If you are new, or returning to the grant submission world, you may be surprised to know that many applications are now accepted electronically.
Electronic submission requires registration of your company and submitting members with a variety of websites. These websites validate your company’s existence, provide an electronic signature as well as many other services. For some agencies the application is submitted through an agency specific website. For others, an application package is downloaded, filled out and submitted through an intermediary website that validates the documents.
Either way, registration with these websites is required.
The rules and requirements for electronic registration may be
ambiguous, ill-defined or simply unclear to you. No matter. Proper
registration is still required. Previously, the agencies accepted the "cyberspace ate my application" excuse. Those days are over.
Electronic submission is no longer new! Plan accordingly and complete these administrative tasks before writing your grant.
… if not available do not apply.
Many SBIR applicant companies make the assumption that good science is all that is needed to sell a proposal. This is an erroneous assumption. Market and commercial potential are equally as important as scientific merit.
A recent client received notice from the DoD that their proposal will not be funded due to lack of market and commercialization data. When considering re-submission they mentioned, "I guess we’ll just make something up." Don’t make it up, do your research.
Finding market and commercial data is research just like any other. Dig, dig, dig and keep digging. The internet is a good place to start, the library is also valuable. Ask us, ask a colleague, ask a sales rep. What questions should you ask?
- What is the market size? –
For your particular product, not the entire industry!
- What is your per unit manufacturing cost? (ballpark figure)
- What is your competitors sales price per unit? (How will you compete?)
And what is their share of the above market?
In addition you will need to profile a potential customer and explain your finance strategy (other than SBIR/STTR funds) needed to bring the product to market.
It’s not as daunting as it sounds. You just need to do a little research … which is what your good at, right?
If you heeded my advice last month, you’ve already read the solicitation completely 2-3 times, so now it’s time to talk about Writing. I imagine you are now staring at a blank sheet of paper wondering where on earth to begin.
Pick up the solicitation again and look for a section called “Technical Proposal”, “Proposal Format”, “Project Narrative”, “Research Plan”, or something similar (agencies differ in what they label this section)—this section will be the over-arching outline for THAT AGENCY’S requirements—you will need to adhere to these guidelines as you write your proposal so keep these in mind, but I’m jumping ahead; it’s not time to start writing the actual proposal—yet.
By now, you’ve already asked yourself some questions and you’re pretty sure you know the answers—at least in your mind:
· What do I want to do?
· Why do I want to do it—is my idea a good solution?
· How am I going to do it?
· What is the expected outcome?
But you’re still staring at that blank page, right? Start by outlining your solution:
1. First, write down the EXACT problem that needs to be solved (in one sentence)—this will either be spelled out in an agency’s detailed topic or it will be identified by you, but must fit within an agency’s broad topic or institute’s mission (know your agency!).
2. Write down (again, in one sentence) what your company is going to attempt to create/develop to try and solve this problem. For example: “XYZ Company will attempt to solve ______ problem in this SBIR Phase I Study by developing/creating a new _____”. This is the hypothesis for your proposed research.
3. Next, list the 3-5 technical objectives that must be tackled to prove your hypothesis—in other words, what are the major technical risks/unknowns that need to be addressed? Keep these simple, clear, and realistic for the time frame. Remember, YOU are defining “feasibility” through your selection of objectives.
4. Now, under each objective, write down the 4-8 specific tasks or tests you and your research team will do over the period of the award to address that objective. These are the things you MUST do to carry out your objectives and will be the meat of your research.
You now have an outline, but before you jump into writing your actual proposal, take the time to review this outline and modify if needed. Give it a few days and then look at it again. Show it to your research team and make sure it matches your concept: Will these tasks actually allow you to meet your objectives? If you complete your objectives, will the objectives truly prove the feasibility of your solution? Do your objectives meet the expectations of the agency? Can you realistically complete all of the tasks in the time and budget caps? Most importantly, will the outlined research lead to a solution of the problem you wrote down at the top of the page?!?! If not, modify your outline.
Once satisfied with your outline, THEN you can expand what you outlined and begin composing the actual proposal.
One of the best ways to avoid silly mistakes when submitting a proposal is to read the instructions–the SBIR or STTR solicitation. Seems like a simple thing, but many common mistakes, which resulted in proposal rejection, could have been avoided if the instructions had been read carefully (and then re-read).
Read the solicitation (and I mean cover-to-cover!) at least five times:
- When the solicitation is first released (or when you first find out about it)
- When you decide you will be submitting to this agency, at this time, under this solicitation (will you need to register electronically or get letters of support–if so, will you have enough time before the submission deadline?)
- When you decide on a topic/institute–will your solution fit within the parameters of that agency/institute and within their budget/time limits?
- When you begin to write your proposal (questions regarding font, format, page-length, allowable costs, etc. are answered in the solicitation)
- After you have completed your proposal and you are ready to submit, go back and read the solicitation one last time to make sure you have addressed all the requirements–if you give yourself enough time before submission, you might even have enough time to correct anything you overlooked.
While agencies release similar solicitations from year-to-year, sometimes there are subtle changes–don’t just skim the solicitation, read it CAREFULLY.
You might be an expert in writing SBIR/STTR proposals–for one agency–but requirements vary between agencies. Only way to know this is to read the solicitation.
Even if you have current funding from a specific agency, don’t assume the SBIR/STTR proposal requirements will be the same–not the case. Read the solicitation.
So, what is the first and last thing you are going to do? Read the solicitation!
You’ve decided on a SBIR or STTR topic. You know the problem you are going to solve and how you’re going to solve it. You’ve determined there is commercial potential for the resulting technology (a market need AND someone who will actually buy it!). Now, you need to impress the reviewers with the qualifications of the PI and the whole Research Team.
Your objective is to convince reviewers that the Principle Investigator (PI) and each proposed individual on the Research Team meets, and hopefully exceeds, the qualifications required to complete the research and manage the project.
Reviewers will be asking, “Does he/she have the appropriate or required educational background?” “What work has he/she performed that is similar to the work that he/she will be doing with the proposed research?” This is not a flippant cut-and-paste of the bios on your company website—it needs to be well thought out.
Have you ever applied for a job and tailored your resume to meet those position requirements? Have you ever written a cover letter describing your specific qualifications for that position? If so, then you’ve had practice—you will do pretty much the same thing for each of the resumes going into your proposal. This is your opportunity to sell yourself and your Team as THE person(s) for THIS job! Don’t stretch the truth, but make your bio relevant to the research.
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words–especially true in a SBIR/STTR proposal where page-limits restrict the space available to make your point. That doesn’t mean you randomly insert pictures. Quality pictures, graphics, and tables reinforce key points, help readers who process visually, and keep interest rather than long passages of text–you don’t want a bored reviewer!
Always read the solicitation to see the specific requirements and restrictions of an agency, but in general make sure:
• It is high quality and clear
• If it contains text, it is large enough to read
• It conveys your point, whether in color or printed in black & white
• It is referenced and explained in the text—it should be used to clarify a point made in the text
• It has an adequate caption and/or legend accompanying it
• You don’t use too many—graphics should enhance not replace text
• If you move text around, check that the numbering of the figures is still correct