Careers Business Ownership How to Be a Successful Bidder on Construction Projects Print Drazen Lovric / Getty Images Business Ownership Industries Construction Retail Small Business Restauranting Real Estate Nonprofit Organizations Landlords Import/Export Business Freelancing & Consulting Franchises Food & Beverage Event Planning eBay E-commerce Operations & Success Becoming an Owner By Juan Rodriguez Juan Rodriguez University of Puerto Rico DeVry University Juan Rodriguez is a former writer with The Balance who covered large-scale construction. He is an engineer with experience managing and overseeing large civil works construction. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 02/02/19 The following tips have been proved and provide positive results for many contractors when bidding their projects. Please follow them carefully as these bid tips will increase your opportunity to be awarded. If your bid proposal doesn’t have the correct ingredients or is poorly targeted, you will be eliminated from competition, without being able to bid fairly with other contractors. Avoid these bid errors when making your proposals for government projects. Bid Language Tips Remember, being simple will allow you to get benefits, contract and bid doors will be open for you. Keep it simple, avoid confusing language, and be straight to the point, present facts not ideas. The wording that you use will be the key for someone to keep reading your bid or to put it aside. Don’t use long sentences and paragraphs, it’s distracting, and probably the reader will lose all connection with your idea. Bids Resources Sometimes you will bid on something that, maybe you can’t complete or don't have the available personnel to do it. Make sure and convince your reader using past projects or past experiences that you have the necessary skills to do it. You will then re-focus on gather resources to the new project while your other projects will be left unattended by you or your staff. Get Ready to be Paid Many government agencies make transactions using credit cards, and sometimes is a requirement on the bid proposal, for you to present evidence that you can be paid using plastic. Also be sure to set-up your accounts so they can accept wire transfers or ACH. Make Sure the Units Are Right The most common mistake. Bid what they ask you in the units they are requiring to do so. Sometimes they require you to submit a bid price for linear feet. Instead, your past experience has allowed you to quote based on linear meter. Don’t use meters if they ask for feet. It may appear like a mistake, but it can cost you, and the contracting officer might think that you are not careful. Clean Bids Imagine, if your bid is a mess, what can they expect from you in a project? Check every piece of paper not only in the front but also in the back, your papers should be neat and clean, and remember to number the pages and bind everything. Remember every piece of paper is justified and has one specific purpose. Don't Discard Don't discard any agency just because of their name. You will get surprised to know all the requirements needed from some agencies; it might sound strange but don’t close the doors. Show Your Skills Instead of presenting vague or general ideas of your business, nail the proposal by answering specific requirement solicitations. Present specific ideas on how to solve the problem, what would you do and how would you do it. How you would be highlighted from other competitors? What can you complete or do differently than the others? What benefits are we going to receive from you? Watch for Out for that Due Date Time is of the essence, right? Every bid proposal has a deadline that you must meet. Failing to do so will let you out of business immediately. Don’t wait until the last moment to send your bid proposal, sometimes the mail gets stuck with lots of letters, especially during the holiday season.