Tendering opportunities are published in newspapers almost on daily basis, but which one is right for you? Catherine Njiru talks to Al...
Tendering opportunities are published in newspapers almost on daily basis, but which one is right for you? Catherine Njiru talks to Ali Omar, founder Tenders Unlimited, an app that organises opportunities across East Africa on one platform
When 35-year-old Ali Omar was growing up in Kajiado county, few of the outlying areas in his home region were connected to good roads. The few that were under construction took forever to complete and once done, the jobs were shoddy and only managed to survive a few months before spotting manholes. “We thought maybe the jobs were not given to the right contractors and tried to figure out the reason.
We discovered that lack of easy access to information on opportunities was a major factor,” Omar says. Back then, a marketplace or a platform where one would find tenders at the click of a button was unavailable locally.
Revolution
This is not the case today. Interestingly, it is not a coincidence that the soft-spoken IT guru, together with a team of eight like-minded individuals, has a hand in the online procurement revolution.
Seven years down the line, Tenders Unlimited, which deals in among other things, bid consultancy has built the most comprehensive tendering opportunities platform in the region, capturing and organising more than 250,000 tenders from Kenya and East Africa, and registering more than 15,000 verified suppliers and service providers.
But his involvement in the business began by chance as Mr Omar recalls. It all started in 2007, when the Maseno University IT Managment graduate decided to quit his day job for the uncharted waters of self-employment. At the time, like all first-time businessmen, an anxious Omar recalled he had a fuzzy vision of what awaited him.
“When we started out,we wanted to deal with small businesses and maybe medium enterprises.That’s when we thought about advertising our services to bigger corporations. Later we decided to offer consultancy services because we realised the expertise had not spread out in the region. So we went in and put the moblie alert service,” he says.
Armed with his wide knowledge in IT, an able team, some savings and time, they dipped their feet in the ocean to make the business what it has since grown to be. With time, the new innovative model garnered huge interest with various players seeking for the firm’s services. “Back then, business opportunities were advertised on international platforms.
It was expensive for local businesses to access the opportunities meant for them and that’s why we decided to launch this platform to fill the gap that existed.That’s how we got ourselves in procurement,” recalls Omar.
An IT fan and lover of technology, Omar believed technology could help us solve problems, so he used what he knew to create the solution. “After connecting opportunities to business-people, we decided to take it to the next level and connect the members amongst themselves, peers and partners and that’s where the ‘connecting businesses’ comes in,” he says.
“We connect opportunities to opportunity seekers in business and now we’ve begun partnering with financial service providers who help finance these businesses,” Omar says.
Returns
Tenders Unlimited, like any other business, has employed services that remit returns for the team. “We have a mobile subscription service, where you get customised alerts for Sh600 a month, for individual business accounts and Sh2,000 for corporate accounts.
Then there’s a tender post service for larger entities looking to advertise opportunities to the many suppliers registered on the platform that goes for Sh10,000 per advert,” Omar says.
All registered suppliers on Tenders Unlimited automatically feature in the suppliers’ directory once they update their business profile page. The directory helps suppliers and service providers generate direct leads from the platform, tools to contact and engage suppliers directly are provided.
The directory is designed to promote and expose the registered suppliers and help them get direct business from interested entities and companies looking for goods and services. One of the reasons businesses applying for tenders fail during the preliminary stage of evaluation is lack of knowledge on how to appropriately bid for tendering opportunities.
Tenders Unlimited links bid consultancy services to businesses to a team of procurement professionals ready to assist and guide. “We take suppliers through the whole process adequately and charge them between Sh3,000 and Sh15,000 depending on the expertise needed,” Omar says.
Going forward
However, the journey has not been without challenges. “Technology is playing a big role in making life easier and changing how business is done, so we have to keep up with its demands. We have a growing number of registered members, we have to make sure we meet their expectations and continuously keeping peace with tech,” he says.
Going forward, Tenders Unlimited is looking to organise all-African business opportunities in their platform. “We are believers in our continent, its people and potential. Our vision is to organise business opportunities in Africa.
We want to make business opportunities accessible and conveniently available to entrepreneurs and businesses wherever they may be. We believe entrepreneurs and SMEs are the drivers of our economies and require all the support they can get,” Omar says.
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