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For the sixth month, we have been fighting for victory. All this time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine heroically defend and liberate territories, and ordinary Ukrainians support the country's economy for an early victory. All this contributes to the fact that small businesses are gradually returning to work in more or less safe regions of Ukraine.

The SmartTender team communicates with hundreds of entrepreneurs every day to help them reopen their businesses. At the outbreak of hostilities, most of the companies that had suspended their activities were not ready to make any forecasts at all and considered the possibility of resuming their work only after the end of the war. Currently, more than half of them admit the scenario of the possibility of resuming business and income to pre-war levels and are already beginning to actively participate in the procurement.

Maryna Tolochko, Head of Client Relations at SmartTender, will share tips that helped site suppliers get back to work and can be useful for every entrepreneur.

Problems with Logistics

If you have problems with logistics, I recommend looking for an order in your region or in neighboring ones, where it will be easier to deliver goods or provide services or work.

To do this, on the purchase search page, use the filter to select the desired areas.

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Finding customers in the desired region will now be easier since, with the amendments to Decree No. 169, the number of competitive procedures in public procurement has increased. For example, in April 2,837 procedures were published, and in July – already 19,706.

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Also, if you are a supplier of goods, I recommend placing your goods in the state online store, Prozorro Market. When publishing an offer here, you prescribe your conditions for payment and the region of delivery. The state customer independently forms an order, agreeing to your terms, so you do not need to prepare a package of documents to receive it.

Read more about working in the catalog in our instructions.

Not Enough Goods in Stock

If there is a problem with the availability of goods in warehouses, try changing the focus of your business to the product that is currently in demand, or switch from selling goods to services or work. From the experience of our clients: a company that produced metal structures now produces plates for bulletproof vests; another company that used to make overalls is now making clothes for the military and medics.

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Also recently, the SmartTender team created a page of tenders for the restoration of Ukraine, which contains purchases for the restoration of housing, infrastructure, and industry.

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If you need to purchase a particular product to start a business in a new direction, you can become a commercial customer on SmartTender. Site specialists will help you with the placement of purchases. Find out how commercial purchases are made on the site from our webinar.

Planned to Expand the Business in a New Direction

If you are planning to expand your field of activity in a new direction, I recommend that you first look for clients among private customers. To do this, participate in commercial purchases.

When you already have experience and completed contracts with certificates of completion, you will also be able to find clients among government customers by participating in public procurement. The fact is that one of the requirements for suppliers participating in government auctions is an experience in similarly performed work.

How to Predict Potential Price Increases?

If a sharp increase in prices for goods and materials stops you from participating in tenders, our lawyers recommend that you carefully read the terms of the contract, and the template of which the customer provides as part of the tender documentation.

Before submitting an offer, make sure that the contract contains a clause on the possibility of making changes to the price due to changes in the exchange rate, including its growth. If there is no such clause, at the clarification stage, write to the customer a request to make appropriate changes to the terms of the Agreement.

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Find out in which cases it is possible to make changes to an already signed purchase agreement if the exchange rate has increased from our article.

Dissatisfied with the Payment Option for the Purchase Item After Receipt

I understand your fear of participating in purchases on a post-paid basis because funds are required for the purchase of goods and materials. Our team analyzed that since the beginning of hostilities, about 3,000 contracts for state tenders with an advance payment type have been concluded every month. You can also start working under these conditions.

But then I still advise you to proceed to purchases on the terms of payment after receipt, to have a wider choice among orders. Analytics show that in July alone, 121,187 contracts were concluded under precisely such conditions. As you can see, this is much more than with an advance payment.

If you need financing to fulfill the terms of the contract, you can use the appropriate service from SmartTender partner banks. More information is on this page.

Contact SmartTender Specialists for Help

If earlier the process of finding a customer and preparing documentation in your company was handled by a large staff of people, and you do not have the knowledge or ability to do this now, SmartTender managers and lawyers will help you with all questions.

For help or advice call 0 800 75 10 10.

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