Hire a lean in-house team
Lower fixed cost, but the team gets stretched and has to no-bid good opportunities in spiky months.
Bidding is resource-intensive and pipeline is unpredictable.
For business leaders trying to win more work, that means stressed teams, missed opportunities and unnecessary expense.
01Bids take real expert time.
Writing, managing and coordinating each bid pulls senior people in.
02Demand does not arrive evenly.
Quiet months can be followed by several good opportunities at once.
03Capacity becomes the go/no-go decision.
When the team is full, good opportunities get no-bid.
The old choice
Company leaders have traditionally had two options.
Hire for the peaks
Enough capacity for the busiest months, but the team is underutilised for much of the year.
Assumptions36 bids/year; each bid £1m; win 15%; team limit 3/mo; Bidgen £2,500/mo + £2,500 extraEditHide
Monthly demand
Economics
In-house
Bidgen
1. Lean team: low cost, high missed value.
£60k loaded staff cost, plus £12m in missed bid value. At the assumed win rate, that is £1.8m expected value.
£60kLoaded staff cost
Missed bid value£12m
Expected value at win-rate£1.8m
BidsMissed bidsUnused capacity
Average contract value£1m
Fully loaded cost£60k (£50k + 20%)
Win-rate15%
Team hired1 FTE hired
2. Peak team: no misses but high fixed costs.
A bigger team covers the busiest month. But you pay for that team every month, even when demand is low.
£180kFixed cost
BidsUnused capacityPeak capacity
The third option
Bidgen creates a third option.
Bid expertise on-demand, for 50% less than a fully staffed bid team.
Included as standard
More than just bid writing.
Bidgen keeps the bid function moving between live tenders, so each new opportunity is easier to qualify, manage and respond to.
Pipeline sourcing and qualification
We source and qualify new opportunities ready for go/no-go meetings.
Bid library maintenance
We create and maintain reusable assets, making bidding more scalable and repeatable.
One managed bid each month
Your base includes one bid per month, with PAYG flex added only when demand spikes.
3. Bidgen: base cover plus flex.
One bid a month is included. Extra expert support is added only in busier months.
£2.5k/moFixed base+ cost-effective PAYG rate as needed
Cost per bid
In-house writer£1.7k£5k/mo loaded cost ÷ 3 bids/mo max capacity
Bidgen PAYG£2.5kPaid only when extra bids arrive.
With idle months, the in-house cost is £2.5k per bid actually covered.
Included bidExtra bidsBids
Side by side.
Same bids. Same values. Bidgen keeps the fixed commitment lower and captures the busy-month upside.
Measure
In-house team
Bidgen flex team
Fixed annual spend
£60k loaded staff costPlus £1.8m missed value from 12 missed bids.
£30k fixed baseIncludes 1 bid/month; extras are paid for only when needed (£65k here).
Busy months
3 bids/month capCapacity is fixed before bids arrive.
1/mo included + extras as neededExtra support is added when bids arrive.
Bids covered
Capacity drives go/no-go decisionsWhen capacity is full, good bids get no-bid.
Unlimited coverageCapacity flexes with demand, with no fixed monthly cap.
Unused capacity
Quiet months still costPaid capacity is fixed, even when bid volume drops.
No peak bench carriedNo full-year team for short spikes.
Hiring load
Hire and manage staffRecruitment, holidays and cover stay with you.
Expert team readyBid support sits outside your headcount.
Ramp & training time
3-6 monthsRecruit, onboard and train before full capacity is ready.
Less than 1 weekExpert bid support can be ready quickly.
Bidgen in a nutshell
Faster, better, cheaper bid capacity.
Expert support when bids arrive, with the systems and flexibility to keep cost under control.
Compared with around 14 days for an in-house team.
Catch errors and missed submission requirements before evaluators do.
Lower fixed cost than carrying a fully staffed bid team.
READY TO TALK?
Find out what flexible bid capacity could look like for your team.
Tell us where your bidding function is stretched and we will map the simplest way to add expert capacity.
Get your bids moving
ConfidentialFast response