Many see tendering as a 'black art', which it can be if you let it. It seems, to many, that tendering is getting harder; when in reality the tender process is not getting harder but winning a tender is getting harder because more people are competing for the same business and people still do not place value on being tender ready before going in for a tender.

Many people responding to tenders tend to feel dejected when they spend a great amount of time on a response and do not even get to the next stage and end up dismissing 'business from tenders' as a waste of time. In reality what we should be doing is taking a step back and asking ourselves some important questions:

1. Is my company capable of undertaking this contract?

2. Do we have the capacity (money, people etc)?

3. Are we at least a 65% fit for this tender?

4. Are we able to satisfy the requirements of the mandatory questions?

5. Are all of our policies and procedures in order and do we have a copy of our accounts / trading history?

6. Did we get feedback from the last tender we submitted - have we taken stock of where we went wrong?

7. Have we read and thoroughly understand the requirements of the tender?

In our view, someone responding to a tender for the first time should start locally. We all want the BIG contract but we must recognise and be realistic about our capabilities. We chat, to many people who have never tendered before, and they detail to us the tenders they are considering and we find the opportunities are usually:

1. Out of area - Hard and costly to manage

2. Too higher value for the turnover of the business

3. Not a suitable fit for that business

The best thing to do is get TENDER READY - do not try and become tender ready at the same time you are responding to a tender opportunity as you will fail on both counts. There is no point in fitting a front door to a house that has no walls.

Many small businesses attempt several tenders before giving up and that is when a person states that "It is getting harder for small businesses to win tenders". Get the basics right and you will find your success rate (through to next round / winning tenders) will improve dramatically. Stick at it and it does get easier and there are so many tender opportunities out there for small businesses.

It is also worth seeking professional advice for that extra support and guidance at the start of your tendering journey.

Paul Tute

MD - Boomerang Consultancy Limited- Helping You Win Tenders

www.boomerangconsultancy.com

Boomerang Consultancy Limited specialise in responding to PQQs, Tenders, ITT, Bids, expressions of interest, post tender reviews, bid management, writing contract notices, managing the full procurement lifecycle and providing interim managers / project teams into public and private sector organisations.