The NHS tendering process can often feel like something of a minefield. Use these 7 survival tips to make the process a little easier to navigate.
Is the tender financially viable for YOU?
Do a high-level costing; consider a number of patients you will see, the type of service you will provide, what’s the average number of UDA per patient, location needs and how far is it away from where you live, will it be associated/principal-led, research any recruitment issues and consider your mobilization plan.
Have a strategy and stick to it.
What’s your USP and what do you want to create for the community.
Agree your baseline EBITDA, UDA rate, profit generated and if the figures don’t work – reconsider your strategy, be realistic.
Get your ducks in a row
Inform your accountant well in advance and prepare them for possible information required in a short timeframe. Speak to financial advisors regarding loan affordability as most tenders require proof of cash/funding. Consider the company structure, partnerships, subcontractors or consortiums. All new legal entities may require business plans, cash flow forecasts and balance sheets.
Read the specification document
All your answers are in the document, go through each section and highlight main points and cross-reference with questions.
Answer the question
Use bullet points initially for your first draft and refer back to the specification document to ensure you have answered the question. Look at the weighting for each point, don’t waste energies writing war and peace for a ½ point! Don’t waffle!
Set realistic deadlines and adhere to them
Its imperative to manage your time effectively as you only have a short timeframe to complete your answers, create deadlines, milestones and use a project planner if necessary.
Contact us to find out more
Don’t wait until last minute to submit the tender
Understand the portal and its workings, read all the clarification questions as most likely someone has already asked your question.
Be ready to submit at least 2 hours before submission, clearly label all attachments and don’t cross-refer as usually different people read different sections.
We would strongly suggest submitting 6-12 hours before, just in case portal crashes (sorry, it can happen) you can still amend after submission.
Click here to read our article on Dentist and Dental Associate Expenses Guide
Happy tendering….Keep Calm and keep hydrated!
Speak to a member of the Samera team on how we can help you tendering process, we offer a tender review, bespoke full tendering service, we can also help you find new premises, financial funding and helping with business plans!
More on the NHS tendering process
For further information on our NHS tendering process support please visit here.
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About the Author
Arun Mehra
With almost twenty years of commercial experience and knowledge in Dentistry, Arun’s expertise is valued by hundreds of businesses across the UK. His financial acumen and know-how, along with his hands-on commercial expertise have helped clients, large and small, new and established to achieve great things.
Arun is the founder of the Samera Group, starting the business with just one client sitting at his father’s dining table. Fifteen years on, Team Samera now service hundreds of Dental clients, run exciting events, help clients raise finance, and are very active in helping clients buy or sell Dental practices.
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