Free guide for SME owners

EUR 85 billion, and you get less than a third of it

The public sector is the biggest customer in Belgium. Yet only about 31 percent of Belgian public contracts go to an SME. This guide explains plainly why, and what you can do about it.

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  • Which contracts are awarded in your sector, to whom and for how much, with four real examples
  • Where to find tenders, including the small ones that are never published
  • How to decide in fifteen minutes whether a set of tender specifications is worth it
  • The mistakes that make good bids lose, and how to avoid them
Guide cover: EUR 85 billion, and you get less than a third of it

35 pages, pdf.
For owners of SMEs with 5 to 50 employees in cleaning, construction and renovation, grounds maintenance and technical maintenance.

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What is inside

Eight chapters, from the market to practice

Not a legal handbook, but a plain first introduction. With figures from contracts that were actually awarded and a list of sources at the back, so you can check everything yourself.

Part 1. The market

  1. EUR 85 billion, and you get less than a third of it
  2. Four companies like yours
  3. The myths that keep SMEs away
  4. Where public contracts are published and how to find the right ones

Part 2. In practice

  1. Reading the specifications in fifteen minutes
  2. The selection criteria that rule you out before anyone reads your bid
  3. Price versus quality: where the points are
  4. The mistakes that make good bids lose

Who it is for

Written for the business owner, not the lawyer

5 to 50 employees

You are big enough for a public client, but you have no separate bid team.

Never submitted a bid

Or tried once and lost, without really knowing why.

Recurring work

Cleaning, construction and renovation, grounds maintenance or technical maintenance, anywhere in Belgium.

"Nowhere do I write that you will win. Nobody can promise that. Those who know the rules get to play. Those who do not, watch from the sidelines."

About the author

Through Mechele Consultancy, Steven Mechele supports SMEs in Belgian public procurement: from monitoring the market to reading the specifications and submitting the bid.

He wrote this guide for business owners who want to know whether public tenders suit their company before they invest time in them.

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