Setting yourself up to write a tender Successful …

1 WritingSuccessfulTENDERSTENDERSS etting yourself up to write a tenderincludes:Small Business Case StudiesPLUS includes:Small Business Case Studies Legal status and licensing requirements Calculating costs of running a small business Employee or Contractor - what's the difference? Business Resources - who can help?PLUS checklist - starting a small businesswritingSuccessfulTENDERSTENDERST ENDERSS etting yourself up to write a tender 2 Who can help? Networks; legal andaccounting adviceWhat is the difference betweenbeing a contractor and anemployee?

2 4 The difference between these two roles canseem pretty murkyLegal status and licensing requirements 6 Your responsibilities as a contractorDeciding whether to tender 7 You know the business and know what isexpectedFinancial factorsThe tender documents81. Expression of Interest2. Public tender3. Selective tender / preferred contractors4. Tenders involving in-house bidsCase Study - Cleaning Services 9 KLMC leaning Services tenders for a schoolcleaning contractKey Selection Criteria 10A example of a Local Government tenderhas these sections, or SchedulesCase Study - Child Care Centre 11 Rather than employing someone directly.

3 Achildcare centre tenders the work outCase Study - Hospital Catering 12"The Quiet Achievers" - Catering staff atthe Austin Hospital make a Successful inhouse tenderReading the contract14 Ask these questions - checklistWhat legislation has to be compliedwith? 15OH&S, Ethical Employment and Sub-ContractingCalculations16 Labour costsFixed costsThe writing team wouldlike to thank the followingpeople for their contribu-tions: Catherine Gyngell(DETYA); Janis Ozolins,Bill Wilson, Errol Healeyand contractors (AustraliaPost); Gerard Langes(Transport DistributionTraining Australia); IlkaWalkley (Forest andForest ProductsEmployment SkillsCompany; and GuyChatain and Lisa Kan(Austin Hospital).)

4 Funded under theWorkplace EnglishLanguage and LiteracyProgramme by theCommonwealth throughthe Department ofEducation, Training andYouth Affairs. Commonwealth ofAustralia, 2000 Writers:Lynne Fitzpatrick, RosaMcKenna, David DicksonDesign and IllustrationDavid DicksonPhotographyDavid Dickson, LynneFitzpatrickPublisher:Communication inEducation and TrainingPty Ltdlevel 1, 339 William St,West Melb. VIC 3003tel: 03 9326 8369 National Library of AustraliaCIP dataFitzpatrick, Lynne, 1948 - Writing Successful tendersISBN 0 9586385 2 71.

5 Public contracts. writing in publiccontracting. I. Costs Sheet17 Operating costs - 18 The GST18 Case Study - Web Development Proposal 19 Richard runs a small design business and learnsa thing or two about tenderingEvaluating tenders20 Evaluation ChecklistA Small Business21 Basic costs of operating a small businessStart Up CostsEmploying staff - 22 Owner's Checklist for Starting a New BusinessCase Study - Delivery Contract 23A national communications company putsdelivery services out to tender to individual contractorsResources26 Business Enterprise

6 CentresInternet Resources 27 Net magazinesOnline training for small businessCase Study -Non-Gov't Organisation 29 Background informationWho is this book for?Many people in Australia tender for work. Somegive verbal quotes for work being done around theneighbourhood. Others have to go through a formalprocess. This book is for people who have to tenderfor work, by producing written tenders or quotes. For many people, filling in tender documents andsigning contracts is much more difficult than doingthe actual work.

7 We hope this book will help. There are suggestionsabout where to go for help, how to deal with tenderforms, and stories from people who have been suc-cessful with tendering. We also talk to people onthe other side of the desk about what they arelooking for when they look at matter how good a writer or a tender writer youare, it is unlikely that you will be Successful eachtime you write a submission. No one is. If a partic-ular submission isn't Successful , treat it as alearning opportunity. If it's a public tender , ringthe person whose names appears on the advertise-ment and ask for feedback on your submission.

8 Themore detail you can get, the more changes you canmake next look at the steps in writing tenders:* Setting yourself up to write a tender .* Deciding whether to tender . * The tender documents.* also look at the factors involved in evaluatingtenders. The final section contains informationabout Setting yourself up as a small responsibility for any loss or damage howsoevercaused by reliance on any of the information or adviceprovided by or on behalf of DETYA or the providers of thisservice or damage arising from acts or omissions made isaccepted by the Commonwealth of Australia, the providersof this service, or their officers.

9 Servants or Successful TENDERSS etting yourself up to write a tenderThe organisation putting out thetenderMany of the organisations puttingout tenders run briefing sessions or'walk arounds'. It's well worthwhileattending those to get a good idea of thework to be done, what the organisationis looking for, and the we have a tender or anauction I always have a briefing sessionbefore hand. We have auctions in thisroom here, an auction or a tender , it'sthe same sort of thing, but an auction isinstant and a tender it's all writtendown there, in an auction there's lesswords on paper but I explain it.

10 I findit better that way, if I can explain topeople and answer their questionsinstantly they can come to grips with it.(John Clark, CALM, WA, interviewedWho can help? Try to find out from the organisation what they are looking for. Draw on the support of family and friends. Use government resources. Consider 'buying' help. If it means the difference between winning thetender and having the work, or missing out, it might be worth the cost. Consider a training WHATEVER HELP YOU CAN GET - RIGHT FROM THE STARTby Maureen Hague)Members of family or localnetworksMany small businesses are familyteams' with one member of the teamdoing the work that has been contract-ed and others attending to thepaperwork.