Business Admin Sole Trader

W123-80's

Hi all,
I’m toying with the idea of setting myself up as a sole trader offering a range of business admin type services to small and large organisations.
My back ground is over 10 years of commercial experience in both public, private and semi state sectors.

I have significant Public procurement experience ( 7 years ) as a buyer in a govt. dept and a semi state organisation.

I also have plenty experience in the private sector in commercial management, key account management and tender preparation.
I have recently completed a masters in Environmental Sustainability so have a good grounding in research and areas related to sustainability and the environment.

My rough idea is to offer the following services to companies/non for profits etc;

1. Tender preparation;

• Navigation and understanding the tender docs
• Answering what you are asked
• Compliance checks
• Proof reading tenders

2. Research & Report writing
3. Grant applications for non for profits, community groups or SME’s
4. Presentation preparation & delivery (if required)
5. Any other services as required!

I wouldn’t be expecting to become a millionaire from this, but would be happy with semi regular work.

Just wondering if anyone has seen this type of service before?

Is it realistic or would it be difficult pick up work?

My thinking is if I put my name out there companies might be interested in the casual nature of my services.

Any thoughts or feedback appreciated.
Thanks.

pedroeibar1

I believe that - in general - there is a need for that type of service. The issue has always been trying to get people to pay for it. You'll need to be very careful on pricing and on getting paid. Get 50% minimum up front. It will be hard to collect from an unsuccessful grant applicant or someone who has not won a tender!

W123-80's

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

I believe that - in general - there is a need for that type of service. The issue has always been trying to get people to pay for it. You'll need to be very careful on pricing and on getting paid. Get 50% minimum up front. It will be hard to collect from an unsuccessful grant applicant or someone who has not won a tender!

Thanks, I've been looking at jobs websites are there are a good few Bid Manager and Tender specialists positions advertised. What I am trying to establish is if there is an appetite for this work on a casual freelance basis.

I think you are 100% correct on the pricing side of things and to be honest I haven't a clue how to structure pricing! Is it a per hour rate or a per job rate? I guess that depends on the individual job.
Either way if I am working from home I am reducing my overheads significantly and would be happy to pass on savings to clients once I am earning a fair amount.

Thanks again for your input.

CIARAN_BOYLE

W123-80's wrote: »

Thanks, I've been looking at jobs websites are there are a good few Bid Manager and Tender specialists positions advertised. What I am trying to establish is if there is an appetite for this work on a casual freelance basis.

I think you are 100% correct on the pricing side of things and to be honest I haven't a clue how to structure pricing! Is it a per hour rate or a per job rate? I guess that depends on the individual job.
Either way if I am working from home I am reducing my overheads significantly and would be happy to pass on savings to clients once I am earning a fair amount.

Thanks again for your input.

There are companies that do this sort of work. Finding suitable tenders would be an essential part of the package too.

I'd make an effort to explore the competition to see if you can match their quality and pricing.

W123-80's

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

There are companies that do this sort of work. Finding suitable tenders would be an essential part of the package too.

I'd make an effort to explore the competition to see if you can match their quality and pricing.

Thanks for your response. When you say finding suitable tenders would be an essential part of the package, do you mean monitoring eTenders and contacting companies I feel might have the capabilities to compete for specific competitions?
The quality and price is key. I am confident I can help a suitable qualified organisation build a strong Tender proposal. In my experience a lot of very competent organisations fail because they simply haven't read the brief or fail on silly stuff. The pricing is a different matter altogether. I am well aware an SME interested in pitching for a Public contract may not have huge financial resources to throw at someone like me but at the same time it is money well spent!

CIARAN_BOYLE

W123-80's wrote: »

Thanks for your response. When you say finding suitable tenders would be an essential part of the package, do you mean monitoring eTenders and contacting companies I feel might have the capabilities to compete for specific competitions?

Yes. Also you need to be able to recognise when a tender is not really an invitation to tender.

A lot of the tenders out there are written with a certain winner in mind. A perfect tender from someone else won't really be considered. You need to recognise this or your reputation will sink as you are taking money to tender for jobs that can't be won (a difference from jobs that won't be won but still).

W123-80's

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Yes. Also you need to be able to recognise when a tender is not really an invitation to tender.

A lot of the tenders out there are written with a certain winner in mind. A perfect tender from someone else won't really be considered. You need to recognise this or your reputation will sink as you are taking money to tender for jobs that can't be won (a difference from jobs that won't be won but still).

That's a very good point. Although having experienced both sides of the table and with the current requirements for comparative analysis notification letters (above threshold), a contracting authority had better write a very good regret/debrief letter if a company I am working for submit a perfect tender! Perhaps it's naïve of me, but I'd like to think that the majority of tenders are there to be won if they demonstrate under all criterion the ability to deliver on the product/services and are commercially competitive.
Which is also part of the service I think I could offer. Analysis of regret letters to ensure consistency of approach & equal treatment and attend debrief meetings to build on the lessons/learning's for future tenders.

Trojan

W123-80's wrote: »

I think you are 100% correct on the pricing side of things and to be honest I haven't a clue how to structure pricing! Is it a per hour rate or a per job rate? I guess that depends on the individual job.

If you're very confident in your offering, you could shoulder the entire risk with a "No Win, No Fee" offer. You could make it a percentage of the tender, 10/15/20%. You'd need to qualify your leads carefully, but that could be highly profitable.

W123-80's

Trojan wrote: »

If you're very confident in your offering, you could shoulder the entire risk with a "No Win, No Fee" offer. You could make it a percentage of the tender, 10/15/20%. You'd need to qualify your leads carefully, but that could be highly profitable.

I thought about this approach, but I'm not keen on it.
For the obvious reason that if we don't win I don't get paid!
I would argue that any organisation engaging these kind of services should do so from a strategic perspective and look to identify the learning's even if the tender is not successful. In simple terms I would be making the case that my services have long terms benefits for an organisation outside of one specific competition.
I am toying with the idea of a lowish retainer/flat fee with a % of tender value if successful as one pricing option. At least with this I still get something and if the tender is not successful the organisation aren't annoyed at having to pay me a big fee.
The other pricing option would be simply daily rate or price for the project.

Trojan

W123-80's wrote: »

I thought about this approach, but I'm not keen on it.
For the obvious reason that if we don't win I don't get paid!

That's the risk - it's a complete risk reversal for the client - which is a very tempting offer.

I'd go with a fixed fee per tender, something that will be profitable, maybe in the line of €1-3k. Look up "productized service".