Tenders Are Invited For Market Research And Business Development Consultancy Services

Tenders are invited for Market Research and Business Development Consultancy Services Service Location: Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus, Jenin Tender Description B-Hub at the Center for Continuing Education / Birzeit University, under the leadership of CARE Palestine, is implementing the AMALI Empowered Women and Youth for Resilient Communities West Bank project, funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) as part of International Partnerships Austria. The project aims to uplift and empower vulnerable women and youth, enabling them to strengthen their socio-economic resilience in a context characterized by economic and political volatility. The project supports the economic participation of women and female and male youth by enhancing employability, strengthening entrepreneurial capacities, and facilitating access to opportunities that contribute to sustainable livelihoods and local economic development. Under Output 2, the project focuses on the economic empowerment of women and youth opportunity entrepreneurs. These include young women and men aged 1829 who own or manage promising businesses with potential for growth, sustainability, and job creation. Purpose of the Assignment As part of the Youth Opportunity component, five enterprises were selected for advanced business and technical support. All of these businesses are micro-enterprises with very small-scale operations, serving primarily localized and geographically limited markets. The businesses are performing relatively well and have identified opportunities for expansion, diversification, product development, operational optimization or market penetration. However, the business owners require specialized technical and business expertise to assess these opportunities and identify the most commercially viable and sustainable development pathways. B-Hub therefore seeks to engage a qualified consulting agency/agencies/individual experts to provide tailored market research, feasibility analysis, product/service development, operational optimization, business modelling and strategic business planning services for the selected micro businesses. The assignment is intended to help the businesses move from having several possible opportunities to making evidence-based business decisions and having a practical implementation plan. Overall Consultancy Objectives The consultancy will aim to: Assess the current business situation, business model, market position and key growth constraints of each selected business. Conduct targeted market research and market opportunity analysis relevant to each business. Identify and assess potential business development, diversification, product/service and market expansion opportunities. Conduct feasibility assessments of the identified opportunities, including commercial, technical, operational and financial considerations, as relevant. Support entrepreneurs in selecting the most promising and realistic growth opportunities. Develop or refine business models for the selected opportunities. Develop practical business development/investment plans for implementation. Provide technical recommendations that enable entrepreneurs to make informed investment and growth decisions. Where relevant, develop product portfolios, technical specifications, potential customer databases and market-entry strategies. Business-Specific Scope of Services The following businesses have been identified for specialized support: (attached) Cost- and Time-Efficient Approach Given the micro size of enterprises beneficiaries and limited financial resources and timeframe available under the project, the selected consultant(s) are expected to apply cost- and time-efficient methodologies throughout the assignment while maintaining the required quality and reliability of the outputs. The proposed approach should prioritize practical, focused and proportionate research and analysis, avoiding unnecessary activities or costs that do not directly contribute to the required business decisions and deliverables. Where appropriate, consultants are encouraged to: Make maximum use of available secondary data, existing market information and relevant studies before undertaking primary research; Use targeted interviews, consultations and sample-based market research rather than extensive and costly surveys, where this can provide sufficiently reliable information; Use online meetings, telephone interviews and digital tools where appropriate to reduce travel and logistical costs; Combine activities for several businesses where this can generate efficiencies, while ensuring that each business receives sufficiently tailored analysis; Focus field visits and face-to-face consultations on activities where physical presence provides clear added value; Prioritize the most critical market, technical and financial questions required for decision-making; Use existing databases, networks and publicly available information to identify potential customers, suppliers, competitors and market actors; Provide concise, practical and decision-oriented deliverables rather than unnecessarily lengthy reports. The consultant(s) should demonstrate in their technical proposal how they intend to maximize value for money and achieve the required results within the limited budget and timeframe. Cost-saving measures should not, however, compromise the quality, credibility or practical usefulness of the market research, feasibility assessment, business planning or other required deliverables. Expected Level of Effort and Duration Expected level of effort: up to 50 consultancy days in total for all above business-specific micro assignments. The assignment is expected to be completed within approximately 3 months from the signing of the contract. The consultant should provide a detailed workplan showing: Activities; Number of working days per activity; Business(es) covered; Deliverables; Proposed timeline. Required Qualifications and Experience B-Hub is seeking qualified consulting firms/agencies or individual consultants with demonstrated experience in business development and specialized technical areas relevant to the assignments. The agency should demonstrate: At least 5 years of relevant experience in business consulting, market research, SME development, entrepreneurship, feasibility studies and/or business planning; Proven experience supporting micro, small and/or medium enterprises; Demonstrated experience in market research and feasibility analysis; Strong understanding of the Palestinian private-sector context; Demonstrated experience in developing practical business plans and growth strategies; Access to relevant technical specialists, where required; Demonstrated experience in developing Agro-business and agro-food processing; Eco-tourism and rural tourism; Food processing and healthy food products; Product development and commercialization; Plastic recycling and circular economy; Manufacturing and technical product development; Operations and supply-chain optimization; Food business management. Strong analytical, communication and report-writing capacity. Application Requirements Interested consulting companies/agencies or consultants are invited to submit: A. Technical Proposal The technical proposal should be short and practical and should include a brief on: Understanding of the assignment; Proposed methodology and approach; Proposed activities, workplan and timeframe; Proposed team and allocation of responsibilities; Relevant experience and similar assignments; At least 23 examples of comparable assignments conducted previously; Proposed deliverables; Any assumptions or requirements necessary to successfully complete the assignment. B. Financial Proposal The financial proposal should clearly indicate: Daily professional fees/rates; Number of days proposed; Costs per business/assignment, where applicable; Travel and other anticipated costs, if any; Total proposed consultancy cost. B-Hub may select one consultant/agency for all assignments or divide the scope among consultants/agencies, depending on the technical quality, specialization and value for money of the proposals. The applicants should indicate in both the technical and financial proposal the number of assignments/lots they are able to undertake, including the proposed cost for each lot. Applicants may also indicate if they prefer to implement all five assignments as one integrated consultancy without dividing the scope into separate lots. B-Hub reserves the rights not to select any of applicants. Proposal Evaluation Criteria Submissions will be evaluated on a 60% Technical / 40% Financial split. How to apply: Interested agencies / experts should send an email with their proposals to [email protected] and copy to [email protected] , with the lot / lots specified in the subject line. Tender Link : https://www.jobs.ps/en/tenders/market-research-and-business-development-15837.html