New business securing initial contracts

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ivorystraws

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I know this is dependent on a number of varying factors such as the type of business/service but in general, I would just like to know where a new service business can secure work contracts i.e. are there specific sources available for wanted services etc, is there a central tendering system apart from the governmental one (etenders)?

I realise that marketing/promoting the new business product secures some initial contracts but what I'm looking for specifically is perhaps some source where it's possible to offer a new service/business to new potential customers/other businesses.
 
I think you will need to give more detail for a constructive answer. My initial impression is that the answer is no.
 
OK, the kindof related example sources which I am looking for would be
- websites such as e-tenders.gov.ie (but perhaps for the private sector)
- relevant Wanted Ads (Newspapers, relavant sector Magazines/Websites)
 
Hi Ivory

Could you narrow down the particular industry? eg construction / IT / design?

If you are looking for a broad website that would cover everything, then the answer would be no

How ever there a number aimed at IT / Programming / Tradesmen
 
Hi Fintan,

Well it was just a general query but if I had to narrow it down to a particular industry, I would say the IT Design and development industry and this particular business has a strong online services presence.
I am aware of the freelance IT procurement sites out there, if by tradesmen you are referring to sites such as www.findatradesman.ie or www.onlinetradesmen.com etc. and obviously such sites like elance.com can provide a tendering platform for IT, Design, Marketing etc but they are extremely competitive.
I suppose methods to promote and obtain sales on ebay and Amazon are another source of definite revenue if setup correctly.
 
Hi Ivory

The nature of an international website like elance will make pricing very competitive.

The tradesmen websites, all suffer from the same problem, trades men are too busy to care. If there is a ever a downturn in the market, those websites will come into there own.

Ebay and Amazon are good ways of promotion and so is networking.
 
Is it considered bad business etiquette, if my competitors customers , which are listed, are contacted directly by me offering them a lower cost, higher quality service? Bear in mind both businesses are located in the same small locality.

The end result would hopefully secure a few contracts with customers who require such a service (as established by my competitor).
 
Ivory

That usually backfires because they can do this back to you and if larger have deeper pockets to take some hits. But there is no harm in learning where your competition markets and then do likewise. Nor is there anything wrong with you stating that you are better/faster/cheaper than XYZ. The previous post regarding networking is a good one to takeup. Have a look at these networking sites all of which have a services offered area for UK and Ireland: www.linkedin.com www.ecademy.com
 
ivorystraws said:
Is it considered bad business etiquette, if my competitors customers , which are listed, are contacted directly by me offering them a lower cost, higher quality service? Bear in mind both businesses are located in the same small locality.

The end result would hopefully secure a few contracts with customers who require such a service (as established by my competitor).
Click to expand...

I would guess the majority of people you contact would go back to orginal supplier and ask them to match the price / service.

If you did get more business, all you are doing is selecting the most price sensitive customers, which again, means if someone else comes along with a better price they are gone.

Why don't you instead contact your current customer base and see if they will give you qualified refferels within their network? I find this works fantastically well, if you plan it into your sales system it works even better.
 
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