If you will be setting up your business in a small town or rural area, don't assume that you will have fewer or less strict business licensing requirements. We have a store and warehouse in a tiny Central Louisiana town that requires more paperwork and fees each year than our location in Chicago.

If you are having trouble locating a chamber for your location, use resources at United States Chamber of Commerce website at www.uschamber.com

Henry Coleman is an experienced entrepreneur and the primary author of Lessons From The Front - A Practical Guide to Starting & Growing Your Internet Business. Visit http://lessonsfromthefront.com to get an inside look at how you can build a real business from the ground up.

Sample Proposal Collections

Sample Proposal Collections include examples of finished proposals. Samples illustrate how proposals have been created using various Proposal Pack styles. Sample Proposal Collection Volume 1 and Volume 2 are already included in every Proposal Pack and Proposal Kit and are also sold separately. Pricing ranges from USD 27 to USD 87 per pack.

Contract Pack

Contract Pack is a large collection of contract and agreement documents for web, CD-ROM, software, computer, multimedia and other computer software and hardware related work. Contract Pack is available in a stripped down "starter" version (Standard) and a complete version (Pro). Contract Packs are included in Proposal Kit bundles. Pricing ranges from USD 47 (Contract Pack Standard) to USD 97 (Contract Pack Pro).

Proposal Kit Wizard

Proposal Kit Wizard is an optional add-on software interface for use with Proposal Kit templates. Proposal Pack Wizard must be used with a Proposal Kit and/or one or more Proposal Packs. Proposal Kit Wizard works as a Word Macro, automating common tasks that are usually performed manually using proposal templates. Drag and drop your chosen templates into your Proposal Master document or simply merge them from multiple docs to create your final Proposal, ready to send. Use Mail Merge feature to integrate your client's details. Add an attractive border or a custom logo or graphic using global replace tool. Automatically create a Table of Contents and page numbering based on your merged document. Regular retail price of Proposal Pack Wizard is USD 97 but because it's a new release, they've set introductory pricing at only USD 47 for a limited time.

I've only touched on products here, but plenty more information is available on web site and their product comparison chart (http://www.proposalkit.com/htm/compare.htm) is, quite frankly, best I've ever seen.

Proposal Kit requires Word 6+ for Windows/Mac or higher and supports Office XP, Mac Office and Office X. The only negative aspect of product (and it's not actually a negative, just a necessary restriction) is that legal contracts in Contract Pack should not be viewed as binding legal documents. Because every business has different products, services, clients and operates in different geographical environments, legal requirements vary widely. By all means use contract templates to draft your contract, but make sure you have document carefully reviewed by your company law firm to ensure it meets your specific legal requirements. This is emphasized within templates.

Proposal Kit has been available since 1999, Proposal Packs were introduced in 2002 and Proposal Pack Wizard was just released this month. Developers of product, Cyber Sea Inc., claim that Proposal Kit has customers world-wide, primarily in US, Canada, UK and Australia. A large number of customer testimonials for Proposal Kit are viewable from http://www.proposalkit.com/htm estimonial.htm and I can understand their enthusiasm.

I was so excited by my discovery of Proposal Kit that I immediately wrote to company asking permission to write a review and share my excitement with my newsletter and web log subscribers. Here's an extract from my gushing email to them:

"The huge range of proposal and international contract templates offered on your site seem to be ideal for persons in my industry - what a delight to find them! I would love opportunity to tell my readers and SEM colleagues all about your products".

So am I still excited? Absolutely. I've created a new Master Proposal, incorporating some of professional templates such as Company History, Non-Disclosure Agreement, Production Schedule, Cost/Benefits Analysis, Testimonials and List of Acronyms into my client proposals. I was so impressed that I've even become a Proposal Kit affiliate (links to product in this review are my affiliate links). Judging by feedback I'm receiving, use of Proposal Kit has already made a huge improvement in quality and impact my proposals have on potential clients.

So if you run an Internet-based business and want to more accurately quote your projects, impress your clients, brand yourself as a top professional and close sale, I highly recommend you check out Proposal Kit (http://www.proposalkit.com/affdir/1914.htm). Just don't tell my competitors about it!