Short answer: Decide whether to bid before you spend a rupee on preparation, and decide in a fixed order: eligibility first (pass or fail), then capacity to deliver, then expected margin, competition, the risk clauses (liquidated damages, performance bank guarantee, payment cycle) and strategic value. Score each factor, set a threshold, and record the reasons; a written Go/No-Go is how small businesses stop bidding on everything and start winning what fits.
Why does a small business need a Go/No-Go process?
Because bidding is expensive and losing is the default. Every bid costs staff days, printing or portal fees, document notarisation, often an earnest money deposit and sometimes a site visit. A business that bids on every notice that looks relevant spends that cost many times and wins occasionally, usually on tenders where the margin was already thin. A business that filters early bids less and wins more per rupee spent. A Go/No-Go decision (also called bid/no-bid) is the ten-minute discipline that makes the difference, and it is the difference between a tender consultant who adds value and one who just forwards notices.
What should you check, and in what order?
The order matters because the first check is binary and the rest are matters of degree.
1. Are you eligible? (pass/fail)
Read the eligibility and pre-qualification criteria before anything else: average annual turnover, net worth, similar-work experience with the tender's own definition, certifications (ISO, registration class, licences), Udyam or startup status where relevant, place of business, and joint venture rules. For each criterion, ask "which document proves this?" If the answer is "none", the decision is No-Go, whatever the rest of the tender looks like. Our guide to tender eligibility criteria walks through each type.
2. Can you deliver? (capacity)
Do you have the people, equipment, site presence and working capital to perform the contract alongside your current work? A tender you can win but cannot deliver damages your record and your future eligibility. Check the completion period against your programme, key personnel availability, and the cash needed to fund the work until the first payment arrives.
3. Is there a margin? (economics)
Estimate the direct cost quickly, compare with the buyer's estimated value if published, and ask whether a competitive price leaves a margin after overheads, risk allowance and the cost of the security instruments. If the answer is "only if nothing goes wrong", that is a No-Go signal. The BOQ pricing guide covers the build-up.
4. Who else will bid? (competition)
Look at the buyer's previous awards for similar work, the number of corrigenda and extensions (a sign of many interested bidders or of few), and whether an incumbent exists. In L1 tenders with many qualified bidders, price alone decides; in QCBS tenders your technical strength can compensate for a slightly higher price.
5. What do the risk clauses cost? (contract risk)
The clauses that quietly decide profitability:
- Liquidated damages (LD): the deduction per day of delay and its cap. With no float in your programme, LD is a probable cost.
- Performance bank guarantee (PBG): its percentage and how long it is held; this blocks your bank limits.
- Payment cycle: how long after certification you are paid, and whether retention or mobilisation advance applies.
- Price escalation: whether the contract compensates you for material price rises, or you carry them.
- Termination, blacklisting and dispute clauses: how easily the buyer can walk away or penalise you.
6. Is it strategically worth it? (value beyond margin)
A first contract with a new buyer, a reference in a new sector, or work that uses idle capacity may justify a thin margin. Say so explicitly, so a low-margin Go is a decision, not an accident.
A scoring rubric you can copy
Score each factor from 0 to 5, multiply by the weight, and total. Treat eligibility as a gate: any FAIL means No-Go regardless of the score. Weights are a starting point; adjust for your business.
| Factor | Weight | 0 | 3 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility (gate) | — | Any criterion FAIL | Criteria met, evidence to be arranged | All criteria met with documents in hand |
| Capacity to deliver | 20% | Would need new hires and equipment | Stretch but feasible | Comfortably within current capacity |
| Expected margin | 20% | Below cost at competitive price | Thin but positive | Healthy at a competitive price |
| Competition | 15% | Many qualified bidders, incumbent | Moderate field | Few qualified bidders, technical edge |
| Contract risk (LD, PBG, payment) | 20% | High LD, large PBG, 90+ day payments | Standard terms | Light terms, advance or 30-day payment |
| Strategic value | 10% | None | Useful reference | Opens a new buyer or sector |
| Preparation effort vs deadline | 15% | Not enough time to do it well | Tight | Adequate time and documents ready |
Suggested thresholds: 70 and above, Go; 50 to 69, Review (usually pending a clarification, a corrigendum or a partner); below 50, No-Go. Record the score, the reasons and the decision-maker, and revisit when a corrigendum changes anything; see tender corrigendum explained.
Hypothetical example (illustrative only): a facility management company sees a ₹2 Cr housekeeping tender. Eligibility passes with documents in hand. Capacity 4, margin 3, competition 2 (an incumbent and many bidders), contract risk 2 (10% PBG, 90-day payments), strategic value 4 (a new hospital client), effort 4. Weighted total: 0.2×4 + 0.2×3 + 0.15×2 + 0.2×2 + 0.1×4 + 0.15×4 = 3.1 out of 5, or 62. The rubric says Review: the team asks at the pre-bid meeting about the payment cycle before deciding.
What are the common Go/No-Go mistakes?
- Deciding from the notice, not the document. The notice shows value and deadline; the risk lives in the special conditions.
- Letting price rescue eligibility. Technical rejection comes before the price envelope is opened.
- Ignoring working capital. Winning a contract you cannot finance is worse than losing it.
- No written reasons. Without them you cannot learn which Go decisions were right.
- One person deciding everything. Even in a small firm, the owner and whoever will deliver should both sign off.
How Grovia Tender does this
Grovia Tender computes the Go/No-Go for every tender, whether uploaded (PDF, ZIP, DOCX, XLSX or URL) or from a feed, in the same order this article describes, and it does so deterministically: a rules engine decides the arithmetic and AI is used only to extract and phrase facts from documents. First, eligibility with evidence per criterion is checked against your Company DNA and Document Vault; each criterion shows PASS, FAIL or NEEDS REVIEW and the document that proves it, and nothing is marked PASS without evidence. Then the fit score (0–100 against your profile), the risk register (EMD, liquidated damages, performance bank guarantee, payment cycle, timelines and penalties, each with severity) and capacity factors feed a bid potential score and a recommendation of BID, NO BID or REVIEW, with the reasons written in plain English, for example "Recommendation: BID. Risk: Medium, because of a 10% performance bank guarantee."
When a corrigendum arrives it is diffed and the eligibility, scores and recommendation are refreshed. If you decide to bid, the AI drafts the proposal from your own documents with every claim traceable, auto-fills the document checklist from your vault, prepares the BOQ cost build-up for your approval, and assembles the final bid package and portal checklist for you to submit yourself. The system never submits, signs or prices on its own. After the result, bid memory records the decision, the price and the outcome so the next recommendation is better than the last. Plans: Free ₹0, Pro ₹3,999/month, Business ₹14,999/month, pay-per-bid from ₹1,999 (GST extra). See how it works, features and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Go/No-Go decision in tendering? It is the formal decision, taken before you spend money preparing a bid, on whether to pursue a tender. A good Go/No-Go checks eligibility first, then capacity, margin, competition, contract risk and strategic value, and records the reasons so you can learn from the outcome.
How many tenders should a small business bid on? Fewer than most do. Each bid costs staff time, document preparation and often EMD. A focused pipeline where you bid only on tenders you are eligible for and can deliver profitably wins more per rupee spent than bidding on everything that appears.
What are the biggest risk clauses to check before bidding? Liquidated damages (rate and cap), performance bank guarantee (percentage and duration), payment cycle and retention, price escalation or its absence, defect liability period, and termination or blacklisting provisions.
Should I bid if I am borderline on eligibility? Only if you can produce the evidence the tender demands. Eligibility is pass or fail at technical evaluation, and an appealing price does not rescue a missing certificate. Ask at the pre-bid stage, watch for corrigenda, and treat borderline as No-Go unless the gap closes.
How does Grovia Tender decide BID, NO BID or REVIEW? Deterministically. The rules engine applies eligibility results, fit score, risk register and capacity factors to produce a bid potential score and a recommendation, each with plain-English reasons. AI is used to extract facts from documents, not to make the decision, and no recommendation is acted on without a human.
Get a Go/No-Go with reasons for your next tender in minutes. Create a free Grovia Tender account and upload the tender document.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Central Public Procurement Portal (eprocure.gov.in)
- Government e-Marketplace (gem.gov.in)
Competitor details reflect their public pages on the dates cited and can change; we correct errors on request at info@groviatender.com.