In each tender document, you will find ‘mandatory information’ that is compulsory to complete as part of your tender proposal.

If you are unable to provide this information, your proposal will not be accepted or evaluated.

Mandatory information typically includes:

• Business name
• Business number and/or ACN
• Business address and contact details
• Accreditation and or relevant licence information. For example, if you are a builder, you will need to have a building registration. 
• Insurance details, e.g. public liability and workers compensation.

It is strongly recommended that you have a registered business with the relevant licences and insurances to operate.

You may also be required to supply financial information about your business, including bank statements for 2-3 years. 

This is to show the client you have the necessary cash flow to support the contract delivery should you be successful. This is not always a requirement. 

For most tenders with the exception of Expression of Interests (EOIs), you will be required to submit a price with your final submission.

This price represents the cost of delivering the contract requirements over the life of the contract term.

It is important that you understand the market and know what a competitive price is for the product or service you are selling.

The tender document will also have numerous questions, asking you for information covering the key areas of your business, as well as your past experience and performance.

For example, there is almost always a question on your experience. You will have to provide information on at least two previous projects you have delivered that are similar to the one you are bidding for in scope and value.               

It is really important to consider if your company has the relevant experience and strong performance in these past contracts to be in the chance of success.

You will be competing against companies with a good track record, potentially including the current supplier. 

All tenders will ask you a range of questions covering key areas of your business. 

This will require you to gather a lot of information. It is recommended to understand these requirements before you start bidding to make the process more efficient. 

The following represents some of the information you will need:

• Experience and past performance – information regarding past project performance and possibly client referees. 
• People – who are your key people and what is their experience (CVs). 
• Methodology – a detailed description of how you will do the job, and potentially a program.
• Quality, Safety and Environment – you may be required to submit policies, plans and procedures to respond to these questions.

An average tender runs over about three weeks. The deadline for the submission of the tender is normally a set day and time. Generally, this deadline is non-negotiable. 

The client who issues the tender sets clear rules and guidelines you need to follow throughout the tender process, as well as how you need to submit the tender.

So in addition with complying with the tender rules, you will also need to submit a compliant tender that conforms to the tender requirements.

You will also need to review the contract and elect to agree or disagree with the terms. 

You will need to submit all mandatory information, pricing and answer all tender questions.

After you submit the tender (on time), you are scored on how well you answer these questions and how competitive your price is. 

Most people underestimate the amount of information they need to complete a tender document and the time if takes to put together.

That's because it's hard to judge how 'big' and complex the document is with limited experience. 

Preparing a tender takes time, efforts and resources away from your day-to-day business.  

A lot of the information required needs to come from the subject matter experts. For example, if it is a plumbing tender, generally a plumber will need to explain what approach will be required to complete the works compliantly.

You will also need to factor in the following 'jobs' to complete the tender:

• Price a tender
• Review contract
• Write responses
• Format final tender response.

There is a best practice standard of presentation that is considered 'professional'.

This takes time, skills and resources to do so and a dedicated focus and process to achieve the best quality response by the deadline.