Do you run a trucking company and you need trucking contracts? If YES, here is a quick guide on how to write a trucking business proposal that gets noticed.
Like most businesses these days, your trucking business is very likely looking for ways to find more clients, stay ahead of the competition, and equally cut costs so as to remain competitive. To land a new client or get a project accepted, one thing you need to do is to pen down a proposal for your trucking business.
Writing a trucking business proposal is easy, even though so may think it to be difficult. This is because the structure of every business proposal is basically the same. It will include; introduction, highlight the services you offer, describe your costs, and persuade your prospective client that you are the perfect choice for the project.
If you are still not so sure of how to go about it, you can as well help yourself by using pre-designed templates and studying sample proposals. These templates will help you to include details about your particular services, projects, and business experience that are relevant to your client’s specific project.
How to Write a Trucking Business Proposal That Gets Noticed
The appeal of the open road can be an irresistible way to make a living for some people with the mind. If you run your own trucking business, you even get to keep more of your profits. Unfortunately, you’re also responsible for securing investors and setting up the business. Writing a proposal for your trucking businesses accomplishes two goals. First, it provides a document to show prospective investors. Second, it helps you sort out staffing, freight capacity goals and other key aspects of your business.
Here are ways you can write an attention grabbing business proposal.
1. Do your research
Before you start anything pertaining to your business, business proposal writing inclusive, you should know that you have to start with your research. You need to seek out what other trucking companies are doing in this regard. To get the best results, you may have to model your business on the financial statements of other trucking companies. These are facts that are accessible to public companies. Focusing particularly on companies in your region, consider how much money you will spend on each necessity. Decide what makes your business different from all the others, too; this information will serve as a hook to attract investors and could even someday figure into your advertising.
2. Divide your proposal into easy-to-digest sections
To ensure that your trucking business proposal is easy enough to understand, you have to divide it into bite-sized sections. Begin with a one-page summation of your proposal, then go further in-depth, informing your reader about the kind of freight you plan to haul and where, then the staff you will employ and their qualifications, and so on. If you’re having trouble figuring out what sections you need, the general rule is to consider answering the 5 W’s (and one H) question. Who, What, When Where, Why and How. Before you are done with analyzing these questions, you have gotten your sections put together.
3. Address your weaknesses and emphasize your strengths
To be able to write an irresistible trucking business proposal, you have to master the art of addressing your weaknesses and emphasizing your strengths. Doing this will make you seem honest to possible investors. It will also demonstrate that you have thought about your Business model a great deal. For example, there may be a number of established trucking firms in your area. Counter this by reinforcing that you will carry large loads that few of those other companies can handle. Take a good look at your trucking business and the business of other to see what you offer that they don’t.
4. Make it clear and concise
For your trucking business proposal to be clearly understood, it has to be clear and concise. Employ clear, simple language and make sure your concepts are written in such a way that others have no problem understanding them. In fact, experts have suggested that you condense each idea into a few sentences and show them to someone who doesn’t know about the trucking business. When even non-truckers believe your proposal has an impact, you know your writing was effective, and the proposal can take you places.
5. Don’t forget your data
To be highly effective, you trucking business proposal need to contain pure, hard data you used to write the rest of your report. While a 20-year quarterly cost/benefit projection table may slow the reader if it is placed in the middle of the proposal, it’s very useful at the end, allowing readers to immerse themselves in numbers if they so desire.
6. Sell yourself as much as you can
When you are getting towards the end of your trucking business proposal, you now have the chance to promote your project, products, and services. In this section you will include pages that describe precisely what you have to offer and what it will cost. This section should contain some pages with general headings like Services Provided, Benefits, Features, and Cost Summary, but it should also incorporate more detailed pages that fully describe your products and services, explain how you can fulfill the client’s needs, and list the associated costs.
Conclusion
As a cargo hauling company, you might need to include extra topics like Equipment, Options and Fleet to describe the equipment options available to customers. Topics such as Shipping, Handling, Routes, Service Area, and Storage would be used to cover how and where client cargo will be transported. You might also need to include topics to outline special circumstances for hazardous materials or special needs, including pages such as Safety Plan, Security Plan, Training, Certifications, Site Specific Requirements, Special Needs, Regulations, Permits and Licenses, and Insurance. All these would help you present enough information to your proposed clients and give them good facts to work with when making the decision of if to hire your services.