Business Proposal Template
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A proposal isn’t a description of your work. It’s an argument about their problem.
The ones that lose open with a company history. The ones that win open by describing the client’s situation more precisely than the client could, and only then explain what you’d do about it. This template is ordered that way - their problem, your approach, the specifics, the price - and includes the section most people forget, which is the one that saves you three months later.
What’s in the business proposal template
Twelve sections, ordered the way a decision actually gets made.
• Cover & Title: Client name, project, date, and your details.
• Executive Summary: The proposal in a paragraph, for the person who signs but doesn’t read.
• Understanding of the Problem: Their situation, in their language - the section that wins or loses it.
• Proposed Approach: How you’d solve it, and why this way rather than another.
• Scope & Deliverables: Exactly what they receive, in a form that could be checked off.
• Out of Scope: What isn’t included. The section that prevents the argument in month three.
• Timeline & Milestones: Phases, dates and what’s delivered at each.
• Pricing: One number or tiered options, with what each tier includes.
• Team & Credentials: Who does the work, and their relevant experience only.
• Proof: Case studies and results from comparable work.
• Terms & Assumptions: Payment schedule, revisions, dependencies, what you’re assuming they’ll provide.
• Next Steps: What happens when they say yes, and where they sign.
Why write your proposals in Skrib?
You’ll write forty of these. The second one should take an hour.
• One Master, Tailored Per Client: Keep a proven structure and change what’s actually different - without ever copying over a previous client’s name.
• Know What You Sent: Every proposal stays in your Library, dated and searchable, so a question about a quote from March has an answer.
• Case Studies on Hand: Past work, results and reference material live in the same project, ready to drop in.
• Every Version Kept: The proposal before you dropped the price, and the one after.
• Export Clean: .pdf for sending, .docx if they want to mark it up.
Who is this business proposal template for?
• Freelancers pitching for project work.
• Agencies and Studios responding to briefs and RFPs.
• Consultants scoping engagements and statements of work.
• Small Businesses tendering for contracts.
• Service Providers who quote for bespoke work rather than sell a fixed product.
• Students on business and enterprise courses writing proposals as coursework.
Write the one they can say yes to
Drop the template on your Board, start with their problem, and make the price the least surprising part.
Open Business Proposal Template
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