The “Should We Bid?” Report
Know before you bid.
A plain-English review for small businesses considering a government contract. Find the hidden requirements, estimate the workload and decide whether the opportunity deserves your time.
We analyze the actual contract you are considering.
After receiving the complete materials and company intake.
Bid, bid with conditions, or do not bid.
What the review answers
A business decision—not another RFP summary.
Government solicitations often bury the most important facts across attachments, certifications, contract clauses and submission instructions. The report compares those requirements with what your company can actually deliver.
Pass-or-fail requirements
Required experience, registrations, certifications, insurance, references, forms and other conditions that can disqualify an otherwise strong proposal.
Scope and capability
Where your staff, systems and prior work match the assignment—and where a subcontractor, partner or new capability may be necessary.
Effort, risk and upside
Likely response workload, unusual contract exposure, evaluation pressure points and the practical case for investing—or walking away.
How it works
From a stack of documents to a defensible decision.
Send the opportunity
Provide the solicitation, amendments and attachments.
Describe your company
Complete a focused intake covering capabilities, experience and limits.
We compare them
Requirements are tested against your actual qualifications and capacity.
Make the call
Receive a documented recommendation and the next action to take.
Illustrative result
The title is not always the real job.
A transit advertising solicitation appeared relevant to a conventional marketing firm. A full review showed that the contractor also needed specialized transit-sales history, installation and maintenance capability, revenue controls and years of minimum financial guarantees.
Decision
Do not bid as prime without an experienced transit-advertising partner.
The decision could prevent roughly 100–160 hours of proposal work directed at an opportunity the firm was poorly positioned to win or perform.
Illustrative, redacted example. Every recommendation depends on the complete solicitation and the client’s verified information.
Founding-client pilot
Test the service on a real decision.
The pilot is deliberately narrow: one live public-sector solicitation, one company intake and one documented recommendation. If the opportunity is worth pursuing, proposal support can be scoped separately.
First five completed reviews
$199
- One live solicitation
- Two-business-day target turnaround
- Written bid, conditional-bid or no-bid recommendation
- Key requirements, gaps, risks and workload
Independent review
Bob Knudsen
Public-sector communications
Transportation operations
Small-business and appraisal experience
Plain language, documented judgment.
Bob Knudsen’s work spans public communication, transportation operations, small business, technical appraisal and service on public and community boards. Knudsen Public Contract Review applies that cross-functional perspective to the question small firms must answer before proposal writing begins: does this contract genuinely fit our business?
Engagements are screened for actual or apparent conflicts. The service is independent and is not affiliated with Bob’s employers, public appointments or other organizations.
Important: Reviews provide business-development and proposal-management analysis, not legal, accounting, engineering, procurement-law or certified cost advice. Clients remain responsible for verifying all representations, deadlines and submission requirements. No award or eligibility is guaranteed.