subject: Writing a Successful Business Proposal - One Essential Must Do [print this page] Writing a Successful Business Proposal - One Essential Must Do
There is a wide range of advice available online to assist you in writing a successful business proposal/plan. It ranges from detailed advice by business type (e.g., restaurants, non-profit organizations, even day-care centres) to the almost wacky (e.g., business plans are a waste of time and you shouldn't even bother writing one!). However, I shall not attempt to reproduce any of this information here as this would be pointless duplication. Instead I want to share with you one key absolute must do when it comes to writing a business plan:
You should always propose a test for whether your ideal model customer would approve of any changes you make to the business.
The ideal model customer is a mythical person (you can give him or her a name if you wish!) and represents the target audience for your product and services. In turn this reflects one of the key rules in business, namely "know your customer".
The great thing about this test is that it ensures any new products, services or changes to the business model that you are considering are actually completely focused at pleasing the customer (the number one priority). You can create the best quality, most interesting product in the world but if your target audience does not like it then you are certain to fail. In addition, as many veteran entrepreneurs will tell you, there is a huge risk in business that you experience "mission creep" or in other words a largely unintentional drift in your business plan. This is particularly a problem during the start up phase of the business but often plagues entrepreneurs throughout their career. The test helps to insure against this.
