Masters of tender writing

Tender-writing companies’ experience is that still few enterprises are familiar with the opportunities that lie in European Union and others tenders, while others don’t trust the system.

According to Lajos Lovász, president of the MATERal Group, if a business decides to tender for funding, two things need to be clarified: can the project in question be realised and if yes, is the given enterprises capable of implementing it? The group monitors tender and grant opportunities in a fashion that is customised to enterprise needs. If an enterprise likes the tender MATERal recommends to them, the tender specialist writes the tender and submits it. Mr Lovász found that partner demand for a ‘one stop shop’ system is growing. Tenders involve not only writing and the 3-year monitoring but also project implementation. At the moment there are funding opportunities available to manufacturing companies, e.g. for entering foreign markets, purchasing equipment, developing production facilities. MATERal Group Kft. also does project management and in addition to this, they have established a database containing the names of reliable companies, it is called White Companies. Anyone can be registered in it, all firms have to do is ask for it and submit themselves to a screening and regular check-ups. György Juranits, marketing and communications manager at Támpont-Mester Kft. is of the opinion that if needs are surveyed well, a good tender package is compiled and the tender writing company is reliable and experienced, the application for project funding will be successful. Támpont-Mester can help SMEs to realise their goals: they give complex assistance to enterprises in everything that has to do with tendering; what is more, the number of services they provide keeps growing as partner needs are changing. The manager emphasised that several thousand Hungarian enterprises have already applied for EU funding successfully and they have implemented superb projects. There is no need for ‘connections in political circles’ to tender successfully. Recent survey data indicate that businesses are getting to trust the tendering system more. Still, there are many firms which are afraid of EU funding because they lack adequate knowledge in this field and because they think they can’t meet the strict accounting and reporting requirements. Luckily, Támpont-Mester can help them with everything as they have 10 years of experience in this domain. András Cserjési, managing director of Napitender.hu told Trade magazin that their website offers high-quality tender writing and counselling services to SMEs – online as well. On average they post 70-90 new tendering opportunities every week. The online database is updated daily and the company monitors and collects tender and grant news 24 hours a day, categorising the various funding programmes according to theme. Partners are informed about these via e-mail. Mr Cserjési stressed that it is worth using their off-line (personal) consultation services too and the first occasion is free. His experience is that newly-founded companies should start applying for funding after one year of operation. SMEs have the best public procurement opportunities in the domains of product sourcing and service ordering. As for the FMCG sector, at the moment SMEs should look out for export financing through the GINOP programme. Businesses mustn’t forget that having updated information is an essential prerequisite of submitting successful tenders.