How do I get started finding business?

March 4, 2008 2:12 PM

Where does one find public RFPs for technical projects - specifically websites? Is there a trusted, standard repository of some sort?

To be clear, I'm not looking for a template to write my own. I'm looking for RFPs to evaluate and make proposals to. Since I do not know who out there (companies, government agencies, etc) needs a website or web-based tool, I don't know where to even start to look.

I've seen a few sites that require payment and supposedly will get me RFPs, but I have no idea about their reliability and they look "spammy." I'd pay if I knew I'd get some legitimate leads.

Are there good repositories, search engines or paid services for this? Are they affordable for someone with little to no starting capital whose entire purpose for looking is hopefully to group together with some trusted friends and work on these projects?

Bottom line: I have several very talented and intelligent colleagues/friends who are interested in taking on some projects and making a living from it.

My reason for submitting anonymously is that I'm currently employed for a web development firm. While I do not have a non-compete clause or anything like that, I'd rather not have my identity tied to a public question like that -- especially one that often shows up #1 on google within minutes of being posted because of AskMe's high page ranking.

Followup questions can be sent to [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to computers & internet (4 comments total)

If you are answering RFPs with no relationship in place with the buying entity you are wasting your time because you aren't going to win anyway. You need to get out there, meet people, and be in the know and be on the short list before the RFP is written. Anything else is a waste of time.
posted by COD at 5:17 PM on March 4

I've got to agree with COD. The only exception might be local government contracts, as they are sometimes low enough in value to be off the radar of more serious players.
My local government advertises all tenders, but most stuff is for replacing street lights or building toilet blocks etc.
My job is coordinating responses to RFTs for a large company. We have 4 people in this role, plus sales teams, tech teams etc.
I would suggest any web design work large enough to justify an RFT would be out of the range of a part-time respondent.
RFT's generally also require a lot of "infrastructure" be in place for the respondent - ISO quality assurance, liability and indemnity insurances, support/help desks, billing arrangements even through to things like environmental accreditations and hiring policies.
To understand the mindset of the purchasers, consider if they went to the considerable effort and expense to release a tender, it usually means they are seeking considerable resources from the respondent, and that the requirement is viewed pretty seriously by them. In such a situation, the risk of choosing an unknown respondent would be very high, and generally not worth losing one's job over.
If you do wish to continue, I can suggest www.tenders.com.au as a reputable search service for Australian RFPs, we have used them in the past, but you will get good results for government from www.tenders.gov.au and the corresponding state sites, e.g. www.tenders.nsw.gov.au
You could do worse than download a few tender documents from these sites to see what you are getting yourself in for. The government RFTs are generally free to read.
posted by bystander at 5:47 PM on March 4

free
https://www.ebidsourcing.com/

http://admin.state.nh.us/purchasing/bids_posteddte.asp

not free
http://www.guru.com/index.aspx
posted by mazienh at 6:17 PM on March 4

Here's a few to get you started. Check out their list of related links for more similar sites.

Canadian sites:
BC Govt (free, no registration required, download documents freely). A quick scan of open opportunities included four for website development.
Alberta Govt (free to browse but must be registered to download - I think registration is free).

FedBizOpps (US federal govt) that bills itself as "the single government point-of-entry for federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. This site looks to have a free notification service.

This private fee-based US site (governmentbids.com) has a free 45 day notification trial.

You can probably find lots more by going to the websites of public sector organizations in your area. If they don't actually post opportunities on their site, they will certainly have links to where to find them. Good luck!
posted by nelvana at 7:00 PM on March 4