Project proposals

Having all the pieces of data in place now will make it a bit easier for us to create a proposal and provide it to the client. It is always challenging to manage projects and client expectations at the same time, but we need to have an appropriate agreement in place, otherwise we will find ourselves in really tough situations later on.

After we have an agreement with the client for the project, it will be easy for both sides to have a bigger picture of how much time this project will consume, the money that will be spent, team sizes, resources, and deadlines. Keep in mind that you should always write proposals before starting a new project.

The sooner we have an approved, and signed, proposal, the sooner we can begin the work, and, more importantly, we begin to get paid for the work now.

The following are the key components that a proposal should have:

• A title page
• A revision history
• The project overview
• The project approach
• The scope of work
• Assumptions
• Deliverables
• Additional costs and fees
• Ownership and rights
• The project pricing
• The payment schedule
• An acknowledgment and sign-off

It is really important to understand that the client is hiring you or your company because they believe that you are an expert in that specific field; however, ensure that you are always clear about the proposal content that you write, such as the estimation, budget, final result, and your client's expectation. Otherwise, if you miss the main parts of their product idea or don't provide the result that was expected, the client will come back to haunt you.