Public tenders get the attention, but large private companies buy far more, and their procurement is frequently more accessible to a small supplier — because they are looking for you.
Why they are looking
Large companies are scored on preferential procurement and on enterprise and supplier development, and both are measured partly by what they spend with smaller and black-owned suppliers.
That gives their procurement teams an active reason to find qualifying suppliers. It is one of the few situations where being small is an advantage in a sales conversation.
Get onto the supplier database
Most large buyers maintain one, and being on it is a prerequisite rather than an advantage. Registration asks for the documents you should already have — registration, tax compliance, B-BBEE, banking details, sometimes safety and insurance evidence.
Do it before you have an opportunity in front of you. Onboarding takes weeks and it will not be accelerated because a buyer wants to place an order.
Find the right person
Procurement processes the order; somebody else decides they need the thing. Both matter, and approaching only one is why a great many approaches go nowhere.
Many large companies have an enterprise and supplier development function specifically tasked with bringing small suppliers in. Ask whether one exists — it is frequently the most useful door and the one least used.
Be ready for their terms
Large buyers have long payment terms, extensive onboarding, insurance and safety requirements, and sometimes their own systems you must invoice through.
Cost the payment terms before agreeing. A large customer paying at sixty days is a customer you are funding, and a contract that looks transformative can strain a small business badly in the first few months.
Start with something small
A modest first order you deliver flawlessly is worth more than a large one you struggle with. Procurement teams are managing risk as much as cost, and a supplier with a clean record on small work gets considered for larger work.
Watch the concentration
A large customer that becomes a substantial share of your revenue sets your terms whether or not you agreed to them, and their decision to change supplier becomes an existential event for you.
Grow into it deliberately, and keep other customers even when the big one is absorbing everything. Suppliers who let their other relationships lapse have nothing to fall back on.
General guidance on commercial practice, not legal or procurement advice.