Over my career I found that turning ideas into real projects led me from strategy and innovation into giving advice on procurement. I've written a booklet called “Selling to government”- please click here to download a copy or use the menu to the left (or at the bottom if using a mobile) to navigate around it. Although it was lasted updated in 2019 it remains a useful guide.

The following top 10 tips give a flavour of what to expect:

1. Understand the rules of the game (chapter 3)
2. Get to know potential buyers (chapter 4 and 6) - good opportunities tend to be with organisations and people you know.
3. Build a network of buyers, peers, and potential allies (chapter 6) - and understand what a buyer really wants
4. Don’t wait for opportunities, create them (chapter 5) - shape the way the buyers think about & describe what they want.
5. Have a consistent process for selecting opportunities (chapter 7)
6. When the facts change re-evaluate (everywhere) - particularly the balance between the cost and value of winning
7. Understand contractual options (chapters 12 and 13).
8. Have a reuse library for building proposals (chapter 9)
9. Create references from project completion reviews (chapter9)
10. Build in downstream innovation (chapter 11)