HOW TO WIN PUBLIC TENDERS On 18th June 2013, the Cabinet Secretary to the National Treasury (Government of Kenya) gazetted Public Procurement Preference and Reservations(Amendment) Regulations 2013 to permit small or microenterprises and youth to access government opportunities. Part of the said regulations read as follows: “(1) A procuring entity shall allocate at least thirty percent of its procurement spend for the purposes procuring goods, works and services from micro and small enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disability. (2) For the purpose of implementing paragraph (1), a procuring entity shall implement the requirement through its budgets, procurement plans, tender notices, contract awards and submit quarterly reports to the Authority.” Here are three important things to know: Create a Legal Person- The bulk of the government funds set aside for Public Procurement shall be spent in keeping with the provisions of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act. Register a business ( Sole Proprietorship, partnership, Company or Joint Venture) which you can use as a vehicle to transact business. You will be required to comply with statutory requirements of such entities and generally give it a personality. This includes but is not limited to the following : PIN Certificate VAT Certificate NSSF Registration Tax Compliance Certificate Postal Address/ Contacts/ Physical Location Business Licence (With City or Municipal Council) Others including building a Brand around your Business (Company Profiling, Staffing, Corporate Identity etc) Participate to Win- Once you have your Strawman, he needs to compete for opportunities with other Strawmen. He must get prequalified or get enlisted with relevant institutions (Say National Treasury, County Assembly, CDFs, Public Entities (More than 400 FYI). He must buy tenders, and bid competitively to win. You are not alone in the game and must not permit illusions to crowd your vision. You will win through action. This is the most difficult part of the process but you only need one window of opportunity. The rest of the reputation and continued business shall be built upon that first case. I have seen companies grow from building dog kennels for the Government to construction multi-million shilling housing projects. Your cards must be placed on the table for a chance to win. Performance Is Key – You may not feel the value of winning government jobs if you keep under-performing. Short cuts are often long cuts. Nobody wants to be associated with non-performers. Once you win that tender, do a good job according to the specifications of the job and the circumstance. Go an extra mile and always aim to give your client Value for Money (VfM). Some people complain that the Chinese are “eating our lunch” but the truth of the matter is that participation in Government Procurement is open to most (almost all) Kenyans ( Step 1 & 2), and the Chinese do a good job in terms of Cost, Time, Quality and Performance. Performance matters. The doors of opportunities are now open to the entire world of Legal Persons ( Globalization) and we have no borders. People in Other Countries listen to our National Budget and fly in to seek opportunities. Think about it...Briann Muasya
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 08:33:08 +0000
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