A niche market is one component of a broader field or industry. Let’s look at dog toys. Dog toys can be separated into interactive dog toys. Interactive dog toys can be separated into treat dispensers and puzzle feeders. This can be separated into treat dispenses for puppies and puzzle feeders for advanced adult dogs.
The trick is to identify opportunities that enable you to drill down into very specific products or services. It helps if you include the following options in your research:
- Lifestyle
- Occasion
- Profession
- Culture
- Location
Niche Tender Opportunities For SMEs In Public Procurement
Developing niche products or services is especially helpful for SMEs that want to corner a section of the public sector to increase their chances of winning government tenders. Location, for example, enables SMEs to cater to a very specific population.
Let’s look at renewable energy sources. That’s pretty broad. Narrow it down to solar power. Then go further and look at which areas in the UK are most suited to solar installations. Then go down to areas where local authorities provide the most solar installations.
According to MCS Data Dashboard, the local authority with the highest percentage of solar PV installations in the UK is Pembrokeshire, Wales. SMEs located in and around Pembrokeshire, could manufacture solar PV components or provide installation services to the local contracting authority.
Niche found.
Supply2Gov Identifies Niche Procurement Opportunities For SMEs
Supply2Gov helps SMEs find niche tender opportunities that perfectly suit their capabilities. Supply2Gov’s eSourcing portal enables SMEs to filter tender searches right down to the niche level.
Once suppliers have registered and created a profile on the platform, they can select the industry (industries) most appropriate to their business offerings. They can drill down into keywords that describe their business, products, and services within the industry.
This ensures they receive suitable contract notices as soon as they are published. Not only that, but public sector bodies can also find them easily using keyword searches.
Setting up personalised tender alerts
Of course, if you want to win niche tenders, you must set up personalised tender alerts to be informed as soon as suitable tenders are published.
Here are three tips to set up alerts on your eSourcing portal
- Alerts schedule: Set up an alerts schedule that suits your routine. You can set up daily or weekly alerts and you can choose how you want them delivered – email, app, etc. Make sure it’s a convenient time, otherwise they could become an annoyance, which you really don’t want.
- Optimise filters: Set up filters using specific keywords so that only relevant tenders appear in your inbox. Keywords must reflect your services and include suitable contract criteria, for example, contracts must be in your town or city and not in neighbouring regions.
- Adjust filters: Perhaps you aren’t getting alerts that are properly relevant to your services. Perhaps you aren’t getting any alerts at all. Make a point of checking keywords and criteria to see if they’re delivering results and adjust them if necessary.
How To Tailor Bids For Niche Markets
Once you’ve tailored your alerts, you need to tailor your response to each bid. Tailoring your response demonstrates a clear understanding of the contracting authority’s pain points, as well as how your services or products perfectly address their needs.
4 Tips to tailor bid strategies for specific tenders
Here are four tips to help you tailor your bid proposals by highlighting your skills and expertise.
1) Identify your unique selling points (USPs) and explain how they differentiate your service or product from your competitors. Describe how they align with the buyer’s needs. Be specific when describing how they align with the contracting authority’s pain points and objectives.
Use simple language in your descriptions (no jargon) and focus on providing reader-friendly content; for example, bullet points, white space, paragraphs and headings, etc.
2) The best way to highlight your USPs and expertise is to provide evidence. In the public procurement process, this includes case studies and testimonials from previous, perfectly satisfied clients. You can also include past projects to demonstrate your familiarity with the specifics of the contract. You want to tell a story, but you want to weave win-rate metrics and other metrics related to success into the story.
3) Even niche markets can be competitive, so you must highlight your ability to provide added value to the contract. Emphasise all aspects of sustainability in your services or products. Sustainability is fast becoming a requirement for public sector bodies, so if you don’t have any examples of sustainable projects and practices yet, get a chivvy on.
Ensure each example has its own paragraph, and if the tender documents allow it, include images of sustainability in action. Infographics are a reader-friendly way to summarise sustainability visually.
4) Emphasise your ability to provide excellent value for money. You can use tables or simple spreadsheets to show precisely where you provide value and monetise it. Buyers like to know exactly how much value they are actually getting on their projects.
UK public procurement strongly emphasises the importance of overall value. Selection decisions are based on MAT – the Most Advantageous Tender – and not the lowest price. SMEs can often provide more ROI than larger enterprises, even if the larger enterprises can afford to propose a low amount.
Tender Management Tools
Many tender search platforms provide access to additional tools and services that support suppliers on their journey to public procurement success. Supply2Gov partners with Delta eSourcing, which provides tools for suppliers to manage tenders, including tracking deadlines and reminders to submit bids on time.
Find out more about our free resources that provide help and support when looking for and finding niche public sector tender opportunities.
Register now, personalise your profile and tender search requirements, and start receiving relevant tender notifications directly to your inbox.