For a firm to bid on a certain project there are few subjective and objective factors that need consideration. Below are the few factors that Marvin’s firm should consider before bidding on this project.
Objective factors:1) Bid Cost Tenability: What will this project be needing? Time or Money? If the bid is won by the firm, how will it profit the firm?2) Profit potential: Can a good enough profit be made by winning this bid?a) Does the firm have in-house expertise and man power to do this project profitably?b) The firm must assess the history with the client. Were the previous projects from this client profitable?3) Payment: Given the contract time of this project, would the client be paying the firm in reasonable amounts of time? Or, would Marvin’s firm be needing to fund the project. If the firm must fund the project, how long would that have to be and how would it effect Marvin’s business.Subjective factors:1) Competition Win Impact: Who are my competitors? Does Marvin need to win this bid just to have the “insider advantage” with the client or its okay for his competitors to get their foot in the door with this client.2) Scope: Is the scope well defined? If not, how will this affect the relationship with the client.3) Terms and Conditions: Is this contract too risky? Would the firm be vulnerable to a higher level of risks?4) Future Opportunity: How would contract help the firm in the future. Would this contract get Marvin’s firm new clients in the future?To bid or not to bid:If Marvin’s firm can consider the above factors, they should surely go ahead and bid for this contract.
Given the length of the contract, it can stabilize his business. Contracts as large as this do not come along often. Since it is a large contract, there would be a higher profit ratio when compared to the previous contracts. Winning this contract would give Marvin’s firm higher chances of getting similar contracts in the future and improve their relationship with the client. Marvin’s firm would also have a chance of raising their working standards and improving resources.
Not bidding might result in lower profit margins in the future and damage the client relationship.Reference:ZweigWhite’s 2014 Financial Survey of A/E firms: ZweigWhite. “Financial Performance Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms” Survey. 2014.
