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Are you ready to tender for work? Do you know how to choose the most suitable bids for your business? Are you prepared to make your bid or no bid decisions effectively?
If you aren’t quite there yet, then you’ve come to the right place! In this blog, we’ll help you get ready to tender for contracts. Keep reading to find out more…
When you’re deciding whether to tender for work or not, you need to look at your experience. Usually, the buyer will expect to see at least two to three case studies from the past five years.
These should be similar in size, scope and complexity to the bid you’re going for. You need to show the buyer that you’re the most suitable business to deliver their contract. For example, if you’re bidding for commercial cleaning tenders, don’t include evidence of your landscaping experience.
Another thing that you should consider when getting ready to tender is your financial standing. Do you meet the financial standing required to bid for the contract?
As a general rule, you shouldn’t bid for contracts that are worth more than 50% of your annual turnover. So, for example, if your annual turnover is £200k, don’t bid for contracts worth more than £100k. This is to ensure that you actually have the capabilities to deliver the work successfully.
Before you tender for work, you should consider your company’s unique selling points (USPs). Do you offer something unique in the market? Are you offering a service that your competitors aren’t?
By doing this, you will greatly help your business get ready to tender. It will help you find business opportunities that you’re suitable for, particularly ones that will help you stand out.
Does the workload fit in with your long-term strategy? For example, are you planning to expand and, if so, will this project help you do that?
To make this process easier, you should carefully assess the tender documents and the work involved. Will completing the work help you reach your business goals? Where will your company be after completing the work? After asking yourself these questions, you can decide whether or not to tender for the work.
Another thing that you should consider is whether or not you’ll need to outsource any work. If the answer is ‘yes’, then how much will you need to outsource?
Generally, outsourcing over 50% of the work will require more explanation in your tender response. While your business can still tender for contracts successfully, the buyer will want to know more. For example, why should they choose your business over prime deliverers?
Look at your team’s CVs. Are they able to deliver the work on paper?
This is a crucial step when deciding whether or not to tender for work. As well as everything else, the buyer will be expecting to see your qualifications and accreditations on paper. So, when you’re getting ready to tender, you need to make sure that your CVs are up to scratch.
Make sure that all of the relevant experience, qualifications and accreditations are evidenced in your CVs. It’s also a good idea to make sure that each CV is company-branded and follows the same format.
Simply put, will you be making a profit by completing the work? If you aren’t making a profit, then is it worth it? What will you be gaining from the project?
The tendering process can be time-consuming and, as a result, crafting a tender response can be expensive. Therefore, it’s important that you consider this before proceeding with a bid response. The last thing you want is to spend your time and resources on a bid that won’t benefit your business.
As we’ve already established, tendering for work can be incredibly time-consuming. However, there’s more than that. Should you be awarded the tender, you’ll be entering an agreement with the buyer that is contractually binding.
So, before you proceed with a bid, make sure you have enough time to complete the work. If you don’t, find another opportunity for your business.
Finally, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Would you choose yourself to deliver the work over your competitors?
Try to think about it objectively. If you wouldn’t award yourself the contract, why not? What improvements could you make? These are all questions you can ask yourself to ensure you’re ready to tender for the right projects.
Remember, when you’re getting ready to tender for work, you should ask yourself the following questions:
Still have questions? Why not call our Bid Writing Consultants? We’re always happy to help!
We have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – we can help. There are four bid writing packages available:
Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for, send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. We’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.
Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. Our Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors and opportunities for improvements prior to submission.
During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding. If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed. This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge.
The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.
Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.
Now it’s time to find a contract opportunity for your company!
You may be wondering where you can find a tender for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads.
Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities.
Our sister company, Hudson Discover, has 11 sector-specific tendering portals. One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.
Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.
We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:
Our support doesn’t end there! Our creative content agency, Vocal, are on hand to help.
The Vocal Team are not afraid to stand up and be heard. And we make sure our clients aren’t either! From small, micro businesses to large organisations, we are vocal about the things that make your business unique.
Our creative service is dedicated to growing your business through striking and thought-provoking content. We’ll take your bid and give it a complete makeover. With professionally designed tender documents, you’re sure to make an impression on the buyer!
Our team specialise in six areas, including:
If you’d like to know more about what we can do for your business, introduce yourself to the team!
Contact us to find out more!
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