Written library
How this actually works, written down
How bids are scored, what gets you excluded, what evidence a buyer accepts, and how a small firm gets onto a big bid. Every summary is open to read. The articles themselves are in every level from Lite upwards.
All (12) compliance (2) evaluation (1) evidence (1) grants (2) partnering (1) playbook (1) scoring (3) sme (1) strategy (2) tenders (8) writing (2)
Tenders · 4 min · from Lite
Bid or no bid: the ten-minute test
Most lost bids were lost at the decision to bid. Ten questions that take ten minutes and save weeks.
Tenders · 5 min · from Lite
What "most economically advantageous" really means
The cheapest bid does not automatically win. How price and quality are weighed, and what that means for how you write.
Tenders · 4 min · from Lite
The ESPD in plain words
The European Single Procurement Document is a self-declaration you can prepare once and reuse. What it asks, and what goes wrong.
Tenders · 3 min · from Lite
How to ask a clarification question that helps you
Clarification answers go to every bidder. How to ask so the answer helps you without giving your approach away.
Grants · 5 min · from Lite
Why good projects lose grant competitions
Funders reject strong projects every round. The usual reasons are fit, evidence and budget, not the idea.
Playbook · 7 min · from Pro
Playbook: the criteria matrix, step by step
The one table that stops missing answers: how to build it, use it while writing, and check a bid against it before it goes in.
Scoring · 6 min · from Lite
How a tender is actually scored, and where the marks really go
Most bids lose marks in places the bidder never looked. Here is what the evaluator has in front of them.
Compliance · 5 min · from Lite
The five things that get you excluded before anyone reads your bid
Exclusion is not a scoring decision. It happens before scoring, and it is usually administrative.
Structure · 5 min · from Lite
Selection and award are not the same thing, and mixing them costs marks
One asks whether you are allowed to do this work at all. The other asks how well you would do this particular job.
Evidence · 5 min · from Lite
Evidence buyers accept, and evidence they quietly ignore
Not all proof is equal. Some of it moves a score and some of it is read as filler.
Partnering · 6 min · from Lite
How a small firm gets onto a big bid without being the lead
Being too small to bid alone is not the end of the route to public work. It is a different route.
Grants · 5 min · from Lite
A grant is not a tender: what changes in how you write
The same organisation, the same evidence, and a completely different argument.