Unbundling Large Contracts to Diversify Your Vendor Pool

Many governments are under the impression that one big contract can be managed more efficiently than several small contracts, and sometimes, they’re right: if multiple departments across your government are looking to purchase the same good or service, such as office supplies, it makes sense to bundle those purchases together under one contract to maximize cost efficiency and minimize the administrative burden of contract
management.

However, this drive toward efficiency may create inequity: big businesses with more money and more capacity win, while small, local businesses either bid and can’t compete or choose not to bid because they would never have the capacity to take on such a large project. As a result, these firms may miss out on lucrative contracting opportunities.

Why should only one business (especially one that isn’t even located in the government’s jurisdiction) reap all the rewards of taxpayer dollars from a public contract when multiple businesses (especially small, local firms) are just as capable of performing?

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