Transcript How to Write a Business Proposal in APA Format

How to Write a Business
Proposal in APA Format
By Elaine Riot, eHow Contributor
Last updated July 23, 2012
http://www.ehow.com/how_5899911_write-businessproposal-apa-format.html#ixzz2AxnHvogc
What is APA?
• APA (American Psychological Association) style is
commonly used for the preparation of manuscripts
in business, nursing and the social sciences.
• Although mainly used to write research papers, it
can be called upon as a guide for almost any
document.
• APA style establishes standards regarding the
organization of content, writing style and reference
citations.
• Writing a business proposal in APA style makes
sense because its familiar structure helps the reader
to follow the flow of words and easily find the info
they seek.
Instruction #1
• Gather information to organize your thoughts
and formulate the main selling points of your
business proposal.
• Think of the main components: the idea itself, its
benefits, implementation, timing, projected
costs and possible pitfalls.
• Find references that support your idea.
• Mr. Jaime requires you to submit research notes.
Make sure that you ask him about it.
Instruction #2
• Outline your plan using APA Style sections:
– an abstract or summary of your business proposal,
– an introduction,
– the text of the plan with headings to highlight salient
points,
– a reference list,
– tables and
– figures.
Instruction #3
• To create a template to facilitate the writing
phase, create main section headings such
as
– Abstract or Business Proposal Summary,
– Introduction, and
– headings for the body of the proposal,
– ending with the References (which starts on a
separate page).
Instruction #4
• The proposal should be
– double spaced
– on A4 paper,
– with 1-inch margins all around.
Instruction #5
• The title page should include the name of
your business proposal and your contact
information, all centered about one-third of
the way down the page.
Instruction #6
• Each page, including the title page, should
have a running header with an abbreviated
title followed by the page number, flush
right in the upper right corner of each page
(1/2 inch from the top).
Instruction #7
• Write your business proposal, following the
guide you've prepared.
– The Abstract or Business Proposal Summary should
be a concise description of your proposed plan of
action.
– The one-paragraph Introduction should include
supporting background information for your main
point.
– They should both mention benefits specific to the
company you are soliciting.
Instruction #6
• Write the body of your business proposal, where
you will include its potential benefits,
implementation plan, possible obstacles or
concerns, and projected costs.
– Include in text references that include the author and the
year, for example, "Brown (1976) concluded that
employees covered by health insurance plans were 25%
more productive."
– Another example would be "Employees covered by
health insurance are 25% more productive (Brown,
1976)."
• Include the detailed citations in the reference list.