According to a recent fact sheet from gobonfire.com on how bids are won, on average, organizations will win 53% of the bids they submit. That makes for great odds, particularly when many businesses both small and large, have been known to generate a great percentage of revenue from government contracting. In this video blog, Dr. Tanisha Lemelle joins the Table SALT Group and shares valuable findings from her study. She interviewed several successfully contracted minority and small business owners to learn best practices.

Tip 1: Meet or exceed the expectations of the RFP.

Request for Proposals (RFPs) can be quite complicated and cumbersome to read. Often, they ask for a lot of information over and beyond the details of your product or service. Rest assured, it gets easier with practice. Once you get accustomed to the language in the documents, you will learn and become more comfortable with presenting your best work in a way that gets attention. Proposify is a great tool to give life to your proposal idea.

Tip 2: Build a team to balance the expertise.

Many new business owners try to tackle everything themselves. It’s important to be aware of your strengths and weakness so you know how to balance the scope of work. Hire or partner with colleagues who excel in area you don’t. Learn how to set up Memorandums of Understanding and Joint Venture agreements to manage team expectations. This is why the Business Quad Squad is important to help you avoid the pitfalls.

Tip 3: Pay attention to details.

Bidding for contracts is just one aspect. Winning the contract is a whole other ball game. That said, it’s the small details that can keep you out of the runnings or prevent you from profiting once the contract is awarded.

Need a great resource to start writing your next winning proposal? We have found Proposify to be a valuable tool for success.

Check out the video on this new vlog series. We hope you enjoy this installment of 3 Tips for Leadership and Business Development.