Writing an Unbeatable Proposal

The big day has arrived.  You have a technology driven idea.  You have developed your marketing strategy, prepared your business plan and crunched the numbers.  You may have even developed and tested the prototype.  Now your technology is ready to market.  What’s next? 

It depends on what your business model is.  Some companies go right to seeking funding while others think about improving their chances of success by marketing the prototype to raise enough money to fully test-drive the product.  In this economy, investors are more cautious and want to ensure that the returns will be well worth the risk.  Writing a proposal might just be the right way to get all the kinks out before marketing it on a large scale – either to investors or the marketplace. 

A proposal is a sales presentation.  You want to keep the readers interest by making an impact with a carefully crafted strategy and a “wowing” presentation.  You are providing a solution to their needs so the visuals and the wording must hold their interest.

Product Development and Implementation Strategies

For many technological businesses, the next step is to gain a client to more fully test the product before marketing it on a large-scale.  Develop a list of prospective clients that you want to market the product to before preparing a large rollout.  It gives time to fully test the product, learn along the way, and incorporate new enhancements that will ensure the product meets the requirements to better penetrate the market. 

Other types of technology businesses may go right to the proposal stage before a prototype is prepared.  Some will want the prototype to present to the client as a teaser of what is to follow.  Software development and information technology have a much greater variety in its marketing strategy and business development efforts in relation to other industries.  For example, biotechnology has a much more stringent process because of clinical trials and its associated FDA approval. 

The Interaction of David and Goliath

Many large companies have become so bureaucratic that it is difficult for them to think with the creative and innovative mindset that caused them to originally form their companies.  These companies are often open to the idea of working with smaller companies as part of their Research and Development effort.  Often a business development or sales person in a small company will contact the established company to see if there is an interest in the new technology being developed. 

If there is initial interest and both companies meet to discuss possible strategic alliances, enough information can generally be gained to put together a proposal.  The proposal states how the company with the new idea can help the established company in their product development.

Sometimes it is less expensive to fund an idea than it is to develop it in-house.  The little guy has to ensure that the knowledge and abilities are not given away in its dealings with the big guy.  The little guy also has to show that the solution is more cost effective to the big guy than its ability to develop the idea in-house.

Identifying the “Pain”

Included within the proposal is an initial statement of the client’s problem followed by a plan that is suited to solving the problem.  There should be enough research and analysis done to show the prospective client that you comprehend the nature of their problem and have a complete understanding of the need.  The requirements of the project are defined in goals and objectives.  A methodology, which explains the approach the bidding firm will take, is presented.   This includes listing the way the project will be organized, the management involved, the plans and procedures that will accompany the project, the staff who works on the project, deliverable items and schedules for project.

Establishing Legitimacy

There should be a section that lists the biographies of those working on the team, their qualifications and their abilities to carry out the plan based on past successes. Convincing evidence should be given to dependability and reliability of the firm and a strategy on how you will solve the problem should be presented.   This strategy should be convincing enough that the prospective client has no hesitation in choosing you from other vendors in solving the business problem.  Remember the pain the client is experiencing is important and you will need to present convincing evidence that you are the right firm to solve their issues.

Crunching the Numbers

Also included is a list of costs associated with the project.  Careful analysis and thought needs to be done in preparing a fixed fee proposal.  You must consider the costs of development and personnel.  There should be an amount of money associated with unforeseen events that will occur during the length of the project.  An overhead margin should be established within the budget to ensure that the firm makes a profit on all its work.  Often the contract associated with the proposal will stipulate the unforeseen variable costs that arise during the course of a project will be billed separately to the client upon prior approval.  Other companies will develop a proposal for work on an hourly basis.  Whatever strategy is chosen, the revenues must support the development and delivery process.

The company who decides to fund the new technology under development will have its own criteria for determining whether or not to go with the developing firm.  It may not always choose the lowest bid.  A thoroughly crafted strategy and strong management team with extensive experience and credibility in the industry just might outweigh the less experienced team with the lower bid.

Proposal Conclusion

The end of each proposal should summarize the objectives, approach, the grand strategy and a schedule of deliverables.  It should also indicate the boundaries and assumptions given to the project so that everyone is clear what is beyond the scope of deliverables within a specified timeframe. 

In Summary