How Business Can Survive Quarantine

Many people are now worried about two questions: how successful will the measures taken against the spread of coronavirus infection be, and how will they affect the financial well-being of citizens. Indeed, quarantine can adversely affect many areas of the business, but it is too early to panic.

Unlike in the past decades, entrepreneurs now have the opportunity to continue to make money safely. The heads of the SmartTender main directions will tell you how companies can’t wither without orders in a remote mode, from whom to order materials during quarantine, and how to establish effective work without the risk of getting sick.

Kateryna Zolotarova, Head of VIP Segment Partner Engagement at SmartTender

We cannot be said that Ukrainian entrepreneurs approached this unprecedented quarantine unprepared. Since 2016, the whole business ecosystem of public procurement has existed in the country, using as its basis a bundle from the Prozorro centralized state database and independent electronic trading platforms.

In just 4 years of the system’s existence, it completed deliveries and payments under contracts for a total of more than UAH 2.5 trillion, each kopek of which is the earnings of a supplier.

But in addition to the huge market for public procurement, there is no less, and possibly even a larger market for commercial tenders, which exists and develops in Ukraine even longer than the public procurement system: at least since 2013. It was this market that at one time became a model for the creators of the public procurement system. SmartTender as the official electronic trading platform Prozorro at the same time takes first place in this segment.

In modern quarantine, modern Ukrainian businesses can continue to make a profit without violating security measures and without risking the health of its employees. To do this, not so much:

1. Create an account on the trading platform. To do this is already so easy, but for maximum simplicity, you can always use the instructions for registering in Prozorro.
2. Identify your business. This can be done in two ways: by paying an arbitrary amount from the company account or by applying an electronic digital signature (EDS/QES) in your account.
3. Find a suitable tender. Daily newsletters and smart-search with customization of customized templates will help.
4. Submit an offer. For the first time, it will be difficult for the tenderers to prepare the tender proposal themselves, but the lawyers of the site and the thoughtful study of the tender documentation will help. And in commercial bidding, it is usually enough to indicate the terms of delivery and payment, as well as fix your price.
5. Do not forget to join the auction. In public procurement Prozorro, it is important not to miss the day and time of electronic bidding, as well as make sure that your browser version is supported by the site (all latest versions are supported). Next, you just need to make the customer the most favorable price offer within the agreed number of reduction rounds.
6. Sign a contract. In public bidding, before signing, you will need to download several certificates, including a police clearance certificate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but you can also order it from us online and receive it electronically in up to 2 calendar days! And the contract itself can be signed online using our SmartSign service.
7. Deliver the goods and receive the money. Delivery is the only stage requiring contact from the supplier with the customer, but minimal contact. And after that, you just have to wait for the payment. Although now many customers in state tenders and commercial bidding offer full or partial advances.

Tenders are a sales market that is a little dependent on quarantine. With their help, the company will not stop making money even in cases where other channels are temporarily unavailable. And in the future, after the removal of restrictions, this source of income will become a major addition to the budget of the enterprise or even the main activity. Why refuse the solution found if it works in any condition?

Batia Syrota, Deputy Director of Customer Relations, SmartTender

For some reason, now everything is limited to estimates of business losses due to reduced sales. Indeed, it is the transition of consumers into a quarantine that is most striking. But for any business, it’s important not only to make money somewhere you also need to have the means to generate value and ensure the company's daily operations:

1. Consumables. Someone has spare parts for tractor engines, while someone else has paper clips, office paper, and printer cartridges. But their absence can be equally unpleasant for the business.
2. Materials. The manufacturing business cannot work without raw materials, and therefore its supply should continue – scrap metal, seed materials, animal feed etc.
3. Fuel. Logistic companies need fuel for trucks, farmers and builders for machinery. Not everyone has enough reserves to wait for quarantine.

How many orders will the polygraphy fulfill if, due to a widespread two-week break in the work of suppliers, it will run out of paint? And how much will the bakery produce, having spent its stocks of flour in a few days?

But to avoid downtime and losses is quite possible – it is enough to find suppliers with reasonable prices using an electronic commercial tender. Even in the most specialized niches, there are several offers to choose from, and in the most popular categories, dozens of enterprises will be waiting for you, ready to supply goods, provide services and perform work. And all this is almost completely without personal contact.

Besides, it is customary in this market to fight for the client, and therefore, the competition of participants always leads to a reduction in the price to the optimum for both sides of the transaction. Digital bidding has a very low entry threshold: just sign up and you can start purchasing. No additional software, no routine calling of potential suppliers, no tender protocols are needed. Everything is already provided for in the online system. Such a supply chain under any circumstances, and during quarantine, will help maintain the stable operation of your company.

Volodymyr Tkachuk, Head of HR, SmartTender

It is important to secure the team by providing staff with comfortable conditions for fulfilling their duties during the quarantine. The greatest value of our company is people. We closely monitored the events surrounding the distribution of COVID-19 and constantly informed employees about the potential threat and the importance of observing basic safety precautions.

With the active support of the management, we strengthened the sanitary regime for all coworking: the rooms were often aired, cleaning was carried out more thoroughly, sanitizers were purchased, and the health status of employees was monitored.

After part of the team successfully switched to the remote work mode in test mode, all SmartTender employees have been working on remotes since March 16: we helped to equip jobs at home, and also canceled all business trips, internal and external events.

Given the full digitization of the search and recruitment processes in our company, quarantine recruiting is a little different from that in normal times: Clobbi.Recruitment, SmartManager, and SmartSign solve all our problems, regardless of where we work. We conduct interviews using Skype or Zoom, internal communication takes place in Slack and Telegram.

Of course, there is a slight reduction in the market of potential candidates and a certain tension both among applicants and hiring managers. We expect that in 5-10 days the market will calm down and adapt to new realities: it will become more digital and less sensitive to the distance during the interview stages. Those features of the organization of work processes that only IT companies had previously encountered have good chances to become a new standard for other industries.

Today, many of us are experiencing stress and tension in connection with life and work in new conditions and circumstances. It is important to remember that we are all responsible for each other and the society around us. Any pandemic or crisis will end, and we will need to return to normal life and work, look into each other's eyes. Take care and cultivate a person in yourself!

Veronika Kucheriava, SmartSign Project Manager

The online tender has ended, the winner has been determined, the decision on cooperation has been made and published in the electronic system. But sooner or later, the time has come to sign the contract, to deliver the procurement item on the one hand and to accept it with full documentary support on the other hand. What to do? Take along a pack of gauze dressings and rub your hands with an antiseptic?

Here you can do without direct contact between contractors and customers. An established EDM will help – electronic document management eliminating the need for paper media. Our site has SmartSign our EDM service, which we use, as well as many of our customers and partners.

Today, there is no longer any need to exchange acts of acceptance of completed works and sign them, sending them back already with their germs. By the Laws of Ukraine “On electronic trust services” and “On electronic documents and electronic document management”, digital versions of any documents have long been considered by Ukrainian regulatory authorities to be just as legal and even simplify verification.

Shortly, the development of this direction will allow Ukrainian companies to refuse even a paper delivery note (DN). They are already being replaced by eDN, electronic delivery note, but the law so far, before the official launch of a centralized database, requires that only one copy of the invoice exists in paper form.

During quarantine, rejection of paper greatly contributes to compliance with measures restricting the spread of infection without prejudice to any business processes. Also, it is much cheaper than mailing and courier delivery, it saves time and resources of printing equipment, and, which is especially important from sustainable development and responsible business, reduces the total paper consumption in the country, reducing the rate of deforestation. Convenient, modern, environmentally friendly and sterile. Perfect!