How should a small business price a public sector tender?

2 min read · Prepared by TenderChecker

Short answer

Build your price from the real cost of delivering what your written answers promise, including staffing, equipment, mobilisation, management, social value commitments and risk, then add a sustainable margin. Follow the buyer's pricing schedule exactly.

Key points

✓Price what you have promised, nothing less
✓Follow the pricing schedule format exactly
✓Very low prices can be challenged as abnormally low

Keep price and quality consistent

If your method statement promises a supervisor per site or monthly reports, those costs must be in the price. Inconsistencies are easy for evaluators to spot.

State assumptions clearly

Where the buyer allows, list your assumptions and exclusions. Do not add conditions the buyer has said are not permitted.

Common mistakes that lose marks

Underbidding to win and losing money on delivery
Leaving cells blank in the pricing schedule
Forgetting inflation or wage increases over the contract term

Quick self-check before you submit

☐ Every written commitment costed
☐ Pricing schedule complete
☐ Assumptions allowed and stated
☐ Margin sustainable over the full term

Key terms on this page

Method statement: A written explanation of how you will deliver the service or work: the steps, people, resources, controls and timescales.
Mobilisation: The period and plan for getting a new contract up and running, from contract award to full service start.
Social value: The wider economic, social and environmental benefits a supplier commits to deliver through a contract, often scored as a separate question.

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