By K.T. Shiri
Author disclosure. I wrote The Government Is the Biggest Customer. This article promotes my own book.
A school needs 120 desks. You can source them, arrange delivery and quote a price that leaves a healthy margin. Then you read the payment clause and realise you could have to pay the workshop and the truck weeks before you receive anything. Could your business still pay wages and fill its regular orders during that gap?
That is the question I would answer before bidding. Put the tender in front of you and find the event that starts the payment period. If the contract makes payment due after acceptance and receipt of a valid invoice, work out when both can realistically happen. An award date alone tells you very little about when cash might reach your account.
The market is worth studying. The OECD’s Government at a Glance 2025 puts public procurement spending across the OECD at 12.7% of GDP in 2023. For a Zimbabwean supplier, the local starting point is the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe’s electronic government procurement system. Look for one category the business can serve reliably. OECD procurement expenditure data · Zimbabwe’s eGP portal.
Read the payment clause before you price the job
Take a real example from Zimbabwe’s public procurement records. In September 2024 the Grain Marketing Board issued a tender for woven bags. Section 1.3 asked bidders to keep their bids valid for 90 days. Section 1.4 said the successful bidder would receive no advance, that payment would follow delivery, and that bidders had to state their payment terms. A reader who copied the 90 days into a cash forecast would have taken the number from the wrong clause. Grain Marketing Board bidding document, sections 1.3 and 1.4.
Make a short timeline from the actual documents and any published amendments. Mark when your supplier needs a deposit, when the goods leave the workshop, and when your buyer can inspect them. Then identify which documents the buyer needs to accept the delivery and process the invoice. Write down who can sign each one. A driver’s delivery note may prove that the desks arrived. The contract may require another sign-off to show that the desks meet the specification.
For a buyer-side example, the World Bank’s contract-management module for Investment Project Financing tracks planned deliverables and planned payment dates separately. I would use the same distinction in a supplier’s spreadsheet. If you cannot tell what starts the payment period or whether part deliveries can be invoiced, raise the question through the tender’s stated clarification channel before its deadline. World Bank contract-management factsheet · PRAZ supplier e-bidding guide.
Run the cash test on a US$12,000 order
Illustration. The desks, terms, timing and financing figures below are hypothetical. Assume the quoted amount is US$12,000, direct costs total US$8,100, and payment is planned for 45 calendar days after acceptance and receipt of a valid invoice. Assume no advance or instalments.
- Day 0. Once the contract is signed, you pay a US$3,600 workshop deposit.
- Day 20. You pay the remaining US$3,600 for the desks and US$900 for transport and handling. Your cumulative cash outlay is US$8,100.
- Day 25. The school accepts delivery and receives a valid invoice that day.
- Day 70. The US$12,000 payment is due under the assumed terms. The cash forecast assumes it clears that day.
The job leaves US$3,900 before financing, overhead, taxes and any unexpected costs. Suppose you have US$7,000 in cleared business cash and need to keep US$2,000 available for payroll and existing jobs. You can put US$5,000 into the desk order. That leaves a US$3,100 funding gap by day 20, even if the buyer pays on time.
Now assume receipt moves from day 70 to day 100. If you had already arranged a US$3,100 facility that charges simple interest of 2% for each 30-day period, the extra month would cost US$62 before fees. The larger question is whether that facility remains available and whether your regular jobs can continue while the money is tied up. A repair or replacement bill before acceptance can raise the cash needed as well. Add both scenarios to the forecast and keep the dates and assumptions visible. Related reading on profit and business cash flow.
Decide what would make you walk away
Before submitting, I would put three conditions on one page and attach evidence to each.
- You can meet the specification on the dates required. Check the written quote against the tender quantities, delivery points, and inspection requirements. Confirm how long the price is valid. If it expires before you expect to receive an award, test what a price increase would do to the margin. A small price change can matter on a job with little room for error. Related reading on pricing and contribution.
- You know how to prove delivery and invoice correctly. List the acceptance documents and check which ones have to accompany the invoice. Model cash tied up in any guarantee or retained until later, and include warranty costs. An unclear line belongs in a written clarification request while there is time to act.
- Your cash covers the job while the rest of the business keeps trading. Use the largest gap in the forecast and compare it with cash you can spare and credit you can actually draw. In the desk example, the bid stays on hold until you have a credible answer to the US$3,100 gap and room for a delay.
If a whole order is too large, see whether the tender permits bidding for a smaller lot. A realistic supplier-credit agreement or a permitted subcontracting role might also change what you can deliver. Check which route the published documents allow, then put the new numbers through the same test. Walking away from a job you cannot finance gives you a clearer target for the next bid.
Where my book goes further
I wrote The Government Is the Biggest Customer: How Young Entrepreneurs Can Build Around Procurement for readers trying to build a business around public demand. The book follows Tariro Dube, a fictional young graduate, as she learns how public contracting works. It pairs her story with practical material on finding opportunities, reading bid requirements, pricing delivery and keeping enough cash to finish the job.
If you are choosing your first tender, start with the chapter on pricing, cash flow and the 90-day trap. It gives you an exercise for comparing expected payment with longer delays. The 30-day preparation plan asks you to choose a type of work, review past notices and set up the records you will need. The bid submission checklist helps you review details such as matching prices across forms, checking supplier quote validity and saving proof of submission. I would work through those sections with a real tender document open beside the book.
The featured Kindle edition by K.T. Shiri was published 25 May 2026. If you already know what you could supply and want a structured way to decide which opportunities to pursue, browse my book collection and choose where to buy or open the featured book’s listing. I can earn from sales of my book.
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