Businesses are losing out on lucrative projects as they are not submitting for work through government tenders. In particular it is SMEs that are not recognising the ongoing opportunities for business projects, and these opportunities span across all industries and sectors.
“There is a broad range of work available from maintenance, marketing, to building and consultancy – and everything in between” says Darren Frearson, the founder of Australian Anti-Corruption Certification Register (the country’s first national register of businesses that have certified to be corruption free).
According to Darren, smaller businesses are assuming that they will be unsuccessful due to their size. There is potentially a feeling that they cannot compete with larger scale businesses when in reality there is no minimum requirement for company size.
It can be a great income stream for SMEs, without any lead generation required, but Darren says that the government could be doing more to encourage small business involvement; “we need a national campaign led by the federal government, supported by states and territories and the national local government association to increase awareness and encourage greater participation.”
There is a significant amount of untouched opportunity throughout all tiers of government including federal, state and local. With most advertisements available to view and respond to online, there is no excuse for small businesses not to find the projects relevant to them. Darren summarised that SMEs need to play a bigger role in tendering and reaping the rewards in order to continue making an important contribution to Australia’s economy.
Darren has outlined his key tips for small to medium size businesses below.
- Contact your local council and nearby councils to make yourself known and register for tender alerts
- Contact state and federal tender organisations and register for tender alerts
- Prepare a professional informational document which explains who you are and what you do. Don’t assume the government knows about you.
- Take the time to respond to tender opportunities and questions at length. Duplicate information where needed to ensure each question is completed fully
- Create a good list of trusted and reputable referees who can comment on all the required aspects of your business
- Ensure customer focus is at the forefront of your responses and add value with other initiatives and ideas to show that you are innovative and forward thinking
