Jean Roberts

The cost of a strike/success rate of 15% is 100% of your effort.

A successful bid or application is one that not only wins the contract, but also ensures that you will satisfactorily fulfil the contract or complete the project.

Tenders, submissions, grant applications, proposals, estimates or quotes have much in common – they all require packaging and presentation of an offer or bid to supply, create or provide ‘goods or services’ that will add value to another party.

Bidding, requesting and outsourcing are core business functions and growth strategies – therefore treat them as core competencies:

These points apply to both for-profit and nonprofit entities:

• Core business functions require the availability of relevant and up-to-date knowledge and skill: therefore either ensure internal availability, or prepare a detailed brief and contract-in/outsource the function.
• Growth strategies generally fall into two categories – organic or inorganic. The first is a result of internal planning and effort; the second by responding or reacting to market trends or external funding opportunities.
• Be aware that planning a new or improved product or service initiative requires much more effort and time than responding to a tendering or submission opportunity with a deadline of 3-4 weeks.

2. Separate the project from your application. Begin by carefully reading the brief or guidelines, and continue with sound and appropriate project planning, costing, budgeting, scheduling and evaluation/review. Only then, do you begin to draft your application form.

• In my Competitive Tendering book – there is a schedule of 20 tasks in preparing, lodging and negotiating a tender or bid, and task no. 11 is the first mention of the application form. Until then, the focus is on ‘the project’.
• In my Successful Submission Writing book – there is a 10-step model – with writing the submission at step no. 8.

3. The process is, and has always been, competitive. Therefore you need to know and understand the difference and relationship between cost, price, value, added value and return on investment.

These points apply to both for-profit and nonprofit entities:

• Cost = the cash value of whatever you have parted with or are liable to part with when committing to an expenditure for a tangible or intangible item, product or service,
• Opportunity cost = the value of a course of action which you could take but don’t – due to the unavailability of resources, your own unavailability, wrong choice, or inability to appreciate the potential value of an opportunity,
• Price = the amount of money which a customer or service-user is willing to exchange for an item, product or service,
• Value = the benefit to the buyer or user of an item, product or service they have accessed or purchased.
• Added value = a value that proves to be greater than expected, and involves no additional cost to the buyer or user – or to yourself.
• Return on investment = the value that directly results from the investment of any kind of resource, which may be tangible (able to be quantified, for example 20%), and intangible (leading to an opportunity that would not have been possible if you had not made the particular investment).

4. Your application needs to be a positive, powerful and persuasive marketing tool.

• As well as being the vehicle for your proposal, the application should present a positive, powerful and persuasive case for your company or organisation.
• It therefore needs to be both a marketing and an educational document, informing the assessors of the uniqueness and strength of your company or organisation, and the benefits for them in accepting your offer and entering into negotiations toward signing the contract and commencing the project.

5. For the party inviting a submission or tender: your brief, guidelines or ‘invitation to tender’ needs to provide sufficient and accurate detail on eligibility, specifications, quality, timelines, assessment/evaluation criteria, selection procedure, probity, confidentiality, negotiation procedures and contractual obligations.

• A party considering whether to prepare a tender or submission in response to the brief needs to look for these items when reading the brief.
• If uncertain about any of these, phone the contact person whose name and position will feature in the brief, and ask for clarification.

6. For the intending applicant: your bid, offer or request needs to include validated details on cost, quality, delivery and timeliness to convince the assessor of your credibility, capability and commitment to a consistent and superior quality of product or service – throughout the contract or agreement period.

From experience in the precision engineering business, I followed the 5Ms from the Metal Trades Industry Association (in the 1960s) as a basis for planning, costing, budgeting and scheduling – Machinery, Materials, Methods, Money and Men.

‘Methods’ today would include systems, and ‘Men’ today would include women! I learned the critical importance of the prototype – which taught me to always develop the project plan before drafting the application. If you fully understand what you are offering to do or provide, you are well equipped to complete a positive, powerful and persuasive application.

From experience as a local community worker, I’ve continued to follow the CIPPOO model (Context, Inputs, Process, Products, Outputs and Outcomes). In the 1970s, the emphasis was Inputs: 1980s, it was Outputs: 1990s, it was Outcomes: Noughties, it has been measurable Outcomes: and now we are moving into improved practices.

As a Sole Operator, I’ve learned to wear the label of ‘Entrepreneur’ with pride. The following is an extract from my 2008 book, One Man Show – the Smallest of Small Business.

In their book The Innovation Formula – how organisations turn change into opportunity (published in 1988 by Ballinger Publishing Company), Michael Robert and Alan Weiss state that entrepreneurs are often viewed as ‘business swashbucklers who catapult new ideas into public prominence while they storm the walls of the establishment’. However with the benefit and wisdom of 20 years of research, these authors present a very different picture with their descriptive yet prescriptive statement that they found ‘true entrepreneurs aren’t pirates, but disciplined sailors who anticipate the winds and tides of change‘.

In their book The Entrepreneur, (second edition published in 2003 by John Wiley and Son (Asia) Pte Ltd) William E Heinecke with Jonathan March present 25 Golden Rules. Here are some of them, with my own comments in italics:

• Find a vacuum and fill it – find a gap in the market, and create or adapt a product or service to fill it: if possible, be first in the market.
• Do your homework – know and understand your product or service, your market, your competition and your customers.
• Set goals (but go easy on the ‘vision’ thing) – set short-term achievable goals – which means being achievable within six months.
• Trust your intuition – but don’t overlook the facts or evidence.
• Learn to sell – identify, promote and sell both the features and benefits.
• Embrace change as a way of life – but not change for change sake – or change that is not accompanied or followed by consolidation.
• Develop your contacts – you’ll probably join anything and everything at the start of your One Man Show and then become selective as you become clearer about your product or service and busier in your business.  You’ll then be able to set clear priorities for the use of your time.
• Use your time wisely – the traditional criteria for allocating time are (1) urgency, (2) importance, and (3) relevance: each criterion has a triple ranking of high, medium and low. For example, if a call – or opportunity – for your time earns a high ranking in all three criteria, it becomes a high priority. Don’t forget to allocate appropriate time for your private and personal use.
• Don’t put up with mediocrity – the best test for mediocrity is when the minimum becomes the maximum: when performance only meets the minimum requirement. For example, look for suppliers who treat you as a valued customer or client, and are able and willing to add value to your One Man Show. If mediocrity appears in your relationship with that supplier, you can invite that supplier to address the drop in performance: if this doesn’t bring the desired improvement, call for three quotes for this service and invite him/her to be one of the three. Competition is a great motivator!
• Chase quality, not dollars – but be aware that you cannot produce and ensure quality with insufficient dollars.
• You won’t be committed if you’re not having fun – enjoy and be passionate about your One Man Show – and about yourself and your whole life.

Jean’s practical experience is extensive:

• as a partner in a precision engineering business for 15 years,
• then, as a local community worker for 9 years,
• and then, as a sole operator (One Man Show) for the past 25 years – in each instance, being completely dependent on winning tenders, submissions, grant applications, proposals, estimates or quotes.

Jean’s books mentioned through the presentation

• Competitive Tendering – how to write a competitive tender
• Successful Submission Writing – for business and nonprofit organisations (2nd Edition)
• One Man Show – the smallest of small business
• The Left and Right Brain Business – to increase and finance business effectiveness