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How to bid on foreign construction opportunities

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Nowadays, like it or not, we are all global companies. Many of our suppliers are based overseas, some of our staff were trained or grew up overseas, and many of the products we use were manufactured and designed overseas. While this means you may be facing stiff competition at home, it’s worth bearing in mind the Chinese saying “when the wind blows you can build a shelter or a windmill”. In these global times, it’s never been easier to find foreign construction opportunities and grow your business overseas.

The basic process for finding foreign opportunities is pretty similar to the process you use to find opportunities at home. Firstly, identify suitable opportunities. This can be done via a great variety of websites, journals, and professional associations. Most countries have something like a Business Council or Chamber of Commerce which will definitely help you find suitable opportunities. Nowadays, they are usually affordable and run regular and useful events. Some countries such as China make very significant efforts to attract foreign partners and will do a lot of the leg-work for you.

Once you’ve identified the opportunities, the next step is to put yourself forward as a credible technical translation company. This can be a bit harder than bidding on local contracts. The language barrier can be an issue for example, as can dealing with foreign currencies, time zones and work and labor regulations. The good thing is that once you’ve been through the process, and you’ve got all your information ready, it’s much easier to apply for the next suitable contact. That’s why I would recommend doing a “dry-run” where you follow the process for bidding for a client and get all the documents they would require, but don’t submit them. Instead you can keep them and be ready to use them for real the next time. This means you have much less time pressure in preparing your presentation.

Just a quick warning at this point: It is often necessary to pay for the “tender document”. If it’s relatively affordable, it’s worth a try, but do your research before hand, as you won’t be able to make use of it if it’s totally out of your skill set. I’ve seen a few “tender documents” which just seemed like an excuse to sell “tender documents” in the past, so do some research beforehand. Watch out for spammy websites offering to sell the documents at half the price.

Once your name is out there, you may start being invited to bid on invitational tenders which are not open to the public, so even if the tender doesn’t lead to any work, it will definitely be a big benefit to your company moving forwards.

Then hopefully you’ll start either getting feedback or actually winning some foreign contracts. The entire process must seem very daunting, especially to smaller, younger companies, but I can say from my own experience, it has certainly been worthwhile. Having a few foreign jobs means you’ll have some other currencies coming in, which can protect against depreciation of the dollar. You’ll also be insulated against anything but a completely global recession or slowdown. The initial effort isn’t going to be easy, but it’s not as difficult as people expect. If your company really offers a good product or service, then why wouldn’t clients in the rest of the world want to work with you?

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Pay rises on the cards for almost three quarters of construction firms in 2015

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Almost three quarters of small and medium sized construction businesses plan to give their employees a pay rise in the next 12 months, according to a survey.

Of that number, over a third say that everyone will receive a rise while 41% say the increases will be decided on merit.

The figures come from the most recent Close Brothers Business Barometer, a quarterly survey that canvasses the opinion of SME owners and senior management from a range of sectors across the UK on a number of financial and economic issues.

Andy Sagar, national sales director for the Construction Division at Close Brothers Asset Finance states: “It’s encouraging that so many construction businesses appear to be optimistic and in a financial position to reward their employees with an increased pay packet.

“While on the surface this is good news for construction workers across the country, we should be aware that the Bank of England is watching pay closely, as an indicator of when the right time will be to increase interest rates.

“They’ve also warned that unless wage increases are accompanied by a rise in productivity then they will have to move more quickly on rates as inflationary pressure mounts,” he added.

The Business Barometer also revealed that 78% of construction business owners surveyed are optimistic about their prospects for the year ahead, with 44% confident that their business will expand during 2015.

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ISG Secures Racquet Centre Scheme at The Hurlingham Club

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ISG has been awarded a multi-million pound project to enhance sporting facilities at The Hurlingham Club in Fulham, London. A new Racquet Centre is planned for the site, providing permanent, high-specification tennis and squash facilities. Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Continue Reading

Acoustic solutions meet design flexibility: Rockfon Eclipseandtrade; islands now available in any colour and any shape

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Any colour, any shape – By giving customers the option of specifying custom colours and shapes, ROCKFON once again expands the design possibilities offered by its ceiling solutions. Rockfon Eclipse islands can be specified in white or in an unlimited number of custom colours, using the Natural Color System® for perfect colour matching with a very small minimum order size of only one box. Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Continue Reading