Are you REALLY ready to tender?
As a business owner, being realistic about whether you are really ready to tender is important. The prospect of expansion is exciting, with the possibility of increased volume, the ability to test out new products, and the addition of new team members. The next great tender often comes out of the left field, leaving us scrambling to nab an opportunity that’s surely too good to pass up. Before you decide that it’s time to take the plunge, first ask yourself the following questions:
Are you prepared to increase your risk profile?
Are you prepared to accumulate more debt?
Do you have your product/solution where it needs to be?
IF you win, can you deliver?
If the answer is ‘no’ to any of the above, you are not yet ready to tender. And that’s okay.
Bids are complex, challenging and a big investment of time, money and resources. In addition to clearly articulating how your business can provide a solution that ticks all the boxes, your responses must include competitive pricing and demonstrate your ability to deliver. Ensuring a bid is compliant in the face of strict customer criteria is difficult enough, let alone providing a compelling response that will blow minds. It’s a tough gig.
To successfully put together a tender you need to be on top of:
How your product can solve the customer’s problem
Your price and pricing structure
Your ability to cover liability, and
Your own schedule for delivery to meet the customer’s requirements.
Businesses often engage third-party experts to aid in the tendering process in the hope that this will address any knowledge gaps. They can certainly offer advice and provide support to decode complex tender criteria and develop a response that will get the customer's attention.
However, you need to know the difference between receiving assistance and being completely reliant on it to submit a tender response. Ask yourself honestly if it's worth your time and money. What’s the worst that can happen? You decide to wait a couple of years and then try again.
At some point, everybody has given something a red-hot go, then realised that they are out of their depth. That’s okay, there’s no shame in it. If you get partway through a tender and you realise it’s too much right now, pump the breaks and accept that you need more time.
It’s better to re-evaluate your growth projection and go back to the drawing board that to poor good money after bad. Focus on winning smaller contracts, invest the necessary time and energy into developing your solution, and accept only the amount of risk and liability that you can manage. Your business is your dream; take care of it and give it the respect it deserves, and it will flourish. There will always be another tender around the corner.