Survey: SMEs slam current public procurement policy

Just 11% of business owners believe that public tenders are sufficiently divided into lots to allow SMEs to participate in them.

The Yrittäjägallup previously contained almost the same question about public procurements. The situation appears to have worsened in recent years.

Public procurements were a current topic in the recent municipal and county elections.

“A candidate in the municipal and county elections should require procurement methods which support local vibrancy of their municipality or well-being service county. In practice, this happens by dividing procurements into lots so small businesses can also submit tenders, says Harri Jaskari, a vice president at Suomen Yrittäjät, the Finnish SME association.

Jaskari says that dividing procurements into lots and allowing partial tenders would increase competition.

“The criteria and requirements for procurements should be set so that even small companies can meet them,” Jaskari says.

A total of 1,128 representatives of SMEs responded to the Yrittäjägallup survey, conducted by Veriana on behalf of Suomen Yrittäjät. Of these, 45% were solo entrepreneurs.

Bigger businesses satisfied

The most satisfied businesses where the larger ones, which employed more than ten people. Among them, one in four (24%) believe public procurements are divided into lots sufficiently often.

The least satisfied are solo entrepreneurs and business owners providing specialist services. The regional differences are small. SMEs in eastern Finland most frequently (16%) believe that procurements are sufficiently divided into lots. The lowest shares are in western Finland and the capital region (9%).

The majority of business owners (85%) demand that competitive tenders should better consider small businesses. This demand is widely shared in all sectors, all business sizes and all over Finland. Just three per cent are satisfied with the current situation.

Almost half (47%) of businesses support municipalities and well-being service counties further privatizing their business activities. This is opposed by 28%. One quarter is unable to say. Privatization is demanded most by industry (53%), construction (51%) and in western Finland (52%).

“Municipalities, for example, do business in things from launderettes to accounting firms. A municipality can focus better on its statutory obligations and core functions when it lets the market handle some of its operations,” Jaskari says.

10 steps to a successful procurement

Announce the procurement intention early.
Conduct market dialogue about the future procurement with interested companies.
Assess the impacts of the most important procurements on companies.
Do not ask for unnecessary items in the call for tenders.
Divide the procurement into appropriate lots, allowing more companies to submit tenders.
Decide that the same company cannot win all the lots in a competitive tender.
Measure and monitor quality during the contractual period.
Do not hesitate to use dynamic procurement systems and innovation partnerships.
Use the free SY procurement advice to help you.
Develop markets for different industries purposefully, and collect feedback from companies about the competitive tendering process.

Source: Suomen Yrittäjät

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