Experience is the name we give our mistakes

“Experience is the name we give our mistakes”
- Oscar Wilde

There’s much to be learned from experience, good and bad. Experience sharpens the choices we make.  Experience gifts us with insight and wisdom. Experience strengthens us.

Some say I’ve been very successful in finding and winning government business over the last 20 or so years. While we could argue the real meaning of ‘success’, there’s no doubt that I’ve won and delivered many government contracts.

However, all of my collective government ‘wins’ have been dwarfed many times over by my substantial list of failures. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, so it took me a good few years before I truly understood that losing in business (and life) is infinitely more valuable than winning – so long as you learn from the losses.

This got me thinking. Say I had the opportunity to sit down with myself as a 20-year-old, just starting out. One-on-one. Me, now, with two decades of experience under my expanding belt - sipping a cup of tea across from my younger self – a youthful me full of dreams about how many government contracts I’d be winning before breakfast

If I had five minutes with this fresh-faced me, what wisdom could I share in the hope that his Government journey was a bit smoother and quicker than my own.

Partnerships

“Well, Mini-me. Where to begin?” I muse thoughtfully.

“At the start is always a good place”, a half-smart grin etched across his wrinkle-free face. 

“Ahhh, thanks for reminding me that I knew everything about everything at your age,” I reply. “Which is kind of ironic considering I know you still struggle tying a half-decent Windsor knot.   

“But let’s get started. If I could have my time again, the first thing I’d change was my belief that I could do it all on my own. If I came across a piece of government work which our company couldn’t deliver on our own, then I ignored the opportunity. 

“I’d estimate millions of dollars of government work sailed right past me because I completed disregarded the power of partners. I had no formal or informal partner ecosystem, and while I didn’t know it at the time, it cost us. Big business does partnerships really well. Small to mediums (SMEs), not so.

Many government opportunities are too big or complex for just one SME to fulfil on their own. This is where the power of a co-operative bid is realised. Government welcome co-operative bids (several businesses joining together to present one total solution), and if I’d just spent some time building a stronger partner network, I have no doubt we’d have been successful far more quickly. We would have been able to bid for much larger opportunities, more often, and with greater success”.

Ignore Doubting Thomas

Youthful me maintains a dubious expression, eyebrows slightly raised and that half-grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I continue. “You’re also going to come across, many, many people, who will spout so many reasons why you shouldn’t waste your time trying to win Government contracts.  Some nuggets like these:

“It’s too complicated”.

“Government don’t pay on time”.

“It’s all rigged – they already know who they want”.

“It just takes too much time to make a submission”.

“We’re not big enough for a government contract”.

I pause as my younger self’s expression changes slightly - I’m echoing statements he’s already witnessed first-hand.

“Block that noise out as best you can. It will only stand in your way of government success.  Winning government business isn’t easy, but many SMEs are very successful – like many situations in life, you’ll need to stay the course and not let the detractors influence you.

Win By Losing

“You’re not going to win the first piece of government work that you bid for,” I say with the benefit of hindsight. “However, your losing bids are the most powerful weapon to help you succeed. When most SMEs find out they’ve lost a bid, they’re sometimes disillusioned, usually upset, and often angry. At this stage many SMEs simply give up on government business completely. Don’t fall into that trap! 

“Be smart and request a formal debrief with government. Debriefs are designed to give you access to government and find out what went wrong. What were the strengths of our bid? Where did we fall short? How were our value-adds considered? 

“If used correctly, debriefs with government can provide enormous insight into what government likes and doesn’t like with your proposal. This intel allows you to refine future bids, build out your strengths, and mitigate the risks of your perceived weaknesses”.

I can almost sense the light bulb flickering to life above Mini-Me.  His body language changes from relaxed nonchalance to one of serious reflection and he leans forward, hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Partners, resilience, debriefs,” he murmurs, almost to himself. He looks up at me with a hopeful expression. “Is that it?”

I shake my head. “No, there’s more, but my time is up.  However, if I knew just these three things back when I first began trying to win government business, my journey would have been much quicker and far less bumpy.  Good luck, Mini-Me.  I hope you can learn from my experience”.

Thomas