To Bid or Not To Bid

Written by Kristine Daw | 03/02/21 00:00

From scouring job boards to ticking off key selection criteria, interviews, quizzes and online assessments—the on-again, off-again job hunt can be exhausting. The same goes for tendering in Australia: sifting through government tenders and private opportunities, matching criteria, and meeting deadlines can feel relentless.

Job Hunting & Tendering: The Same Decision, Different Stakes

What does job hunting have to do with tendering? A lot.

Just as you ask “Am I the right candidate for this role?”, your business should ask “Are we the right supplier for this RFT/RFP/EOI?” The real question is whether the opportunity is a strategic fit—commercially, operationally, and culturally.

Applying out of desperation rarely works in recruitment—and it rarely wins tenders. Even if you win, misalignment can strain margins, capacity, and work/life balance, and damage performance. Winning the right tenders is far better than chasing every tender.

Choosing the Right Tender

It’s in your business’s best interests to pursue attainable, sustainable, and beneficial opportunities. Before you commit:

Stay true to your capabilities, track record, and values.

Step into the buyer’s shoes: can you clearly meet their requirements and risks?

Confirm the opportunity will help you grow, not overextend.

How to Think Like the Buyer

Imagine you issued an RFT: you’d want suppliers who understand your needs, constraints, risks and timelines, not boilerplate bids. Strong responses show empathy, relevance, and value-for-money, not just a low price.

The Bidding Checklist:

Work through this list before you invest time and budget. If any answer triggers doubt, pause and reassess.

Area	Question	Yes/No
Strategic fit	Will this tender genuinely benefit your business?
Contract type	Is this a new tender or an extension of an existing contract?
Buyer relationship	Do you know the agency/buyer or their environment?
Mandatory criteria	Do you meet the minimum/mandatory requirements of the RFP/RFT/EOI?
Relevant experience	Can you provide evidence of comparable projects and outcomes?
Past performance	Have you delivered for this buyer before?
Buyer intent	Do you understand why the tender was released and the problem to solve?
Competitive landscape	Who are the likely competitors and your differentiators?
Capacity & resourcing	Can you deliver without impacting existing clients?
Commercials	Do revenue and margin justify the work and risk profile?
Internal backing	Do you have management/board approval to proceed?
Evaluation criteria	Do you align strongly and demonstrably with how you’ll be scored?
Timeline	Can you meet mobilisation/implementation dates?
Cost to comply	What will it cost to meet all requirements (insurances, certifications, audits)?
Response readiness	Can you start the response immediately and hit the deadline?
Bid cost	What is the true cost (time, SMEs, design, pricing, reviews)?
USP & value-add	(innovation, local content, ESG, risk reduction, whole-of-life value)?

Next step: Mark each item Yes/No, then write a short rationale. Review the pattern: if alignment, capacity, and value are strong, proceed; if not, no-bid and refocus on better-fit opportunities.

Want a more comprehensive checklist? Visit Dawtek and check out their resources via the link below.

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