The entrepreneur's guide to writing business plans and proposals

In this well-written book, Chambers (an advertising consultant and adjunct instructor at Endicott and Emerson colleges) takes the position that developers/writers of business plans and proposals need to focus on the value proposition--the "what's in it for them" of the reader. He argues that persuasiveness and clarity are the virtues that will accomplish the objective, no matter if it is securing venture capital or financing, closing on a large contract, or laying out a marketing strategy: words that "sell" are more important than those that fill information gaps or update previous information. Chambers writes with the insightful clarity that he espouses and provides many practical examples of plans and letters, as well as exercises, templates, and cases. His advice provides a useful compendium and is somewhat an Elements of Style (the classic on good writing by William Strunk Jr., 4th ed., 1999) for business plan and proposal writers. This reviewer could not help but sigh in agreement with the author's preference for hard copy rather than electronic format for some processes; while this may pass, the practical wisdom of the author will endure. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduate through practitioner collections. S. A. Schulman CUNY Kingsborough Community College