I receive a work inquiry in the form of an RFP every couple of months. If you're unfamiliar with the abbreviation, an RFP is a request for proposal. It's a document that a client will prepare and post publicly or send out to potential vendors with the aim of gathering proposals to accomplish a project. In certain industries, and at certain business sizes, this approach is common. For example, government projects will often be initiated with an RFP. Without fail, the RFP's that are sent our way go directly to my garbage folder. Its not that I'm ungrateful for the opportunity, just that I recognize a waste of time when I see it. And, though it does have some merit, I don't think it's a great way for a client to get their project completed either. In this post will take a look at the problems with RFP's and suggest an alternative.