Busting the myths: It's difficult to find and win work. Part 1
Are you struggling to grow your business? I know some business owners I speak to are struggling to grow their business. Most business owners I speak to have not given much consideration to selling to the public sector. Why would you? It’s complicated, your business is too small, the cheapest supplier will always win, the reasons not to 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.
This week we are going to debunk the myth:
Myth 7: It is difficult to find and win work.
The reality of this myth is that all public sector organisations (so local authorities, housing associations, central government organisations and smaller arm’s length publicly funded organisations) must public their contract notices.
Where can I find public tenders?
In England all contract worth over £10,000 must be published using the Contracts Finder portal.
In Scotland all opportunities must be published on the Public Contracts Scotland portal.
In Wales all opportunities must be published on the Sell2Wales portal.
In Northern Ireland all opportunities must be published on the eSourcing NI portal.
In addition to this all-high value contracts (this is usually contracts above £118,000) must be advertised on the Find a Tender portal.
On both the Sell2Wales and Public Contracts Scotland portal you can (and should) register. You must then:
Complete an alert profile. You will then receive regular emails which detail opportunities which meet the profile. You should regularly review these emails to make sure you do not miss any relevant opportunities.
Complete and publish your Supplier Finder Profile. Public bodies in Scotland and Wales use these profiles to select suppliers to bid for lower value contracts (these are called Quick Quotes). Lower value contracts are normally those worth less than £50,000. So, a sizable contracts for business owners like us.
In fact, last year on Public Contract Scotland, 78% of opportunities were advertised in this way.
If you are unsure how to complete your profile, download our guide which takes you through how to complete a compelling profile.
TOP TIPS
Register on the relevant portals.
Complete your business details to ensure you receive alerts and invites (if the portal allows this).
Review all alerts regularly – you don’t want to miss an opportunity that is sitting in your inbox.
If there is an opportunity that you are interested in but are unable to bid for just now, make sure you capture all relevant information. You may be able bid for the contract renewal in the future.
It really is as easy as that to find opportunities to grow your business. I don’t want to overwhelm you with information so I’ll continue this blog next week when we’ll examine “its difficult to win work”. Join us then.
What are you waiting for?
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.