Step 5: Bid to Your Capabilities

Welcome again to Gateway to Government’s blog. Today is step five in our Seven Steps series. Today we will look at the bidding process; deciding what to bid on is obviously important. Many companies have gone out of business because they took on a task too large for them or went broke waiting for the government to pay them!

Step 5 – Don’t Bid on Something You Can’t Do

This may seem like common sense, but sometimes what one thinks is expected in a contract isn’t. Review everything and make sure that your business is capable of all of the elements, both technically and financially! I have heard of many cases where small companies put in a bid and won a great government contract but ended up going out of business because they couldn’t support the finances while waiting to get paid (in most instances, the government pays after job completion).

Once you have read the fine print and asked all of your questions, review the entire contract again. For instance, one contractor (not one of our members!) lost over $18,000 on a bid because they hadn’t realized that they needed to train others to help with installation of their product. They though that they were going to be able to do all the work themselves!

Again, reading the bid requirements is vital to knowing what your company can and cannot fulfill. Examine the requirements and compare them to your capabilities, then review your business’ financial situation – can you afford to float the full cost of the contract potentially for months while awaiting completion and payment? While Gateway does its best to send bids related to your business, it is ultimately up to you to review the bid and decide whether or not your company can handle the contract.

Step 2: Research and Know Your Material

Good morning again everyone! Today we see the second installment of Gateway to Government’s Seven Steps series. These steps are designed to help you as a small business owner or employee to gain an advantage over your competitors in the field of government contracting. Each step will look at a different but useful aspect of doing business with the federal government.

Step 2 – Research

Research is vital to any business venture, as we all know. Would you as a small business owner leap into anything without knowing a little bit about it? A little bit of background research can go a long way with government contracting, and can make the vital difference between winning a bid and languishing in the pool of those that ‘just bid.’

Take a few minutes to do some research on what the bid is asking for. Is it looking for a product that will be chosen purely on price? Something as simple as a Google search can turn up pricing from your competitors! Is the price you offer competitive enough to go up against other contractors, or do you compete on service? Delivery time? Bulk goods? Know what your competitive advantage is and you will be able to leverage it.

In addition, know what you are talking about. As you’ve seen here and so many times before, background research is very important. Be sure that you know your products and services and are knowledgeable in the area in which you are bidding. Not knowing the latest advancements in your field could be the reason you won’t get the bid – such as recommending the most ‘up-to-date’ Windows 2000 or XP, when actually Windows Vista is the most recent release.