Tenders are documents (often in the form of a questionnaire) that allows for the detailed assessment of candidates, for opportunities that require the supply of goods and/or services. They are often used in the procurement of important or high value contracts and are most common in the public sector.
What’s the difference between a tender and an expression of interest?
Sometimes, an expression of interest will be released prior to a tender opportunity. An expression of interest is usually aimed at obtaining key information about suppliers in order to select a panel of candidates that meet the buyer’s criteria.
An EOI is often issued prior to a tender, with the opportunity to tender conditional upon success in the EOI phase.
How do I find tender opportunities?
Public
In Australia, public sector entities are often compelled to advertise certain contracts publicly. This gives any business who is interested in tendering, the opportunity to bid on government contracts.
You can find public sector tenders for free on the following websites:
- Queensland – www.hpw.qld.gov.au/qtenders
- New South Wales – www.tenders.nsw.gov.au
- Victoria – www.tenders.vic.gov.au
- South Australia – www.tenders.sa.gov.au
- Northern Territory – www.nt.gov.au/tenders
- Western Australia – www.tenders.wa.gov.au/watenders/index.do
- Tasmania – www.tenders.tas.gov.au
- Federal – www.tenders.gov.au
Private
Tenders for private companies can be a little harder to find as they are rarely publicly advertised. Private tenders often have suppliers they regularly use, so getting your foot in the door can be more challenging. Often, you will negotiate directly, instead of sourcing a tender writer to develop a bid. The rules are a little more blurred when it comes to tendering in the private sector.
Usually, participation within private sector tenders is by invitation only. These invitations almost always arise out of relationships with key stakeholders (usually in procurement, facilities management or general management).
Tender Notification Services
There are quite a few services out there that also provide tender notification services which aim to capture and report on tender opportunities in the marketplace. These are often paid resources you can use to streamline tender notifications.
Some examples of these providers include:
Tender Link (illion.tenderlink.com);
Tender Search (www.tendersearch.com.au); and
Australian Tenders (www.australiantenders.com.au).
Whilst these platforms do provide some level of efficiency, they don’t often capture private tender opportunities and mostly just collate publicly accessible data into a streamline email report.
Tender Notifications
Our clients get complimentary tender notifications from the Tendered team. These notifications utilise your specific business profile to select tender opportunities that align with your capabilities and unique selling points. This helps you to invest more efficiently in tender opportunities and improve your return on investment over time.
