Meet the buyers with €9 billion to spend at TenderCon2, Tuesday 6th March, Science Gallery, Dublin

Government contracts in Ireland are worth (at least) €9 billion per annum yet only 10% of SMEs compete for this sales pipeline.

TenderCon, part of the TenderScout group, is here to change that and empower businesses to go after public contracts and win them.

“We see world-class SMEs in Ireland that are capable of fulfilling government requirements with their high quality products and services but never think of engaging with tenders as an additional revenue stream for themselves,” says Tony Corrigan, founder and CEO of TenderScout.

Reasons for this are myriad.

Tenders have an image problem

SMEs perceive, with some justification, that tenders are tied up in bureaucracy.

Other perceptions, with less grounding in reality, include the belief that tenders are only won by large corporates or that the process is rigged.

“Our inaugural TenderCon event was hosted last October to address these concerns and lift the lid on what setting up a business-to-government (B2G) sales strategy actually entails. One of the most impactful panels of the whole morning included a selection of SME owners sharing exactly how they have gone on to win lucrative government contracts,” explains Tony.

Grace Fuller, Head of Customer Success at TenderScout, confirms that SMEs want a roadmap of how to win tenders to feel empowered enough to give tendering a try for their business.

Register to TenderCon and discover how #tenders can be a lucrative source of revenue for your business.https://t.co/Qzgp1SClcE

— TenderCon (@tendercon) February 20, 2018

“SME owners want to know what they should be doing to win tenders. The size of the public contract pot is not enough of a motivation, but when we share operational information on how you put a winning tender proposal together people start paying attention,” Grace explains.

The next event will expand further on this theme.

TenderCon2 puts the buyer front and centre

“Our TenderCon series is aimed at delivering the decision-makers and the best tactical advice to SMEs in a forum that allows for networking and conversation,” Tony elaborates.

Most businesses feel that they need to be of a certain size before they can compete for government contacts.

However, with strategic guidance SMEs may find that they’re already at a place entirely suitable to fulfil tender requirements.

TenderCon2, which takes place on 6 March, has, among other panels, three government buyers who will share key information on exactly what they are looking for in a tender proposal. Tickets are going quickly but a few are still available here.

Government contracts account for as much as 18% of global GDP. Don't miss out on this lucrative sales pipeline and find out how to implement the winning #tender strategyhttps://t.co/CWmuhyLttl

— TenderCon (@tendercon) February 20, 2018

The event will be live-streamed in order for SMEs outside of Dublin to benefit from the information sharing that will take place on the day. The link for this will be shared on the site’s social platforms so keep an eye on these sites:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

And stay tuned for TenderCon3.

“We are lining up a whole day event in October which will include break-away sessions and one-to-ones covering multiple topics that deal with B2G strategies,” says Tony.

Companies that compete successfully for #tenders set up a system.https://t.co/73ltp80xGn pic.twitter.com/9bvBLL0rVE

— TenderCon (@tendercon) February 19, 2018

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