Is Tendering a Good Avenue for SMEs? Is It Worth the Time and Effort?
Is Tendering a Good Avenue for SMEs? Is It Worth the Time and Effort?
Small and medium-sized businesses form the vast majority of economies around the EU. And if you own or operate as part of one of these, you will know the daily stresses behind such. Expanding your business is one such worry, but can this be alleviated by utilising tendering? Should SMEs proceed with tendering for work? Read on to find out more. Tendering opportunities may well be the way to go if expansion is on your agenda.
Is it worth the time and effort that it takes to engage in this, though? Would SMEs be better focusing their attention elsewhere? Let’s find out more about whether tendering is a good avenue for SMEs to use.
Is the Capability There for Growth?
If a business is looking to expand and has the desire to grow, then tenders can actually be very helpful. Not only do SMEs get to benefit from potential work and revenue this way, but tenders also give these enterprises the chance to experience work of differing sizes to what is the norm for them. Because of this, businesses that stand out as being smaller than others can still win bids, and therefore expand their business for the future. This all depends upon different key strengths within the business, such as staff experience and strong leadership, for example.
There are multiple tenders in Malta and other EU countries that SMEs can work alongside to grow in an effective way. Tenders are released daily by various public and private entities, which fit right into the business growth plans of many companies. The issue comes when locating and shortlisting the right tendering opportunities. This stands as being one of the most time-consuming parts about it, and an SME will need to ensure that time is well spent on the most valuable tasks.
Use a tenders aggregator to collate opportunities and get notified with any relevant tenders which fit your target attributes including country and sector or category. When selecting which tenders to bid for go for opportunities which fit your strategy and offering. The process is very time-consuming and expensive, so be picky as to what to bid for. Larger companies obviously have more money than SMEs to throw around. Yet with certain government funded projects, SMEs have managed to secure more of the work for themselves. In 2017, for example, the UK Government spent £12 billion with SMEs – that’s quite the massive amount to miss out on should your business not be tendering for bids.
And when an SME wins such a tender, it creates a great point of reference for securing future contracts. Plus, the experience gained from winning a tender is invaluable.
What About the Private Sector?
SMEs have also been fortunate in the private sector world, with thousands of tender opportunities providing them with work. Some of these include tenders in Malta, offering options across the country, whereas others extend further afield across Europe. Private sector businesses are searching for suppliers through tendering much more than they ever were before. A variety of products and services are required through such, meaning that SMEs are truly getting to benefit from putting their specific expertise to work.
Tenders from within the private sector are also often much easier to apply to than when it comes to the public sector. Why? Because there are fewer strict procurement rules to adhere to when it comes to applying. In essence, these could be ideal to start out with for a small business. Feedback from such can be a great way of excelling your tendering processes and protocol for the future.
Some SMEs may find that tendering is a difficult and confusing world to get involved in. This is especially true if a business does not have much sales experience. Yet tendering can create fantastic opportunities and revenue, making the time and effort put into it very much worthwhile. If growth is something that you want your SME to go through, then tendering should be looked at as a valid route to take.
