I'm afraid I don't have much input on your questions since I'm not there yet.
Since it appears you've had quite some success getting leads I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding your last HN post:
1) Did ariba work out for you ? If not how did you get the opportunity to bid on large company RFP's ?
2) What did you have to do to demonstrate that you were a credible supplier for these clients ? You mentioned having done work as a subcontractor. How were you able to valorize that work as representative of your own capabilities ? Were these publicly visible projects, even if your name wasn't on them ?
3) Did you have to jump through a lot of administrative hoops to be considered - ie. DUNS, business insurance requirements, etc. ?
Still not at big co RFP level, a good deal of it is subcontracting.
Ariba didn't work out so well, the projects are usually pretty old and you find much bigger companies tossing their hat in the ring. I wound up breaking into big company stuff by working with an agency to start, doing a good job and then the Tech Director started hooking me up with other Tech directors/projects to take me to the next level.
Similar to above, the projects were big and public but the key for me was word of mouth. Every piece of work I did yielded me multiple new clients and repeat work.
Yep, usually need 500k-1m of general liability insurance. Some require even more which I don't yet have. I don't have a DUNS number but that hasn't hurt me yet. You do need to be an LLC or Corp and have your books in order/no skeletons. One problem is I don't have a long history to point to. Some RFP's require you to show longevity which I don't have yet.
Comments
I'm afraid I don't have much input on your questions since I'm not there yet.
Since it appears you've had quite some success getting leads I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding your last HN post:
1) Did ariba work out for you ? If not how did you get the opportunity to bid on large company RFP's ?
2) What did you have to do to demonstrate that you were a credible supplier for these clients ? You mentioned having done work as a subcontractor. How were you able to valorize that work as representative of your own capabilities ? Were these publicly visible projects, even if your name wasn't on them ?
3) Did you have to jump through a lot of administrative hoops to be considered - ie. DUNS, business insurance requirements, etc. ?
Still not at big co RFP level, a good deal of it is subcontracting.
Ariba didn't work out so well, the projects are usually pretty old and you find much bigger companies tossing their hat in the ring. I wound up breaking into big company stuff by working with an agency to start, doing a good job and then the Tech Director started hooking me up with other Tech directors/projects to take me to the next level.
Similar to above, the projects were big and public but the key for me was word of mouth. Every piece of work I did yielded me multiple new clients and repeat work.
Yep, usually need 500k-1m of general liability insurance. Some require even more which I don't yet have. I don't have a DUNS number but that hasn't hurt me yet. You do need to be an LLC or Corp and have your books in order/no skeletons. One problem is I don't have a long history to point to. Some RFP's require you to show longevity which I don't have yet.