Does anyone ever read the forward of a book? If I said that I always do; I'd be telling a lie. I'm usually too eager to get to the meat and potatoes of what I might learn. If you like, I want to know 'what's in it for me!' Well, in the hope that you do, in fact, read the forward of this particular book, here's a taste of what you will find within its pages. It's a very short taste but profound, nonetheless:

If you are in a business that must compete in markets where there is substantial competition. If you know that there are wonderful opportunities out there, if only you could tap into them. If you could only develop the skills you need without investing GBP1,000s in training, If you understand the power of learning from experts instead of wasting time and money learning from mistakes, then this book is for you.

It will show you how to find lucrative opportunities and then how to grow your skills, knowledge and expertise to bid for them in a way that maximises your chance of success. 'The bidding process demands focus, time and effort. It is not something that can be done by someone who is worn out by having spent too many hours at the corporate grindstone'. Yet you sit in that 'Lonely Seat'. You know that the business rises or falls with you. And so, you work and work, miss the weekends, the family time, the nights out with friends, the holidays. You can't let go; you have to constantly tend to the activity and responsibilities your position has given you. There is another way you know . . . Do you want your weekends back and be safe in the knowledge that your business is flourishing? Do you want to have the security of long-term contracts, delivered by you and your growing team, ensuring that the business thrives? Of course you do. Now, to achieve this, you are going to have to invest some time, trust and money. Nothing worth having is free, is it? Your journey begins now, with you committing the time needed to read and absorb the nuggets of gold in this book. When you do that, you will be on a pathway to learning how to take back your time, grow your business and secure your future. I suggest bite-sized chunks to begin with. Set aside 15 minutes a day to read a chapter or part of a chapter. You can find 15 minutes yes? Here's a tip: take the book to the loo with you, no one is going to disturb you, and you have to go anyway . . . Our chapters are written in a 'one follows on from the other' kind of order however, once you have read them once, you can dip in and out of the ones you need for reference in any order you want. This little book is going to be your bidding handbook for quite a while.

Here's to our journey together.