A business proposal is an offering from a seller to a prospective buyer. Proposals can range in size from a one page letter, or price list, to several hundred pages of detailed specifications. In the business sales process, the written proposal is the vehicle that carries the terms of an agreement between buyer and seller, and forms the basis for a subsequent business contract. When a proposed offer is accepted by the buyer, it creates a legally binding document for parties, buyer and seller.

Business proposals can cover a wide variety of topics, but these are the five most Common types of proposals :

    1. Outside project proposal – a project had done with little company involvement, such as a research study of marketing and partnership strategies in the juvenile products market.
   2. Integrated project proposal – a project done in close cooperation with the client’s employees, such as implementing a Six Sigma quality control system in two of the client’s remote factories.
   3. Ongoing service proposal – a proposition to form a continuing relationship, in contrast with doing a project , such as signing on with a PR firm for two years of PR services.
   4. Joint cooperation proposal – two or more companies cooperating in a way that provides benefits for both or all. For example three dental companies with complementary product lines could cooperate in marketing and sales activities to cut expenses and provide more extensive sales coverage.
   5. Partnership proposal – two parties working in a formalized agreement to achieve an objective. For example, a wireless hardware and a software company might form a partnership to develop a product that can handle 20 wireless units connected to one high-speed internet line.

    Proposals are typically offered in ether a letter o formal format. The choice of the format you use it typically client-related. Some clients prefer letter proposals, some prefer formal proposals, and others prefer a letter proposal first and then, if they like the letter proposal, a formal proposal. Typically the best approach is to ask the client which type of proposal he or she prefers.