Businesses of all sizes and depths of experience have learned that one of the best ways to achieve sustainable cash flow and consistent profitability is to bid on and win government tenders (also known as government contracts).
However, the path to success for bidding can be complex, confusing, and frustrating to navigate. Failure to meet eligibility requirements, formatting errors, missing deadlines, and submitting weak and uncompetitive proposals are all some of the pitfalls that businesses make when bidding on government contracts.
In this article, we’ll discuss the most common mistakes when bidding and all the best tips so that your business can maximize its success at finding eligible and relevant tenders, submitting an effective bid, and adhering to all of the eligibility, formatting, and regulatory requirements.
Government tenders are when local, regional, and national governments, as well as multilateral institutions, put out a call for private sector businesses to provide them with needed goods or services, a system known as the public procurement process.
Mistake #1: Not understanding the tender requirements
Government tenders are contracts financed by taxpayers, so they always come with a complex number of regulatory restrictions and eligibility prerequisites in order to satisfy the public’s need for value, transparency, and efficiency while simultaneously adhering to budgetary and political restraints.
As such, when tenders are published, they are accompanied by specific requirements that must be understood and complied with in order for an organization to submit a compliant bid. Some of these critically important specifications include:
- Deadlines
- The scope of the work required or deliverables
- Mandatory qualifications
- Mandatory certifications
- Eligibility criteria (such as being a woman-owned company or minority-owned enterprise).
Furthermore, government contracts may require additional components such as the need to form a consortia in order to form a bid, the need to hire an independent firm to assess the impact or scope of the project, and/or a requirement to provide post-implementation analysis on the results of the work performed or goods delivered.
And last but not least, government tenders always have mandatory formatting guidelines, which may include obligatory templates, as well as specific instructions on where and how documents must be submitted.
How can Tenderwell help?
Making a single error during this process can cost your organization both a lot of time and effort as well as make your bid ineligible for consideration.
Tenderwell offers you all the information about the project, including links to the original publication. This way, you will never miss important information and thus lower the risk of making mistakes.
- Tenderwell’s unique designallows organizations to filter tenders to find the ones that match their field of work and business capabilities.
- Tenderwell provides users with access to the maximum amount of information made publicly available by the buyer or contracting entity, including main documents stored locally and additional forms or templates linked externally when available. This ensures that users have access to key resources to prepare their bids.
- For tenders where documents are not included or are only available to bidders, Tenderwell provides clear guidance on how to obtain them, helping users navigate the process efficiently.
Mistake #2: Submitting incomplete or non-compliant bids
No matter how much hard work your organization puts into finding relevant tenders and then submitting bids, it will all be for naught if the bid is rejected for being incomplete or out of compliance with the tender’s requirements.
Many government tenders require the submission of a complex series of forms, certifications, and other documents in order to be considered. Missing even a single financial statement, license, or other type of documentation can immediately disqualify your bid.
Furthermore, all bids must provide accurate and honest pricing information and be submitted according to the prescribed format and submission method.
How can Tenderwell help?
Certainly, nothing can be more heartbreaking than putting in a tremendous amount of work to write a strong proposal and submit a bid on a contract, only to have it disqualified because of human error. That’s why Tenderwell can make it less likely for organizations to submit incomplete or non-compliant bids.
- Tenderwell allows organizations to access bids from thousands of government agencies and departments along with all of their relevant submission requirements, deadlines, eligibility criteria, and formatting instructions.
- While not all requirements may be available directly, Tenderwell provides links to external sources and documents where additional details can be found, assisting you in ensuring your bid is as complete and compliant as possible.
Organizations leveraging Tenderwell for tender discovery and bid submission rely on the platform to access relevant submission requirements and guidelines.
Though users are responsible for ensuring that all documents are present and meet the necessary standards, Tenderwell provides tools and resources to help them identify and gather the required information, reducing the risk of submitting incomplete or non-compliant bids.
Mistake #3: Underestimating the importance of post-bid communication
Although it may seem like your organization’s job is finished once the bid is submitted, this simply isn’t true.
Government tenders are sometimes revised to add additional requirements. Furthermore, the bid-issuing agencies may reach out to organizations to seek clarification on ambiguous points in their bid application, ask follow-up questions, or request additional information.
Lastly, even after a government tender has been awarded, there is still a process of following through on the implementation of that contract, which may require certain data points to be delivered, reports submitted, or after-action analysis to be conducted.
And even in circumstances where all of the required services, reports, and/or goods have been delivered, post-bid communication is an important opportunity for organizations to establish good relationships with procurement officers.
Tip: Customize your Tendrwell plan today
Tenderwell has been designed to make finding relevant government tenders and submitting a bid that is compliant with all of the requirements as simple as possible.
Still, organizations wishing to achieve long-term success in the field of public procurement need to use the tools that Tenderwell provides wisely.
Only by carefully analyzing your organization’s business capabilities, submitting bids that meet compliance requirements, and implementing contracts while maintaining good relationships with procurement officers can you achieve sustained profitability.
Tenderwell is a valuable tool for businesses aiming to avoid common mistakes when bidding on government tenders.
- With its powerful search and filtering options, the platform helps users easily access eligibility and submission requirements, including deadlines, templates, and document upload instructions, as published by the contracting agency.
- While not all information may be available in one place, Tenderwell assists in gathering the necessary details, helping to reduce the risk of missing critical information and submitting incomplete or non-compliant bids.
If you’d like to learn more about how your business can improve its chances of success when bidding on government contracts, contact us today.
At Tenderwell we can help you customize a plan that will fit your needs - we know how to simplify the intricate world of tendering and procurement.