Does your business model align with the government’s goals

Now that you understand whether you can bid at all let’s see whether you have a reasonable chance of winning.  And there are a dozen factors that go into assessing your win chances (P-Win), and for a full class on P-Win see HERE.  But right now we want to see whether your business model and value prodposition align with the government’s goals.

Here are some examples: 
1) The government wants a low-risk “proven” solution
Good if you are an industry veteran with all the certifications.
Bad if you provide an innovative solution
2) The government is looking for the cheapest solution
Good if you are a discount provider
Bad if you are a premium provider
In theory you could re-work your business model to be competitive on this bid, but this is rarely a good idea.

How this analysis changes as a prime or a sub: In theory only the prime has to worry about this analysis since they are the ones setting the solution and the price, but if the government says that they want “low-risk” and “proven” then the prime is going to want subs that add to the “low-risk” and “proven” message.  Similarly, if the government wants low price the prime is going to have to slash every cost they can to win so they can’t afford a premium sub.

How to figure out what the government’s goals are: The evaluation criteria tells you what the government wants.

For example: The evaluation criteria requires:
1) A dozen certifications that the winners has to have: The government wants low risk
2) Three or more examples of previous work: The government wants a proven solution
3) That bids will be evaluated on Low-Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA): The government wants cheap
As you read the evaluation criteria see what the government is trying to achieve.

Decide if you can win: At this point you should understand
1) The products and services the government wants
2) Which ones you are interested in providing
3) Whether you can win
4) Whether you are well positioned to win
If you have a low chance of winning you should probably move on.  There are thousands of new solicitations every day, so wait a week and odds are something better will come along.