How to get tenders

How to get tenders to keep your business afloat, not only for jewellery business.

Government is the biggest buyer of many things in the country from both small and large businesses. There is even more interest on giving business to women and emerging businesses. This is an attempt to redress the economic imbalances that were created by the previous regime in the country.

You need to have a registered business in order to take advantage of government projects through the tendering process. Apart from having a registered business government departments have database of eligible SMMEs, BEE companies, large corporates to choose from whenever a tender is available. You need to get your registered business in those databases. You can register your business as a company or a close corporation depending on the kinds and size of jobs you want to tender for.

When registering your business with CIPRO you must state it in the CK form that your business is not limited to provide a specific service. This will allow you to tender for different jobs that you have capacity to do. Even when you know what your main business interest is, you don’t have to specify that in your certificate.

After registering your company or close corporation with relevant departments and the SARS, you can start looking for tendering business opportunities. In Gauteng, you also need to register with the Gauteng Shared Services Centre (GSSC).

Page through newspapers, company and government tender bulletins and business publications, to see which tenders are available. When applying you are given some documents to complete. Sometimes you will be asked to give an expression of interest that only requires minimal information. If you are lucky you can be short listed and get invited to submit the tender.

When submitting your tender documents, you will be expected to produce a tax clearance certificate. The tax clearance certificate is only valid for six months. It can take a week or more to get a tax clearance certificate.

In completing the tender documents you must make sure that you fill in everything that they want. Get someone to help you if are not sure about other things. Incomplete or incorrectly filled tender documents are considered.

If appropriate; diagrams, organograms, sketch plans and other annexures and matrices should be included and the complete tender document must be bound. Provide accurate information as this helps when it come to choosing the right supplier.

An executive summary signed by a relevant person must justify why the tender must be given to your company. Try to be short in your summary and it must not exceed two pages.

Keep a hard copy and an electronic copy of all information submitted in the tender safely. These are useful when the client wants to find out something. Information must be readily available always.

Expect to pay a non-refundable document before tendering.

What goes into your tender document?
Your tender document needs to have an action plan detailing how you are going to do deliver the service or project. Devising an action plan becomes easier with experience but you can not take a risk and compromise it.

Since broad-based black economic empowerment and employment equity are business imperatives in South Africa, ensure that your company’s credentials comply. This applies mainly to government tenders.

A short profile of your business with shareholders, equity structure, BEE status and geographic status will do. Give details of your staff and their responsibilities in relation to the tender.

Most importantly you must prove that you have capacity to do the job. Your tender submission should be based on the core strengths of the business, knowledge and expertise, strategic partnerships, time and commitment invested in preparing the tender document.

It is the strength and weight of your tender that puts you in a short list to make a presentation. A panel evaluates you during the presentation and it is therefore advisable to have your team assistance when preparing a presentation. If possible they must accompany you to the presentation.

Lastly, you must treat every tender every as a separate project. This means you have to consider capacity and resources, time and quality deliverables and business risks when applying for each tender.