Re: Dodge Reports?

[J. Sloud <jsloud@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 11:19:55 -0400, Robert L Bass
<sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 11:07:10 GMT, bdolph <bdolph@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>wrote:
>
>> Just curious,  anybody every try this one........
>
>Bob,
>
>Most of those paid lead services are worthless.  They obtain RFQ
>information from the same sources you can use for free.  If you
>want to receive requests for bids from state and municipal
>governments, register with the states you're interested in.  You
>can also register your business with the federal government.  The
>procedure takes time and effort but once completed you'll receive
>daily federal RFQs and frequent state and municipal ones.
>
>Just be aware that on all bids you'll be competing with small and
>large contractors alike.  As a small business you can get
>preferential treatment on some bids.  A significant percentage of
>all federal contract money is earmarked for small business.
>Also, if your wife happens to be the majority stock holder of a
>company that does business with the government your bids are
>given additional preference.
>

These services are useful if you don't have the time or resources to
research on your own.  They are really for convenience.

To the op:

The bid n'n chase market is a tough one.  You'll likely find the
federal nut a tough one to crack as well.  Post-911, there are
numerous companies that do nothing but chase government security work.
Most of these are set up as MBE's and they get most of the smaller
projects that do make it out to bid.   For larger projects, the small
guys will likely never get past the pre-qual.  Then you have to be
prepared to fight the ADT's, Johnson Controls, Siemans, Simplex's of
the world with their dedictaed federal divisions and GSA Federal
Supply Schedules.

The local bid market in your area may be of interest, however.  If you
use a service that reports projects before they start construction,
you can generally get to the end user and present your services before
the competition, who is waiting to see dirt moving.  The early bird
and all that.  We've been fairly successful in getting the security
and fire  pulled out of the GC's scope and awarded directly to us in
our package.

J.