Awarding Contracts for Custom Work: 3 Key Considerations for Your Business

Whether it’s for a special transformer or custom-made curtains, you want to take awarding a contract for custom work very seriously as otherwise subpar work, wasted money, and litigation are just some of what you have to look forward to.

So, here are 3 key considerations for your business.

The Project Scope

Having a crystal-clear project scope is a must if you’re going to prevent any mix-ups and make sure everyone’s on the same page.

Lay it all out – what you want as the result. If it’s hardware, get down to the nitty-gritty of features and any tweaks you’re after. Then, you want to pin down realistic deadlines for getting things done as well as key checkpoints so that everyone has a roadmap to follow.

Say it’s work for web development. A clear project scope would mean detailing things like how you want the homepage to look, the kind of user login setup you’re looking for, and how the database should mesh. And timelines might be having a prototype ready by the first month and the full-blown website up and running in three months.

Vendor Reputation and Experience

You really want to look into whoever it is you’ll be working with – you don’t want any nasty surprises.

Look into their past work to see what they’ve pulled off, particularly similar projects. Not only that, talk directly to people they have a working relationship with. Hearing about communication style, meeting deadlines, and overall satisfaction can tell you a lot.

Say you’ve shortlisted a marketing agency for a branding project. A portfolio that shows top-notch work for brands like yours in the past, plus shining testimonials from previous clients is a very good sign.

Legal and Financial Due Diligence

Perhaps even more important than looking at portfolios and testimonials is legal and financial due diligence.

Take a good, hard look at all the fine print; check payment plans, project milestones, and even how disputes are handled. What you’re looking for is signs that it all works well with what you want, protecting your business’s interests.

Look into their financial situation. Ask for statements or whatever you can to see if they’re really on solid ground financially. You want to make sure they’ve got everything to see your project through.

For example, say you’re close to awarding a contract to get software developed. It’s a good idea to make sure there’s no documentation that says the code does not belong to you. Likewise, you want to have some guarantee that they’re unlikely to go belly up in the middle of doing what you paid for.

Custom work requires attention and making sure that you get what you pay for is important. Consider these key proper processes so that you get the best for your business.