go out to bid

[unpakwon]

Please make the following in red clear for me.

"Cliff, you helped me when I was just starting Highline, so I feel I owe you one more chance to make this right. However, I need to see some tangible changes soon, or I'll have to go out to bid. It's not my first choice, but several of your competitors have approached me over the past year with early-stage---and pretty attractive---proposals for switching suppliers.

Is this saying "I'll have to give your competitors a chance to make a bid"?

Thank you.

[5jj]

It seems to have that meaning.