And just like that, 2019 is done and dusted, and a whole new year (and decade!) is upon us. It’s time to find new business opportunities!
If you want to make the most of all that 2020 has to offer, now’s the time to start investigating suitable Government tenders that can provide lucrative contracts (the contract term will vary from tender to tender, but it’s common to see three years with an option to extend by a further two years).
So, where do you find these tenders?
I wrote all about it in a blog a year or two ago a year or two ago but Federal Government tenders are usually advertised on the AusTenders website, and you can find State Government opportunities for business here:
NSW - Etendering
VIC - TendersVic
ACT - Procurement & Capital Works
WA - Tenders WA
QLD - QTenders
The federal and State Government sites are great because you can register to receive alerts for the types of tenders you are interested in. Local Government tenders are more difficult as they are commonly advertised through Tenderlink, which is a paid service.
If you subscribe, you’ll receive alerts for the tenders you may be interested in, but be warned — it’s a pricey service.
All local Councils will advertise tender business opportunities in Australia on their website, but most don’t offer an alert service. You can still get to these tenders (once you know that one is available) by clicking on the relevant tender’s link on the Council website.
It will take you through to the Council’s partition on the Tenderlink site. In other words, you can get the tender documents (and respond to them) free of charge. But you will only get local Government tender alerts for a business opportunity or opportunities if you subscribe to the Tenderlink (or similar) service.
Some local Governments promote tenders outside of Tenderlink, though; if you’re in QLD, you can register and create alerts at LGTenderbox. In WA, most councils have joined tender forces through the WA Local Government Association (WALGA), but this is also a paid subscription service.
When responding to a tender opportunity, most of those I work with use a very prescriptive response format in either Word or Excel. However, I’m seeing more and more tenders that require responses to be entered directly into an electronic portal, and these can be a little tricky if you’re not used to them.
My main advice when responding to business opportunities for tenders is to ensure you answer each question thoroughly. While stock answers are fine, it’s important to customise these for each tender.
I’ve reviewed many losing tenders, and the common thread across all of them has been the stuffing of information that is not relevant in response sections when the actual question isn’t addressed at all.
Final Thoughts
If you need a hand with a tender, I’m here to help. I’ve worked with hundreds of small businesses to develop tender responses, and you can read what my clients say about me here. A chat costs you nothing, so if you’d like to talk about your tender response strategy so you can have more business opportunities for tenders, just give me (Pauline) a call at 0400 514579, sign this form, or better yet, email the tender documents to me at pauline@tenderwise.com.au so I can have a read through before we chat. Happy 2020, and may your business shine this year!