SBIR Proposal Writing Basics: Phase I as a Feasibility Study
Gail & Jim Greenwood, Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.
Copyright © 1999 by Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.
Last month, we talked about the importance of including a thorough and well conceived work plan in your SBIR proposal. This month, we want to talk about the Phase I project as a feasibility study, or proof of concept analysis.
In its Phase I solicitation, the agency will ask you to propose to either solve a problem or exploit an opportunity. They are looking for you to respond with a proposal that describes an innovative solution or approach. This innovation requires that your idea be credible but technically risky—in other words, your idea has a chance of succeeding, but is not just a trivial or evolutionary advancement over the current state-of-the-art.
Your Phase I proposal needs to define your innovative solution or approach, and what you will do with $100k and six months time (both dollars and duration will vary by agency, of course) to convince yourself and the agency that your idea works. You are proving the feasibility of your solution or approach, or providing "proof of concept."
Unfortunately, many novice SBIR competitors do not discuss the feasibility issue that their Phase I proposal will address. In fact, probably half of the draft Phase I proposals we see do not even mention the word "feasibility." Phase I is a feasibility study, so your proposal for Phase I funding should thoroughly address the feasibility issue.
Early in the Phase I proposal, you should reiterate what problem or opportunity you are addressing, and make the case for this being an important (if not critical) issue for the agency, society, or some other important beneficiary. Now state what your proposed solution or approach is, and why this is the best possible solution or approach to this problem or opportunity. Next, emphasize that you are not certain that your solution or approach will work (this "technical risk" justifies the government’s use of SBIR funding for your project), and briefly explain why you are uncertain. Now state HOW you will decide whether your solution or approach is feasible, and how you will measure feasibility. Finally, justify your feasibility measure.
For example, if the problem that you are addressing is treads that keep falling off of M1 tanks, then your proposal should reiterate the unacceptability of this situation for a vehicle that is engaged in combat. You might then hypothesize that the material used to make the pins that hold the treads together is failing due to a combination of extreme stress, and abrasion found in arid, sandy environments where the tanks are being used. Your proposed solution to this problem is to try an innovative material that could be used for the pins that is stronger and less prone to abrasion. Your Phase I project becomes an effort to determine whether this other material is a solution to the M1 tank tread problem. Your proposal should state that you will test the new material for appropriate strength and abrasion resistance in this application, and that you will deem that the new material is a feasible solution to the M1 tank tread problem if the material does not fail in at least 99% of the tests that you will conduct using stress and abrasion conditions that are equivalent to those found in combat conditions. Finally, you should justify using a 99% success rate, and using stress and abrasion conditions that are just equal to combat conditions rather than more (or less) aggressive measures of success. In other words, you need to "sell" your measure of feasibility to the reviewer as being appropriate and sufficient.
What does this approach do for your proposal? First, it ensures that the reviewer knows that you are proposing a feasibility study, which is what Phase I is supposed to be about, rather than hoping the reviewer will conclude this from 25 pages of text that never mention feasibility or its measurement. Second, it sets the overall goal for the Phase I effort, which should then be supported by your technical objectives and tasks. Third, if you get a Phase I award, it helps ensure that you and the agency are in agreement as to what standard must be achieved to conclude that your solution or approach is feasible.