I’ve written before about bidding for public sector work, particularly the challenges facing small businesses and independent professionals who want to work with public sector organisations.
Someone commented on one of my recent posts:
“Your experience in this field would be invaluable to anyone thinking of submitting a tender.”
A few days later, I was talking to a professional colleague about his experiences of bidding for public sector work. He said that if there had been a course showing him how to do it, he’d have signed up.
Both comments got me thinking about what sort of support might actually be useful.
I’ve spent a good part of my working life inside public sector organisations, and I’ve also spent years running a small business that supplies them. One thing I’ve learned is that being good at what you do and knowing how to sell it to the public sector are two different things.
You might have years of experience, excellent client relationships and a service that organisations genuinely need. That doesn’t necessarily mean you know where opportunities are advertised, how procurement frameworks operate, what buyers expect from suppliers or whether a particular tender is worth pursuing.
And it’s not always about completing a lengthy tender. There are different ways public sector organisations buy services, and understanding those routes can make quite a difference.
For smaller businesses, the challenge isn’t necessarily writing a better bid. It might be knowing which opportunities to pursue, understanding why buyers ask for certain information or having the right evidence and business information ready before an opportunity appears.
There’s also the question of whether public sector work is right for your business at all. The time involved, the requirements and the commercial terms all need consideration. Spending days preparing a bid you have little realistic chance of winning isn’t a particularly good use of anyone’s time.
So I’ve decided to run a free webinar on Tuesday, 1 December, 12.30–1.30pm, called Could your business sell to the public sector?
I’ll be sharing some of what I’ve learned about how public sector buying works, where opportunities come from, what buyers expect and how smaller businesses can prepare for 2027.
I’m also exploring whether there’s a need for more practical support in this area. A course might be useful, but I’m not convinced it’s necessarily the first thing people need. I’d rather understand where they’re getting stuck before deciding what that support should look like.
If you’re an independent professional or run a small business and have wondered about public sector work, come along. Equally, if you’ve tried before and found the process difficult, I’d be interested in hearing about that too.
This session focuses on the UK public sector, including how organisations buy services and what they expect from suppliers. Places are limited to 50, and the webinar won’t be recorded, so you’ll need to attend live.