Would you believe that an online search for "types of business proposals" overwhelmingly yields back the following uninformative and outright patronizing results:

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• Formally Solicited

• Informally Solicited

• Unsolicited

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That's like asking a chauffeur what year. make and model vehicle they drive, only to be told that they bought their vehicle from a dealer, from a friend, or online. You still have no idea what you're traveling in.

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In regards to your proposal, we venture to surmise that you already know whether your proposal is formally solicited, informally solicited, or unsolicited. That may be why you are reading this page. So in no uncertain terms. here is a list of our most requested Business Proposals.

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Types of Business Proposals are broken down by the primary objective that the document intends to achieve. The seven most popular types of business proposals are:

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1. Investor Proposal - The vast majority of business proposals are prepared to raise capital from one single investor (angel investor or a potential business partner). Somewhat similar to a Business Plan, the Investor Proposal presentation concerns itself with describing the business concept and proposes profit sharing terms to the investor.

2. Loan Proposal - The second most popular business proposal is submitted to a lending institution also to raise capital. Since the repayment of the loan is the main concern of the lender, conservative yet achievable financial projections are key in the Loan Proposal. The Projected Cash Flow Statement will be critical.

3. Landlord Lease Proposal - The growing trend for national retail property management companies is to ask future tenants for a business plan. In reality, the document is truly a Landlord Lease Proposal (still titled Business Plan), emphasizing key points and terms that are important to the Landlord. Proposed terms should include requested length of the lease in years, any lease renewal options, amount of proposed rent and desired landlord concessions. Showcasing your credibility as well as your clientele's ability to add to the product mix of the retail center is crucial to persuade the landlord to choose your company over other businesses.

4. Joint Venture Proposal - More so than other types of Business Proposals, a Joint Venture Proposal is an outside-the-box document with its content and document outline custom-tailored to the details of the venture. An example of this is a real estate developer requesting to utilize a land owner's parcel for real estate construction.

5. Services Rendered Proposal - Also called a Contract Proposal, this type of proposal aims to sell products or services to a large customer account. Company financial projections are not shown to the customer, rather they are sometimes substituted with economical benefits (value proposition) of purchasing your goods or services.

6. Response to an RFP - Whereas the Joint Venture Proposal provides the most flexibility in structuring the document's outline, responses to RFP are highly rigid and must adhere to the format provided by the organization posting the RFP.  Complete credible responses and following precise instructions (some instructions are hundreds of pages long) are mandatory for being considered.

7. Franchise Acquisition Proposal - Most U.S. based franchises now require the prospective franchisee to submit a proposal to the corporate franchise as an integral component of the franchise application. Showcasing your management abilities and highlighting a proven track record within the franchise industry is essential to getting your proposal accepted.

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Many proposal writers have no real-world business experience. They may have written a couple of presentations under one specific proposal type or another but lack the knowledge of the many types of Business Proposals and how to utilize them effectively. They will try to persuade you to structure your deal the same way they did before, designing a document called Your Business Proposal that will simply not get the job done. There are also online Business Proposal providers that sell templates at a discount for you to fill out. We believe that exercising either scenario would be a grave mistake causing your reader to make an adverse decision. Not only is this a waste of your valuable time and money, more importantly, your project is dead in the water.