ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Following news that EMI are about to cut 2,000 jobs as part of a cost cutting exercise by the new management, the main cause is attributed to the rapid fall in sales of CDs. It is true that the internet has significantly dented sales in CDs, but can the music industry continue to blame piracy for bringing huge drops in profit?

It strikes me that their war on piracy is going to be long and fruitless and during this time their businesses will suffer. What they really need to do is work out a way to still make money in the changing digital climate. Instead of arresting 12 year olds for downloading illegal music they need to work out how to control the flow of music and be a little more cunning about i…

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Do people understand what networking is all about?

Do you attend these events thinking, if you give someone sat next to you enough ear ache with your wonderful sales pitch while they are chasing their lamb chop (often without lamb sauce) around their plate, they are going to give you any business.

Or do you attend networking events to build a solid group of contacts who you could form a close working relationship with in months or years to come.

I am a great believer if you have a giving mentality (here, have some of my mint sauce I carry around just for occasions like this) at these events ie: how can I make other people successful in their businesses and not expect anything in return, they will always remember you and help you become successful also.

Am I naive in still believing that most people in business are good and honest? Those who are not are not real business people, you can spot them a mile away. They are not wanting to build a business, they are the takers in this world who give nothing, and it is these people who are invariably taken at the end of the day……..To prison….

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Hello, I’m Louise and this is my first ever blog (or should I say ‘the first time I have ever blogged’?) I wanted to share with the world my thoughts on a subject close to my heart – public sector tendering. I’ve had good experiences, bad experiences and very bad experiences of tendering and have put together some ‘top tips’. Hope they help.

To those of you who have already tendered for Public Sector work, you will know that in order to win contracts you have to go through the costly, time consuming and enjoyable process of tendering. This process begins with the Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) which demands answers to many business related questions which cover everything from your name and address, turnover and technical capacity to past work examples and the inside leg measurements of all key staff employed to work on the project*. If you pass the PQQ stage and are shortlisted, the next stage is the Invitation to Tender (ITT). I only have experience of the ITT stage from within the creative industry but for us creative types, this is where we have to demonstrate our capability by responding to a brief set by the contracting authority, and submit costs. If you are successful at that stage then you are either awarded the contract (brilliant!) or added to a roster (great, but work still needs to be done before you are actually awarded any work).

Anyway, here are the tips.

1) Give someone in your organisation complete responsibility over the tender – it’s fundamental that the deadline is met and that the information is presented clearly. This does not happen if the tender documents are passed from one colleague to another.

2) Read through the tender document thoroughly. Sounds obvious but read it and then think hard about whether you can win the contract. Unfortunatley, it’s not about whether you can DO the work, it’s about whether you can DEMONSTRATE that you can do the work. If you don’t have relevant experience, you will more than likely fall down at the first hurdle.

3) Ask the contracting authority if you have any queries. Most procurement people are helpful so call them and ask if you are unsure about what they are looking for. This saves their time in the long run too.

4) Find out what the contract is worth and how long it runs for – this will help with motivation when you’re sobing into a pile of tender documents that at first glance make little sense.

5) When you’ve completed your response (try to make this more than 1 day before the deadline) read through it. Bear in mind that the person reading it will have read many other tender applications (sometimes as many as 500!) just like yours so make absolutley sure that the information is clear and what they have asked for.

Good luck!

*You don’t really have to give inside leg measurements, although I think the government is looking to include this in future Procurement Polici…

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