SBIR Proposal Writing Basics

SBIR Proposal = Writing Basics: Great Minds May Think Alike But=85

Gail & Jim Greenwood, Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.

Writing an SBIR/STTR proposal is a fair amount of work. That=92s why some companies like to divvy up the work, and have = several employees write different sections of the proposal. Then someone pulls the various pieces together to form a complete proposal.

In theory, that might look like a great way to write one of these = proposals. However, our experience suggests that this is tougher than it = looks.

The most common problem is for the various authors to have slightly = different ideas about key parameters of the proposal. They may differ in how feasibility will be measured, who will be the PI, and = what tasks will be accomplished and when. As you might imagine, if there are inconsistencies between key sections of = the proposal, the result is confusion in the mind of the reviewers as they = try to figure out what is being proposed.

This problem can be mitigated by including several important steps in the = proposal preparation process.

First, all of the authors should sit down in advance and go through the entire proposal, outlining it in great detail, and agreeing on all key = parameters. There is less likelihood for inconsistencies in the proposal if = everyone is on the same page (literally) in terms of the = outline.

Second, whoever is the lucky dog who gets to take the input from the other = authors and put it into a single proposal must understand that their job is much = more than just appending one Word file onto another. He or she must read through the proposal from beginning to end, with an eye = for inconsistencies, leaps of faith, and similar problems.

Third, the company should have someone review the draft proposal who was not = involved in drafting any of its parts. = Even though the previous step will eliminate some inconsistencies, some may = still remain because the integrator of the various authors=92 pieces, if he or = she was one of the authors, likely will not be able to see all of the = inconsistencies and similar problems. The recommended reviewer might be someone in the company who was not one of = the authors, or it could be a third party. We always recommend such a review, even if only one person drafts the = proposal, because of the =93fresh eyes=94 that this brings to the proposal.