Reading an RFP without drowning

Why you triage before you write

A solicitation can run dozens of pages. If you start writing before you know whether you can win, you can lose a weekend on a bid you were never eligible for. Triage first. Spend thirty minutes deciding whether to bid at all, then commit your writing time only if the answer is yes.

Buyers use different names. An RFP, a request for proposals, weighs price and approach together. An RFQ, a request for quotes, is usually price-focused. An IFB, an invitation for bids, typically goes to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. The document tells you which one you are reading and how you will be judged, so read that part first.

The three things to check first

• The due date, time, and time zone. Late is almost always disqualified, with no appeal. If you cannot realistically finish and submit early, stop here.
• The submission method and format. Portal upload, email, or a sealed paper copy. Page limits, required forms, and file types. Miss the format and a strong bid gets rejected unread.
• The mandatory requirements, the pass-or-fail conditions covered next.

Mandatory requirements: pass or fail

Mandatory requirements are the conditions you must meet to be eligible at all. They are not scored. You either clear them or you do not.

• Insurance minimums and bonding.
• Required licenses and certifications.
• Minimum years in business or prior contract experience.
• Registration requirements, such as an active SAM.gov record for federal work or the Texas CMBL for state work.

A mandatory requirement you cannot meet ends the bid. Do not talk yourself past it. Your options are to move on, or to team with a prime contractor who meets it while you subcontract. Both are smart. Writing a proposal you are not eligible for is not.

Then read the scope, criteria, and pricing

• The scope of work. What is actually being bought, and whether you can deliver it.
• The evaluation criteria and their weights. This tells you exactly how you will be scored.
• The pricing structure. How they want pricing submitted, and whether it goes in a separate file.

Weight your effort by the points. If technical approach is worth forty points and past performance twenty, your writing time should follow that split.

Make the bid or no-bid call

With triage done, the decision is usually clear. Bid when you can meet every mandatory requirement, deliver the scope, submit on time and in the right format, and price it to make sense. If any of those is a no, that is your answer, and it is a good one. A disciplined no-bid frees you for the next opportunity you can actually win.

Note the questions deadline, and watch for addenda. Most solicitations let you ask questions by a set date, and the answers come back as an addendum that can change the requirements. Ask early. Read every addendum.

Where to get help

• SAM.gov (sam.gov): find and read federal contract opportunities.
• Electronic State Business Daily and txsmartbuy.com: find State of Texas opportunities.
• PV Extension (cblilly@pvamu.edu): help reading a live solicitation and deciding whether to bid.

Bring a real solicitation to PV Extension or The Business In Development (B.I.D.) Academy and we will help you triage it, map your response to the evaluation criteria, and decide whether to bid.

This guide is general educational information from Prairie View A&M University Extension, Community and Economic Development. It is not legal, tax, or procurement advice. Every solicitation sets its own rules, so always follow the requirements of the actual document you are responding to.