EU TED for small businesses in Bulgaria — a practical start
If you run a small or medium business in Bulgaria — providing services, developing software, building, or consulting — you have probably heard of public procurement but thought of it as "big-company territory". The reality is different: a significant share of the notices published on TED (Tenders Electronic Daily), the official European procurement portal, are accessible to small businesses too, provided you find them in time.
Why TED matters for SMEs
TED aggregates notices from public bodies across the EU — ministries, municipalities, hospitals, universities, agencies. Hundreds of new procedures appear every working day. Contract values range from tens of thousands to millions of euros, and subjects span nearly every sector.
Particularly relevant for small businesses:
- IT services and development (CPV 72xxxxxx) — web platforms, internal systems, maintenance
- Consulting and management services (CPV 79xxxxxx) — analyses, training, process consulting
- Construction and renovation (CPV 45xxxxxx) — smaller municipal works
- Accounting and audit (CPV 79210000) — audit services for public bodies
What DIY triage can do
You can browse TED yourself — the portal is publicly available at ted.europa.eu. You can filter by CPV code, country, and date. The problem is time: with hundreds of daily publications, manual monitoring quickly becomes a full-time task.
A DIY approach works well for: tracking and orientation. For risk assessment, eligibility analysis, and bid strategy you still need specialists — an accountant, lawyer, or procurement consultant.
A practical example
Consider an IT company that builds web applications. Relevant CPV codes would be 72212000 (application software development) and 72220000 (systems and technical consultancy). Entering these codes alongside a keyword like "web platform" or "information system" means the radar shows only notices where at least one of those signals matches the procurement text.
Without filtering — 500+ notices a day. With the right profile — 5–15 relevant ones a week.
How the Firmify radar works
Firmify provides an automatic radar that:
- Reads publicly available TED data
- Scores each notice against your CPV profile and keywords
- Shows only notices with a sufficiently high match score
- Lets you save or hide individual notices to organise your list
Sign in, open Public procurement, enter the CPV codes for your sector and keywords typical of relevant titles — and receive a personalised list instead of hundreds of unsorted records.
What the radar does NOT do
Firmify never participates in procedures on your behalf. It does not submit bids, send documents, or communicate with buyers. The radar is an advisory tool only. The decision to bid, preparing documentation, and the entire procedure remain entirely yours.
Official deadlines, requirements, and award criteria are always in the procedure documentation — on TED or on the specific buyer's portal.
Read the detailed guide: Guide to the radar and CPV codes.
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