Busting the myths: I'm a new company. Without a trading history the public sector won't buy from me
We’re fast approaching the end of the year. How are you progressing towards the goals you set at the beginning of this year? I know that some business owners I speak to are struggling to meet those goals. Most business owners I speak to have not given much consideration about selling to the public sector. Or they have not pursued it because they think its too complicated, their business is too small, the cheapest supplier will always win, their reasons go on.
What if I told you, these were myths? That the public sector wants to buy from you! Join me over the next few weeks while I bust these myths. So far, we’ve busted the following myths:
Public sector only buys from bigger businesses
Lowest price will always win a contract
Contracts always go to the same suppliers
You cannot contact/engage with buyers during the procurement process
Public sector clients aren’t worth the effort
You can cut and paste your response from one tender to another
Its difficult to find and win work
Its difficult for a small business owner to know where to start.
This week we are going to debunk the myth
I’m a new company and without a trading history the public sector won’t buy from me.
The reality of this myth is that not every tender will be suitable for you as a new business but there are opportunities out there suitable for you.
An example
Let me tell you about one of my first clients I worked with was a social care company. They had identified and applied for a tender. They were really surprised to find out a few months later that they were successful.
They really were at the inception stage of their business. They employed no staff, knew to make their business a success they needed to expand to other areas. Plus the area they had won a tender didn’t work for them geographically.
Within 6 months we’d been successful on another 2 tenders closer to home. How did we do this:
We spent some time drawing up a procurement strategy. We made sure we understood what they were capable of delivering and where they were capable of delivering.
We were careful with the opportunities we chose. We made sure they aligned with our procurement strategy. The company were based in Glasgow. We chose opportunities that worked geographically for them.
We used their experience working for someone else to demonstrate they could manage this contract.
The opportunities we discounted we built into their pipeline. This meant we were prepared for when the contracts were renewed.
The How
Key to the success of the new businesses I’ve worked with is choosing the right opportunities for them and their business. Part of this is understanding the experience of you (and your staff). In some tenders you will be able to use experience gained working for someone else to prove you are capable of delivering the contract.
Then next part of that is when you identify an opportunity of making sure you understand what the requirements are.
What I mean by this is that some tender have minimum requirements to meet. This can include a minimum turnover requirement for example £30,000 per year. This may not be a requirement for new businesses. However, you need to make sure you read the contract notice and associated paperwork to understand what the requirements and if they meet them. If the requirements are not clear, then ask the buyer about them.
I’ve worked with people to win tenders with minimum turnover requirements who had not even been trading for one year. What we have done is ask the buyer what we as a new business need to produce for them.
What are you waiting for?
As you can see the public sector wants you as a supplier. There are opportunities there to help you grow your business.
You can download our free guide which takes you through the first steps to take in preparing to sell to the public sector. Or book a virtual coffee. We’ll talk to you about your business and the opportunities available to you and your business.