Small businesses that complete Interise’s StreetWise ‘MBA’TM increase their annual revenue on average by 40-50%. Since 2008, they have secured almost $3 billion dollars in government and institutional contracts. What’s the secret to this success? As part of a successful growth strategy for small business, read on for tips on what it takes to build small business capacity by landing contracts with anchor institutions.
Begin by ‘networking’ with potential anchor institutions.
Find out who the key players are (that would purchase your goods/services) and solicit an introduction. This could be via social media or better yet, on site at either a trade show or event (at the institution). When I wanted to introduce my business to the different SUNY schools, I offered probono presentations through their disability offices.
Be willing to be a sub-contractor on an RFP prior to you being ready to bid on a project yourself.This way you have that ‘foot in the door’ and can expose them to your level of service, employees, products, etc. If you are a WBE or Certified 8A you could be a very attractive addition to a competitor’s bid.
Know whether to bid on volume.
If you bid based on a certain volume, you can bid lower. But if you bid it, and during the year, they say that they don’t need that many hours anymore, you’re still tied to the lower rate. So now your profit margins have shrunk,
and you might be in a position where you’re actually losing money on every job.
Click here to find out about our annual thrive! event!