Initial Software Project Proposal
An initial project proposal should be 2-3 pages (longer is okay). The goal is to present the idea, what it does, what it looks like, how much it will cost and how long it will take, in such a way that it will convince somebody with lots of money to spend that it would be worth funding your project.
Typical sections
Title (no cover page)
Authors - names of the people proposing the project.
Date - date the proposal is presented.
Description - up to one paragraph describing what the
software will do, what problem it will solve or need it will fill, why it is
needed or important, who the intended user is, all with the goal of
convincing the reader that this is a good idea.
Features - details about the most important features,
one or more screen captures of what it might look like (these could be drawn
with a paint program, or put together as a GUI using html & css, MS Visual
Studio or .NET, java, etc.), and other important features that would
convince somebody it is good software to produce.
Timeline - a table or list of major milestones in
development of the product, showing how you will accomplish major activities
in the available time.
Budget - up to $100,000, to be spent on developer salaries ($100/hour is ballpark), equipment, office space, etc. Avoid too much detail (i.e., "office space" is good, but don't break that down into "office supplies", "rent", "utilities", "furniture", etc.), but provide a breakdown for important costs. These numbers can be rough estimates. You can also choose to allocate costs any way you like, such as not counting "office space" or "equipment" at all (you'll do development on your own equipment at home, for instance). You could even propose lower costs in exchange for a percentage of future sales.
Helpful resources
Project management software - Open Workbench, Microsoft Project, List of software on Wikipedia, Google search.
Timelines - Gantt chart, Gantt project, Smart Draw, Google search
01/30/2008