01
The missing mandatory
Every tender hides shall-statements: WSIB clearance, insurance naming the buyer, a form an addendum changed. Miss one and the bid is dead at opening — no matter how good your price was.
Datum Bid Co. — Bid writing for contractors
Government bids die on paperwork.
Yours won't.
I write bids for cleaning, security, facilities, snow, and trades companies selling to government in Canada and the US. Flat fee, and a written guarantee: if a bid I prepare is rejected for administrative non-compliance, the full fee comes back.
The autopsy is free, takes 48 hours, and needs no call.
- Flat fees, published
- One client per tender
- You sign everything
- Submitted 24h early
DATUM 001Why bids die
Why good contractors lose
Most first government bids are never really read. Nobody publishes the number, but ask anyone who has sat on an evaluation panel: a pile of bids gets set aside on compliance before price is ever opened. The contractor finds out in a one-line regret email weeks later.
02
The ignored scoresheet
Evaluators score against published criteria and weights. A bid written like a brochure makes them hunt for answers. They don't hunt. They deduct.
03
The naked claim
"Twenty years of experience" scores zero. A signed reference letter for the same scope scores. Claims without evidence attached are decoration.
DATUM 002The guarantee
Defined in the engagement letter
The guarantee, in writing
If a bid I prepare is rejected for administrative non-compliance, the fee comes back in full. The trigger is defined, not left to argument. Three conditions: the package was one you approved before submission; my compliance matrix marked the item verified; and the buyer's rejection notice or debrief record names that item as the reason. I request the debrief on every loss, so the reason gets put in writing. Trigger met, refund made.
What I will never guarantee is a win. Evaluation is partly subjective and partly price, and anyone promising wins is selling optimism. Compliance is different — it is fully controllable by whoever does the reading. That's why I can put my fee behind it in writing.
DATUM 003Process
How a bid gets built here
01
Send the tender
I read all of it: every addendum, every schedule, every shall.
02
Compliance matrix
Every mandatory requirement, quoted verbatim, tracked to the page that satisfies it, with a named owner.
03
Built on their scoresheet
The response follows the buyer's criteria, in their order, weighted the way they score it — one direct answer and one piece of evidence per criterion.
04
Everything verified
Every factual claim is traced to your real documents before it leaves. Nothing invented. Ever.
05
You approve and sign
Written sign-off on the final package. Every form carries your signature. It's your bid — I build it.
06
Early, receipted, debriefed
Submitted at least 24 hours before close, portal receipt archived. After the result, I request the evaluator debrief — win or lose, you keep the lessons.
Eleven internal steps sit under these six. Two of them are pure verification — they're why the guarantee is safe to offer.
DATUM 004Free bid autopsy
Lost one recently? Send it.
One page, free, back within 48 hours:
- the mandatories you missed, if any
- the criteria you left unanswered or under-evidenced
- what a compliant, evaluator-mapped version looks like
If you actually lost on price, the page says exactly that — with the margin math. No call. No drip campaign. The page is how I show the work instead of claiming it.
Email [email protected]. Attach your submission and the tender documents if you have them. If all you have is the regret letter, forward that and I'll tell you what I need. Any subject line works.
Send a bid for autopsyWhat happens to your bid: read by me, nobody else. Never shared, never quoted, never reused in another company's bid. Deleted if you ask.
DATUM 005Pricing
Flat fees, published
Sized before work starts. Never adjusted after.
Single bid
$1,500–$3,500 flat, by contract size
One tender response end to end: compliance matrix, writing, verification, your approval, submission support. Carries the guarantee.
Flagship
Bid-Ready Bundle
$4,500–$6,000 one-time
For firms blocked by paperwork: the safety and registration documents the bid demands, a reusable bid library, and your first full bid written. Certification paths mapped honestly.
Bid Desk
$750–$1,500 per month
I watch the portals against your profile, score every candidate bid/no-bid so you stop chasing bad ones, and keep your library current. Member rate on every bid written.
Safety program prep
$1,500–$2,500 per program
Written programs drafted from your actual operations, reviewed and signed by a credentialed safety professional — their fee shown as its own line. Preparation for paths like COR, never sold as the certificate.
50% deposit to start, balance before submission. US engagements priced in USD.
DATUM 006The record
The outcome ledger
Founded June 2026. Every result publishes here — no cherry-picking, the ledger is the whole record. First cohort results land Q4 2026.
Bids delivered
—
Compliance pass rate
—
Win rate
—
- Every loss debriefed
- Every claim source-verified
- 24-hour replies
- Honest no-bid advice
- Max two live deadlines
- One client per tender
DATUM 007Who this is for
Built for the trades that win this work
Cleaning and janitorial. Security guarding. Facilities maintenance. Snow and grounds. Electrical, mechanical, HVAC, painting.
If your company bids public work more than twice a year without an in-house writer — or wants to start and keeps bouncing off the paperwork — one compliance save pays the fee several times over.
Canada: CanadaBuys, MERX, provincial and municipal portals. United States: SAM.gov — and if you're not registered yet, registration is free, I'll point you through it, and I will never charge for it. Be careful with anyone who does.
DATUM 008Questions
Straight answers
What's your track record?
None yet. I opened in June 2026 and the ledger above is empty until real results fill it. That's why the autopsy is free and the compliance guarantee is in writing — until the record exists, the risk sits with me, not you.
Do you guarantee wins?
No, and you should distrust anyone who does. Strong bidders win maybe a third of what they enter. I guarantee the controllable thing: your bid gets evaluated instead of discarded.
Who signs the bid?
You. Every form and attestation carries your signature. I never sign, never submit under my own name, and never represent licences you don't hold.
Do you use AI?
For drafting speed, yes. Every fact in your bid is then verified by me against your actual documents before it leaves. Your material never enters public tools and never appears in anyone else's bid.
What if my competitor wants you too?
One client per tender per sector and region. First signed gets it; the second is told no, and told why.
How fast are you?
Autopsies in 48 hours. First full draft in 72 hours from complete intake. Submission at least 24 hours before close, always.
What do you need from me?
One intake call, your standing documents — insurance, WSIB or state equivalents, references, resumes — your pricing numbers, and 48-hour turnarounds on approvals. I handle the rest.
DATUM 009Start
The next tender is already posted.
Send a lost bid for a free autopsy. Or send the live tender you're staring at, and I'll send back the same page in advance: the mandatories, how it will be scored, and whether I'd bid it. 48 hours either way.
[email protected]