I've noticed in working as a subcontractor for larger contractors that they tend to have access to very interesting and high value RFP's from big companies/organizations. I've done all of the work associated with building the systems (so I likely have the credibility to score some contracts) but I am apparently clueless on where/how to get direct access so I can bid on my own.<p>I know that at this level, you aren't pitching websites or applications, rather solutions that solve business problems. I'm fine developing strategies and pitches for that as well.<p>Has anyone gone from being a small contractor to getting access to bigger projects via the RFP process?<p>Is it just really word of mouth and who you know?<p>Are there sites for this? Do you have a winning strategy to build a list of contacts who often have high value RFP's?<p>Any help/insight would be much appreciated!
I work for a digital agency that's been growing rapidly, but still small enough I can see the biz dev process at work.<p>It's fairly old school, you get known to the vendor, build a relationship, and they include you on the list of people they consider next time they have a brief.<p>Public RFPs are hard to win and often have a predetermined outcome (eg. If corporate policy dictates open RFP but the individual has their list as above).<p>There's a lot of work involved in the relationship building, and often you'll take a small tester project that doesn't make much profit but is an investment for building the relationship so the future projects and retainers are sent your way. Larger agencies have entire staffs dedicated to pitching, full time.<p>An approach that I've seen work well is to take the smaller projects for more prestigious brands, invest time/money into them to build something great, then promote the hell out of the work (awards, case studies, etc). Hard to bootstrap but once you build momentum, the work comes to you. Most small agencies I've worked with rarely bid on public RFPs and do no outbound advertising.<p>Direct to brand biz dev is really hard work. The alternative is to continue to subcontract for the larger companies that do the direct biz dev, especially if you want to continue to be a hands on tech and not spend your life pitching and networking. There are many dev shops and production agencies that build substantial businesses this way.
Also interested in this question. I've used rfpdb.com for a while with somewhat decent success<p>EDIT: Also, look for your local city's purchasing departments. Often times they release RFP's through their own website portal.<p>For example, San Francisco's purchasing department has a db here <a href="http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/" rel="nofollow">http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/</a>
Have you checked out ariba.com ? You can register as a supplier and bid on RFIs/RFPs. See an example RFI<p><a href="https://service.ariba.com/Discovery.aw/741797/aw?awh=r&awssk=EXoiB3S5&dard=1&ancdc=1#b0" rel="nofollow">https://service.ariba.com/Discovery.aw/741797/aw?awh=r&awssk...</a>