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****This blog is no longer updated at this address! Come check it out at http://thinkandgrowchick.com. All of the archives are available there as well****

This site is my online journal that documents my attempts to reach various goals inspired by the principles found in the book, Think and Grow Rich. Join me as I strive to meet financial goals, fashion goals, school goals, hair-care goals, and everything in between. I hope that other young women will relate and find my journey useful to read about; this blog is for me as much as it is for women seeking resources for personal development and freedom. To get a daily dose, follow me on twitter and facebook...and don't forget to follow my blog!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Help a Chick Grow: How Do I Craft a Proposal for My Business Idea?

***Over the last few weeks, I've been totally honored by all of the comments and emails I've received from you all over the whole range of topics that I talk about here. With this post, I'm officially starting the "Help a Chick Grow" Series—if you have any questions or problems about hair, beauty, business, inspiration, style, spirituality, etc, etc, you can email me and I'll post them so that I, along with the other fellow Think & Grow Chick readers can help you out. Below you'll find the first of this series with a question from Kenyan reader, Clara:

Dear Think & Grow Chick,

I really like your writing. You are very goal oriented and focused.

I am 21, live in Kenya and I am in 3rd year of college and I am starting a business. I had an idea similar to the Lemon Bar. I want to hold an event related to fashion and makeup. I want to approach a fashion retailer and a makeup company, get women together, teach them how to dress, find their individual style and how to apply makeup.

I already have a makeup line willing to participate, I just need to get a fashion retailer. To do this, I need to write a proposal. Any ideas on what to write?

Have a great year,
Clara

Thank you so much for following my blog, Clara! It's great to know I have a subscriber all the way from Kenya!

As far as your business idea, I love your concept; especially the part about teaching your participants about personal style. This is really what you need to drive home when crafting a proposal for a possible retail sponsor.

First, brainstorm a few retailers (large and small) that already target the audience that you are targeting for your business. No sense in writing a proposal for Ann Taylor if none of the women attending your even like to shop there.

Secondly, find a simple sponsorship proposal template (you can type those three words right in to Google) to use as a guide for your proposal. I found one that might be of assistance to you here. Regardless of what template you use or how snazzy it looks, you'll want to make sure that you include:
  1. An overview/introduction to your event including why you are doing this and who your audience will be...
  2. Sponsorship packages you are offering (how much do they have to pay and what does it get them)...
  3. Deadlines/schedule up until the event, and...
  4. Contact information (including who they make the check out to!)

You'd be surprised how much support a well written proposal will get from various companies. My best advice is to research your audience, research the retailer, and research proposals. The point is to prove to the retailer that you have what they want (customers) and that sponsoring your event will bring them more business. If you can do that in a well-thought out proposal, then your golden!

Good Luck,
~The Think & Grow Chick

***

What say you, dear readers? I know many of you are some business savvy phenoms; leave your suggestions in the comments if you have some advice for Clara. Have a question yourself? The hit me up at twitter.com/thinkngrowchick or thinkandgrowchick [at] gmail [dot] com.

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