across business proposals. These are tendencies and not rules. The only time there are rules is when the customer issues a Request for Proposals (RFP). An RFP, if it has sufficient detail, will tell you what should go into your proposal and how it should be presented. Sometimes, the nature of a product or service being offered or industry practices provide some guidelines for proposal composition and/or layout.

A typical business proposal might include:

• An Executive Summary introducing your company, what you will do or provide to the customer, and how the customer will benefit from what you propose.
• A statement of work or technical approach describing what you will do or provide to the customer. An implementation schedule and description of deliverables is usually included. If products are being proposed, then product descriptions are usually provided (the amount of detail depends on the customer’s requirements).
• A management plan describing how you will organize and supervise any work to be performed. A schedule of major milestones and allocation of resources may be provided.
• Corporate qualifications that describe your capability to do or provide what you are proposing. Relevant prior experience is usually highlighted.
• A Staffing Plan that describes how the project will be staffed is sometimes on large service contracts. If particular people are important to the approach, their resumes are usually provided.
• Contracts and Pricing. If the proposal is being used to close a business deal, then business and contractual terms are usually provided.

Some RFPs will set a page limit on the proposal. Some don’t. Some RFPs will tell you the format/layout to use, and some won’t. Some RFPs will tell you what evaluation criteria and process the customer will follow. And some won’t. The customer sets the standards and defines the rules.

If your proposal is going to be submitted to a Government agency, then the composition and layout of the proposal may have regulatory requirements to comply with. In the case of the Federal Government, these are usually based on the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).