Should your business tender for work?
Business in the UK currently has an uncertain future.
With the demise of construction giants like Carillion and Interserve teetering on the point of administration, it seems no-one can guarantee their future.
So why would a company invite more risk than is necessary by tendering for work?
The simple answer is that it is good business.
This blog explains how UK tender opportunities are designed to minimise risk and are therefore a great way to start tendering for business.
Money
UK Governments spend billions of pounds per year buying goods and services from large and small private sector businesses. Whatever goods you sell, or service you provide, there are tendering opportunities available to you.
Even better – buyers are actively searching for you to give you work. (Through a competitive tendering process, of course!)
So when it comes down to it, with all that opportunity out there…can you afford not to tender for work?
Still not convinced?
Well, maybe this will help; the Government is committed to delivering a third of all public procurement spending to small and medium companies by 2022.
That’s £1 in every £3 going to small companies through direct and indirect procurement.
To put it another way…your competitors are bidding for work, and they’re winning it!
Working for the Government
Tendering for business is honestly not as scary as you might think.
The Government is a great client to work for. They are constantly providing tendering opportunities for businesses like yours no matter what business you do.
As an added bonus their payment terms are often more flexible and accommodating for small businesses. As of 2015, the Government mandates that companies within its supply chain must pay contractors and sub-contractors within 30 days.
Governments also regulate themselves to ensure this, making public their payment rates four times per year.
This ethical business practice means less risk to you throughout the contract.
So how can SMEs bid for, and win tendering opportunities?
Tendering for business is a lot more simple than it used to be thanks to the Public Contracts Regulations which came into effect in February 2015.
This means two things:
- The changes enable buyers to run tender opportunities faster, with less red tape, and with a greater focus on getting the right company and best tender in accordance with sound commercial practice.
- The buyer must follow the procedures laid down in the Public Contracts Regulations before awarding a contract to suppliers when they are tendering for a contract to provide supplies, services or works for government departments or bodies.
Both of these are great for you because:
- It means there are more tender opportunities available more of the time.
- Every tender has to be unbiased, which means a fair fight across quality and price tender assessments.
- The tender process is similar no matter which governmental client you bid for. This means that once you know how it works, you can tender for business across every government department, body and business area.
Finding tenders
Having plenty of tender opportunities out there is a great thing.
You can search for public tenders using the Contract Finder service on the central Government’s website. However, Hudson appreciates that sometimes finding the right tender for your business can feel like a waste of time.
We offer ways to avoid that hassle.
Hudson has a range of tender databases designed to support small and medium businesses to start the tendering process. We help you achieve business growth and begin to tender.
We have ten sector-specific tender databases which our expert team manually update daily with new opportunities to ensure you can find the right tender to drive your business growth. These are:
- Construction Tenders
- Consultancy Tenders
- Creative Tenders
- Facilities Tenders
- Finance Tenders
- Hospitality Tenders
- HR Tenders
- Logistics Tenders
- Research Tenders
- Technology Tenders
Applying for government tenders
Making the decision to tender can lead to securing business growth, and this is good news for your company. But it does mean you’re going up against other companies.
To give your business the best chance of winning every time you tender, here are a few tips:
Sign up to receive regular tender opportunities.
It can be hugely disappointing to hear your competitors have secured a contract you could have tendered for; if you were aware it was available.
Understand the tender terminology
Knowing the tendering language can help you develop your skills, and Hudson’s expertise is available to help you understand what the different tender documents are for, and what buyers are expecting.
Get Tender Ready
Creating your own collection of tender documents will help your business get ready for tendering in the future.
Hudson Succeed’s Tender Ready service is designed to help businesses understand how to tender for public and private tender opportunities.
We can create a suite of documents for your business to build your tendering ability and increase your success rate.
Develop your writing ability
Writing bids can be a daunting experience. There are word limits, page limits, attachments and declarations to consider as part of each tender.
But don’t worry, there are ways to practice, learn and develop your tendering skills.
Hudson are the first company to offer a completely free to use resource dedicated to developing your skills. We launched Tender VLE to offer FREE high-quality video resources at a range of levels to support your ability.
Don’t be afraid of tendering, embrace the potential for growth it offers.
Invest in long term growth
One mistake that SMEs make is thinking short term. Making the decision to tender is not a short term commitment.
It can take weeks to write a tender, months to get the contract, and years to deliver the works and see benefits.
If you decide to tender for opportunities you need to make it a core part of your business plan in the long term and commit resources to make the most out of it.
Don’t give up
In truth, you will more than likely not succeed at your first tendering attempt. Do not give up!
Ask for feedback from every tender you submit. Clients will be happy to provide this to help you improve.
Hudson can also help you tender successfully. Our range of support will help you build on unsuccessful bids:
So there you have it, a whole host of reasons why your business should tender.
Support
If you are considering tendering for opportunities, or feel you need some support or more information about the tender processes and how to write winning bids, contact our Tender Writing Consultants for specialist advice and remember to visit our free virtual learning environment, Tender VLE.
Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including: