MYTH 5: Government takes far too long when deciding who they want to fulfil a contract.

There are indeed many Government contracts that do take months of deliberation before the contract is awarded.  However, these particular contracts are often valued in the millions of dollars plus.

And I get this, as I think many others will also appreciate – awarding contracts of this size should take some time to factor in all the risks associated with such large purchases - after all, it’s our taxes which ultimately fund these!

Whenever I’m looking to buy something that I consider a ‘big-ticket item’, I factor in several things, including:

• Researching the different products or services available

• Narrowing it down to two or three likely suspects and analyse consumer reviews

• Try and speak with others who have purchased said product or service

Yes – this is very similar to what government does when making a big-ticket purchase – and this all takes time.

For smaller items, however, my due diligence is nowhere near as thorough and rarely takes too long at all.  For example: I have a problem.  Said product or service solves my problem and isn’t too expensive.  I make the purchase and my problem is solved.

Again, this is very similar to government (though they are governed by higher levels of probity protocols).

Almost 60% of all government contracts are worth $60,000 or less. 

On average, Government takes around 6 weeks to determine who will win contracts of this size - sometimes a little longer, sometimes a bit less.  All in all, not painfully long, yet still long enough to ensure the proper due diligence has been carried out.

Yes, I hear you – this is all subjective, right? 

While I believe 6 weeks is pretty fair for these types of purchases, other small business owners might think this is far too long. 

Well, I’m not here to convince you one way or the other - you can make your own mind up. 

However, if this particular myth has resulted in your business passing on the very real and attainable government opportunities which exist, I’d just ask you to reconsider. 

Government doesn’t take anyway as long to make decisions as some people think.