08 Apr Partnering
We find with a number of tenders that in order to meet either the financial or delivery requirements you may need to partner with another company or use subcontractors. Partnering with a competitor is also a great way of opening more opportunities and also helping you win a bid that you may have lost to a competitor.
How do you identify if you need to look at a partnership? It may be that over time you have become aware that you cannot meet the requirements of a number of tenders and the only way to overcome this is to join forces with another business, or it may be that you have identified on a tender that there is an element you cannot fulfil in-house.
Whatever the reason there will be a type of partnering to suit your needs:
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- Subcontractor – Using a subcontractor can be a way for you to ensure you can provide all aspects of the service required whilst retaining control and the client relationship element.
- Supplier – A relationship that you have with an existing supplier in order to provide you with the resources or equipment that you need to fulfil the contract.
- Consortium or Joint Venture – Legally joining up with another business to deliver a contract can take the shape of a number of entities including a consortium or joint venture. Exploring both options against your specific situation is advised to decided which option suits you best.
When thinking about the partnering in order to win you may have an existing relationship so the decision can be easy. However, all relationships have to start somewhere, when you are looking for a new partnership it is important that you do your research to ensure you are going into something fully informed.
When forming a new partnership you will need to ensure you have an agreement in place, this will ensure that both sides know what is expected of them and what they are bringing to the table. The agreement should including:
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- Clarity on who is doing what
- Confidentially agreement (NDA)
- Work structure
- Pricing/ budget
For situations where a consortium or joint venture is involved more detailed legal agreements may be required, which will be individual to the circumstances of those companies.
Once all your agreements are in place it is important to ensure that you then put the strongest business case forward to the buyer on what benefits the partnership brings to them and how it makes your offering stronger.
