Upwork proposal for a small business website
Who wrote it
Yazan Shurrab is a web developer in Gaza who works with clients abroad. A bakery owner in Lyon has posted a job for a bilingual website with pickup orders.
The writer and every detail about them are fictional.
What went into the template
- The job post
- Need a website for my bakery in Lyon. French and English, online pre-orders for pickup, must look good on phones. Budget $1,200. Claire
- Your relevant work
- Café Sama in Amman (2025): site with online pickup orders, loads in 1.6 s on a phone; the owner says about 30% of weekend orders now come through it: yazan.example/cafe-sama
- How you would start
- Start with the menu and pickup times; ask whether customers should pay online or at the counter
- Price and timeline
- $1,100 fixed, three weeks, three milestones
The writer’s facts, as typed into the template’s form. The example uses nothing else.
The example
Upwork proposal: Proposal
Numbered notes in the margin explain each choice.
Hi Claire,
Greeting
A bakery website lives or dies on two things1: how quickly a customer on a phone can see today’s bread, and how easily they can reserve it before it sells out. That is what I would build for you, in French and English.
Her need, in her terms
Note 1: The first lines show he understood the job better than the post explains it. Clients scan dozens of proposals and stop at this kind.
Last year I built the site for Café Sama in Amman2, with online orders for pickup. It loads in 1.6 seconds on a phone, and the owner tells me about 30%3 of weekend orders now come through it: yazan.example/cafe-sama
One similar project
Note 2: One relevant project, not a full portfolio. The closer it is to the job, the less he needs to say.
Note 3: The figure is credited to the person who measured it, which keeps the claim honest.
I would start with your menu and pickup times and build the ordering around them. One question first: would you like customers to pay online, or at the counter4 when they collect?
How he would start
Note 4: A question the client must answer anyway. It starts the conversation and shows experience.
I can do it for $1,100 fixed, in three weeks and three milestones5.
Price and time
Note 5: A clear price and schedule remove the client’s biggest unknowns.
Best,
Yazan
Structure
How it is built
Each part in order, with its share of the words.
Checklist
Before you send
Go through your own draft line by line.
Before and after
Common mistakes and how to fix them
Lines like these turn up in many drafts by Arabic speakers. Each fix keeps the meaning and changes only the English.
Dear Sir/Madam, I am the best candidate for your job. I have 5 years experience.
Hi Claire, a bakery website lives or dies on two things: how quickly a customer on a phone can see today’s bread, and how easily they can reserve it.
I read your job post and I can do it.
That is what I would build for you, in French and English.
Price: negotiable.
I can do it for $1,100 fixed, in three weeks and three milestones.
Questions people ask
How long should an Upwork proposal be?
Short: often 100 to 200 words. This one has about 140. The client sees only the first two lines in the list, so they must show you understood the job.
Should I include a price in the proposal?
Yes, when the job gives enough detail. A clear price with a timeline and milestones is easier to accept than “negotiable”. If you need answers first, give a range and say what decides it.
How do I win jobs with no reviews yet?
Show one piece of real work close to the job, even a personal project, with a result and a link. Ask a useful question. And write a proposal that could only have been written for this client.
Every writer in this library is fictional, and so is every detail about them. Universities and companies appear only as places someone applies to; the professors, papers and facts mentioned around them are invented for teaching. Use the examples to learn the moves, never as text to copy: committees notice, and your own facts are stronger.