Comparing work locally to opportunities farther away can be a tricky decision for your business. Local jobs feel familiar because you know the agency and you can get home at a good hour. Sometimes an opportunity further away may be worth the effort to bid on if it is valuable enough to cover the extra costs involved. It comes down to what works best for your business: if agencies near you post the work you want, local work may be enough. If not, a better contract might be in a new area entirely.
Why would I pass on a job that’s far from home?
Let’s look at this in a practical setting. A team of workers based in California’s Central Valley has been successfully sourcing jobs in their nearby county that posts striping work a few times a year. Business is going well!
However, much bigger striping contracts are getting posted at the other end of the state, including one across the border to Nevada. For the business, this is exactly the industry they excel at, but their gut sees the distance and says “too far”, immediately ruling it out as an option. Passing on a solicitation without running the numbers can mean leaving potential profit on the table.
What does “pay off” mean for my business?
Understanding all the costs involved in a solicitation is something businesses can easily miss. A bigger contract doesn’t automatically equal better. What matters is how much money your company keeps only after paying for everything the job takes. Some of the costs come before you even win a bid, like the hours spent reading the solicitation and learning a new agency’s forms. You pay those costs even when you don’t win.
For example: a job near home leaves you $8,000 after your normal costs. A bigger contract four hours away leaves $11,000 after normal costs, but the overall travel expenses for your team add $5,000. This results with the bigger contract leaving you with $6,000 after everything is considered. Look at it as a return, and the gap becomes clearer.
If the local contract was $40,000, you kept about 20 cents of every dollar. If the bigger one was $60,000, you kept 10 cents.
What extra costs would I pay on a job far from home?
So where does that extra $5,000 in expenses come from? Even when a job is in the same state, you may need to account for agency-specific registration or additional project requirements. The added cost often comes with extra financing that adds up:
- Crews that can’t drive home need hotels and meals for the duration of the work, plus gas and drive time
- Getting various equipment to a distant site costs time and fuel. Shops can be hours away instead of minutes if something breaks
- Checking on a faraway site takes hours of time or pulls a lead away from your other work
- Every agency has its own documentation and way of writing things, so your first bid with a new agency takes longer than your tenth locally.
- Depending on if the contract is out of state, you may need to look into that state’s license or business registration
When is staying close to home enough for my business?
Those extra costs are exactly what you avoid by staying close to home. For the agencies you work with most, you know them and who to call. The paperwork already covers everything, and you get to check on it in person on the regular. Jobs that require more frequent visits, like cleaning services, are easier to do well when your team is close by. Some cities and counties offer local-preference programs that benefit eligible local businesses, which is an advantage you might give up bidding far from home.
When does a farther job pay off for my business?
Still, the math can swing the other way. A distant contract is worth it when it matches your work so well that the extra costs get covered. If the contract lasts years, the extra costs get spread over a longer period, so the opportunity may make more financial sense. $6,000 in setup and travel is a lot for a one-month job, but it’s only $2,000 a year on a three-year contract. The same goes for crews or trucks that would otherwise sit idle, since they cost you money either way. If you limit your search to only what’s nearby, you’ll never get the full comparison.
Which one is right for my business?
Stay close when nearby agencies keep your team busy with work that fits.
Look farther when a better contract returns more than what’s available locally, even after travel and related costs are included.
You can also do both: bid close to home for steady work, and farther out for the opportunities that fit you best. The key is having visibility into the available opportunities all in one place.
How do I find work in other areas without checking every agency website?
Every agency has its own website, and deciding to search beyond your general area means visiting even more places to do the research by hand. With VendorLine’s Nationwide Platform, you can find and track opportunities across all 50 states, allowing you to filter solicitations by specific agencies, and even counties around your area. You can save opportunities you want to monitor and compare nearby work with jobs in new markets, so you can make a better judgment on which ones to bid on.
What should I do next?
If there’s anything you take from this guide, start with your current bidding process and pick two opportunities you’re already looking at, one near to you and one far away. Compare what each leaves you after all the expenses are factored in, and determine which one returns more for the time and money you put in.
Ultimately, smart bidding isn't about how far you are willing to travel, it is about maximizing the value of every hour your team spends on the job. VendorLine eliminates the guesswork by allowing to see contracts of all types in one place, so you can compare them yourself faster. If you are ready to stop guessing which contracts are worth the drive, let's look at the data together. Secure a time for a live walkthrough, and we will help you map out your next high-return opportunity.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How far is too far to bid on a government contract?
There's no set distance. It's too far when travel and setup costs reduce your expected return below what you could earn from work you could do closer to home.
How do I estimate travel costs for a government contract far from home?
Start with the GSA per diem rates, which list what the federal government pays its own employees for hotels and meals in each area. Multiply by the number of people and nights the work needs, then add gas and drive time.
Do I need a license in another state to see government opportunities there?
No. You can look at opportunities in any state without a license there. But you may need that state's license to do the work, so check the solicitation and with its licensing board before you bid.
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