Small firms given help to compete for public contract

Thanks to Cooper Paul, the Loiughton based accountants, I bring you some up to date news relevant to those of you in small firms. Pass this on if it can help others.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has outlined a series of reforms aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses compete for public sector contracts.

Under the new system, entrepreneurs will be able to pitch directly to Whitehall buyers as part of the Government's efforts to make public procurement more accessible to smaller firms.The requirement for businesses to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) before bidding for contracts worth less than £100,000 will also be abolished - a move welcomed by many business groups.

In addition, Mr Cameron announced the launch of a new website which enables firms to search for public sector contracts worth more than £10,000. A similar type of website already exists in Scotland and is reported to be a success, with around 50,000 members registered to the site.
'Too many contracts are signed off behind closed doors with little or no public scrutiny. That can be good for the contractors who can charge over the odds without being properly challenged but it is not good for the taxpayer who is being short changed and denied value for money,' commented the Prime Minister.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which has been campaigning for the Government to remove the red tape surrounding public procurement, hailed the decision a 'victory' for small enterprises.'The FSB is pleased that the Government has recognised that these barriers exist and has committed to making the process simpler,' it said in a press release. 'The initiatives, such as the reform of the PQQ process and more transparency through a new contracts website, as well as providing a dedicated voice for small firms' views to be heard, will mean more small businesses having the potential to access work'.

However Susan Anderson, CBI director for public services, said the plan 'could be much more radical by opening up all government contracts and public services to a range of innovative and expert providers.'

The Institute of Directors (IoD) added that the changes were 'long overdue', but it questioned whether the move would deliver real change. 'It remains to be seen whether today's changes will benefit small businesses or whether risk-averse bureaucrats will soldier on with safe choices of big brands,' said the IoD's Alexander Ehmann.

Facebook pick me up.

We all have days that are not so great and I seem to be in a mass of days of challenge at present. I can't seem to get into my groove and find myself irritated by my feeling of disorganisation. For someone who usually is very organised perhaps you can sense why the frustration.

I had hoped that this half term week would be one that I could use to catch up and it's working - a little..... For as well as work catch up I'm trying to get my daughter settled back into her new room after building work and redecoration which has impacted the whole house. We have lots of people coming to stay at the weekend so there's a time limit both good and bad.

This morning as I pondered what I could achieve today I received the message below on Facebook.

 

Sarah's Profile · Heather's Profile · Sarah's Wall

Sarah BatesHeather Waring

I love all your blogs! As well as being a wonderful friend for many years you never cease to inspire me! Kisses xxx

Now how lovely is that and how it lifts my spirits. 

It's great to feel appreciated and useful and I thank Sarah so much for her kind words. We don't always know when people are down so let's all get into the habit of telling people how we feel about them. A tweet, a message on Facebook, an email, a note in the post, a card, a text, a phone call. There are so many ways and it only takes a minute

Who can you contact today? Let me know, by posting a comment, how you get on.

Are you making the most of your weekend?

This is just what you need to focus you on a Friday so read on.....

In getting my monthly update in Zest magazine I came across the following information and although I do not have all the elements of the feature the Friday evening stop rang true. It doesn't matter where you are placed just take note that if it takes you until lunch time Saturday to get into your weekend and you start planning your week on a Sunday about 4 then start a new practice.

"Get your most dreaded tasks done early in the week and set an alarm for 5.30 p.m. on a Friday to make your Monday to do list....then get outta there"

Roll on the warmer weather as my get outta there will then be onto the verandah outside the office to open that chilled white wine! Of course a nice fruity red beside the fire could do until then.

Wow, what a lot of opportunity.

No matter how much you have to do, and I hope you're all busy, put aside some time to revisit your past contacts and to have a look at what opportunities you might have been overlooking.

I've been through a very interesting exercise in the past week which has been transferring files from my old PC to my new MacBook and I've been trying to trim down the files as I go. This has meant setting aside time to focus on these files and as I've been doing this, I've been amazed at how much potential business is out there.

Now getting current or past clients to spend more is much more cost efficient than having to engage brand new clients so choose a few hours and have a look through some files. I bet you'll find people to follow up with too and then, as Nike say 'Just do it'

If you haven't done this for a while, you may want to set a system in place to make the whole process more regular and efficient.

Persistence has many benefits

I'm a great believer in one to one meetings and invest time in these regularly also encouraging my fellow Athena members and visitors to do likewise. But why?

Well at networking meetings and other events, there is often not the time to really get to grips with people's business in detail. In a one to one meeting over a coffee, lunch or drink, you get a chance to get to know the person's business; what kind of clients they are looking for; how you can help them and they of course,  can find out the same about you. We women also have the edge here of getting to know the person behind the business too so we get a real holistic picture and through this we, I believe, excel at building that relationship.

From this point, we may use services, hopefully will tell others and in some cases may have discovered a potential partner in some aspects of our business. Don't however always expect that it will all fall into place immediately.

In November attending a Cappucino Connections for the Athena City group I met Sasha Kader from Sakr Design Ltd and we hit it off really well. We both wanted to meet again but Christmas was getting in the way and we committed to a January date. Then in mid December I met Sasha again at another Athena event and we talked further. At this stage she was no longer a stranger and I felt I was truly starting to build this relationship so when we met for our one to one in January, I was there to really get clear about her business and had in mind being able to tell others about her and find her clients.  In this meeting we had no people distractions, no sound distractions and as she spoke I realised the breadth of her offering and her expertise and it became clear that not only was I now able to tell others about her but she was also a very serious contender as someone that could deliver the integrated service that I was looking for for MediaCoach

Today, Alan Stevens and I met with Sasha and are delighted to be working with her to develop the next stage of business.


The moral, well,  always invest the time and it will pay off. Will keep you posted as to how things develop. I know it's going to be a great experience.