Stop being afraid of gov’t procurement, expert tells entrepreneurs

Pointing out that the state awarded contracts valued more than $20 billion in 2023 to only a few companies via restrictive bidding alone, procurement consultant Dwayne Bailey says many entrepreneurs are missing out on accessing valuable government contracts because of fear and misconception of the procurement process.

“I’ve always heard that if you want to get rich you should sell to the masses, and the easiest way to sell to the masses is to sell to the government because they buy the most. That is the reality,” Bailey said on his podcast, Procurement Pulse.

“Over 5,000 contracts were issued ... If you think about that, $20 billion in over a year, 5,000 contracts, can you imagine if you were able to earn at least one per cent of that $20 billion?

“[If] you have a construction company, one per cent is what you want to target. Probably you’re a caterer, one per cent, [or] probably you just provide some social media services, one per cent. What would that look like for any family in Jamaica right now?”

Bailey urged entrepreneurs to stop being afraid of government procurement, even while acknowledging that accessing government contracts at times includes “big processes”.

“But the kind of processes most used by government are not those,” he advised, noting that for contracts below $1.5 million all entrepreneurs are required to have is a tax registration number to participate and do business with government.

“It’s that easy. You just need to now figure out and explore what the services are that government buys and, once you figure out what they buy, you just switch on as an entrepreneur and do what entrepreneurs do, which is chase opportunities,” he counselled.

Emphasising that opportunities were not simply available to awardees based on connection or proximity, Bailey urged entrepreneurs to make themselves available for contracts by simply marketing themselves to government entities and to register on the Government of Jamaica Electronic Platform (GOJEP) at gojep.gov.jm. The platform is a repository of contractual opportunities and portal for submitting bids.

‘Business won’t fall into your lap’

“Say you’re a farmer … Do you know a lot of hospitals buy farm produce? You can sell farm produce to the hospitals. Sometimes it’s hard to find people who can do it. RADA exists, yes, but what you can do is use your RADA certification and start to market yourself,” he advised.

“A lot people think that you must know somebody because the fact is, some entrepreneurs are lazy. If you want business, it won’t fall into your lap. For an entity to know that you exist you have to go and advertise to those people, just as how you would have to put an ad in the paper,” he underscored, noting that many suppliers who participate in the restrictive bidding process for contracts are invited because they are known to government. Restrictive processes are limited to contracts valued at more than $1.5 million for suppliers of goods and services, and above $2 million for works. A maximum of five suppliers are directly invited by government procurement practitioners to bid.

“So, if you offer the service and you say, ‘The government buys this service clearly, why am I not being called to participate?’, then you need to start marketing your services to procurement practitioners so you can participate,” Bailey insisted.

He said many entrepreneurs are misinformed about the procurement process by others and urged them to do their own research and not only rely on what other suppliers have told them.

“Sometimes the people who are profiting the most, are the ones selling misinformation,” he warned.

Bailey, who has more than a decade’s experience in procurement in the public and private sectors, recommends the Ministry of Finance and Planning as a first resource for persons wanting to get more information to support their understanding of procurement. He also suggests seeking the assistance of the Public Procurement Commission.

The procurement professional also makes information available via podcast on YouTube, his website, procurementpulse.com, and workshops conducted under the same banner. One such workshop, the Winning Bid, being planned for December 14 and 15, is targeted at helping suppliers understand the intricacies of the government procurement process so that they can be in a good position in the new year to compete for contracts.

“We’re targeting those who really want to stop making excuses about how hard the process is. It’s a process that anyone can navigate by being prepared,” he maintained.