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? 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.

2 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, 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).)

3 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. 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 CentresInternet Resources 27 Net magazinesOnline training for small businessCase Study -Non-Gov't Organisation 29 Background informationWho is this book for?

4 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. 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.

5 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, 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.

6 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. 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.

7 Filling in tenders can alsobe family business with one persondescribing the work and doing calcula-tions and someone else writing it funded agencies orcommunity organisationsAll states and territories haveBusiness Education Centres whichprovide a wide range of services forpeople starting out as independentcontractors, or starting their own busi-nesses. They can direct you to locals forsupport, and to lawyers and accoun-tants who offer services to peoplestarting out in business . They also runworkshops in Setting up businessesand are contact details forsupport agencies listed in theResources section (page 26).The NRMA or similar motoringorganisations might be able tohelp with figures to make calcu-lations about vehicles, such asoperating costs or advice Often, contracts are written in legaljargon which only a lawyer can under-stand.

8 It is easy to become confusedwith overwhelming legal jargon andprocesses, even more so if you are newto the world of tendering. Setting up acontracting business also bringscontact with legal processes. You should get legal advice atcritical points: Establishing the business . Before signing a contract to beginwork, especially if it's the first timeyou have been required to sign acontract with the particular organi-sation. Any time the contract containsmaterial which you don't under-stand. It may be possible to get legalsupport through a community legalservice, trade union, or neighbour-hood centre. Accountant An accountant can advise on settingup a business , record keeping, taxesand charges, and cost minimisationsuch as the advantages of leasingequipment over buying. An accountantmight also be able to advise on ways offinancing the business or Setting uploans to see you through the initialstages of business .

9 Finally, an accoun-tant should be able to advise you abouthow to arrange your business to takeadvantage of the taxation deductionsthat apply to community houses, centres ofadult education, and TAFE collegesoffer training in writing tender sub-missions, starting out in business andmanaging record keeping. These areusually short courses for adults whoneed to pick up some skills for usestraight away. The New Enterprise IncentiveScheme (NEIS)This Commonwealth Governmentscheme, assists people to establishviable new small businesses. To beeligible for the program you have to beunemployed. NEIS offers a compre-hensive package of assistanceincluding: small business management andskills training (including assistancewith the development of a businessplan); income support for up to twelvemonths; and on-going support, including mentorsupport, during the first year ofbusiness information about NEIS isavailable from Centrelink courses onmanaging a small business forparticular industries.

10 For example, Wodonga Institute ofTAFE runs a course in Small BusinessManagement (Transport &Distribution Industry). This course isuseful for family businesses, such assmall trucking companies, where onepartner does the work and the otherpartner does the paperwork. Suchcourses can be done at the college or athome with the support of a you have problems withpaperwork generally and you thinkthat you would benefit from improvingyour workplace writing and communi-cation skills overall, there are classesavailable for this. You can find outabout classes or possibly having a one-on-one tutor by calling 1300 6555 are government funded classesso there is no charge or only a smallcharge for this on the InternetThere are a number of internet siteswhich are of benefit to those startingout in business . These are in theResources section (page 27).