Government contract help

Graphicsbayou said:

I am interested in doing government contracts. I have no idea how to price these jobs. I just missed a bid because I could not figure out the pricing. Is there anyone who can guide me in the right direction etc

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I deal with government contracts in my other life. My advice to you is if you can avoid that rout do so. Now, if they come knocking on your door, then bid on them with reasonable margins. Be sure to factor in price hikes if they want to lock in a price for more than a few months. Also, spell out premium add-on services things like delivery/shipping/individual folding etc, separately in your bid so they can see apples to apples--you might not be the lowest priced bid but if you say I charge $.25/pc for folding and the competition doesn't specify they may come to you and say, "can you wave the fold fee" which if you priced properly with reasonable margins on each item/service you could say yes or drop it to a dime to get your toe in the door...

I am currently bidding on a contract that for the last 4 years I have been providing the agency their garments without having to go thru the bidding process... now as the dollar amount is over their threshold of not needing to put to tender, I have to compete. If you are lucky you'll get some of this type of work as it is a whole lot easier to 'bid and win' when they don't put to tender.

And, if you do bid on contracts and lose remember that there is always someone out there willing to take make nothing (because they don't realize the value or the cost until after they're in deep or they just need to win at all costs)... don't worry about them, you are the one who needs to eat/pay employees/etc... trying to compete against anyone who doesn't care if they make money is insane...

Last thought is be sure to set minimum order amounts. They may want 1000 pcs now but need only 2 pcs in a few weeks. Either specify the minimum they have to order for your price point or give them a sliding scale (eg1-47 pcs $$$, 48-500 pcs $$ 500+pcs $). I have found that some contracts don't like the latter method however, are you really going to set up your screen(s) for a handful of shirts and turn a profit?