Gail & Jim Greenwood, Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.

Copyright © 2004 by Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc.

You undoubtedly know by now that the SBIR and STTR projects are divided into three phases: Phase I is your proof of feasibility, Phase II is the main or principal R&D effort, and Phase III is the commercialization or application stage.

This fragmentation of the SBIR/STTR programs into three phases is very useful in understanding the progression of an SBIR/STTR project, and in defining what goes into each Phase. However, we have found that some applicants get so focused on the current Phase on which they are working that they lose sight of the "big picture."

What is the "big picture?" It is an understanding of the whole project, from the start to the finish, from feasibility through commercialization. It is an understanding of how Phase I makes a logical starting point for Phase II, and how Phase II creates a basis for Phase III. It is an understanding of what resources (people, equipment, subcontractors, commercialization partners, money, etc) are needed along the way, and when they need to be identified and secured. It is an understanding of why this project should be undertaken: what will be the outcome or benefit of Phase III, both to the market who will buy the results of the SBIR/STTR project and to the applicant company in terms of a sustained and substantial revenue stream? It is an understanding of how this SBIR/STTR project fits into your business and its mission and goals.

So when you are getting ready to write a Phase I proposal, make sure you have a reasonable understanding of all of these "big picture" issues—otherwise, you may find that you are writing the "wrong" proposal, you may find yourself in an inappropriate spot at the end of the Phase I effort, or you may find that you are not prepared to move into Phase II. You also are expected to summarize your vision for Phases II and III as part of your Phase I proposal, and you can’t do a very good job of this if you don’t have a handle on the "big picture." This is important in another respect: you should have an idea of whether there is any Phase III market potential for a project before you start down the Phase I path (we’ve seen this ignored time and time again in the proposals we review).

And if you are getting ready to write a Phase II proposal, you especially need to understand whether the Phase II effort will allow you to complete all of the necessary R&D (or whether Phase III will need to finish the R&D before progressing to commercialization, and where that Phase III R&D money is going to come from), what the Phase III market is, and down what commercialization path you need to travel to exploit that Phase III opportunity.

Be sure to put plenty of thought into your objectives and work plan in your Phase I or Phase II proposal, as the reviewers are looking for details and evidence that you have the project carefully thought out. But don’t be guilty of overlooking the big picture. Ignorance is no excuse—get help from others, including your state’s SBIR/STTR outreach office if you, for example, don’t know how to estimate the Phase III market. Get a handle on the big picture because, as the Alice in Wonderland character said about SBIR/STTR, "if you don’t know where you are going, then any SBIR/STTR proposal will get you there."