Navigating government bids and tenders

Jason Cooney is the Director of The Tender Team - a bid and tender writing consultancy helping landscaping businesses across Australia win government and private-sector bids and contracts. Jason offered Landscape Contractor a few hints from his area of expertise.

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Federal, state and local government bids and tenders can be a lucrative opportunity for landscape contractors. Two key challenges often faced by hopefuls preparing a bid are meeting local content and work, health and safety documentation requirements.

Let's discuss these challenges and how to overcome them.

A local touch

Local content requirements are very common in government tenders and often a dealbreaker in local-government tenders (councils and shires). These requirements aim to stimulate local economies and create employment opportunities for residents. The local council or state government wants to know the downstream economic and social benefits of the contract will flow through to the local community. This can be a challenge, particularly for a national company bidding for a council contract. It's also an opportunity for small to medium sized landscaping contractors based in the specific government area.

To successfully navigate these requirements, landscape and turf companies should: