I have spent more than a decade writing bids, in a construction career spanning over twenty years. When Aspire Bidding became my business six months ago, I assumed I knew what I was walking into. I knew tendering inside out. Having freelanced for most of that time, though, what I did not know was how to lead a team.

That gap, between knowing your craft and running a company, has been the story of my first six months.

Knowing your craft is not the same as running a business

I had already worked as a freelance consultant, so the bidding itself did not worry me. Being an owner, a leader and mentor, and sharing that responsibility with a friend were another thing entirely. Nothing quite prepares you for the first time someone’s livelihood depends on a call you make.

Leadership was the best surprise

I have always thought of myself as a people person, yet the idea of managing a team had daunted me for years. To my surprise, however, it has become one of the most fulfilling parts of my job. Handing work to younger colleagues, building an environment where they can thrive, stretching them a little while making sure they feel valued – all of it brought me a joy I had not seen coming. Watching them grow, and getting to share in what they achieve, has been a privilege I did not expect to treasure so much. There is something so moving about watching a young colleague take on work they were initially nervous about, and discover they were capable of it all along.

I understand our clients better now

Bidding is my bread and butter. For most of our clients, though, it is one more job to squeeze in on top of running a company. Now that I carry that same weight – writing bids while running a business – I understand what it is to be pulled in different directions. Do you spend the day on the necessary work that nobody pays you for, or on the chargeable work, and let the rest slip? I feel that tension every week now. I think it has made me a more empathetic consultant, and for a few clients, dare I say it, a better friend.

Building this with a friend

I met bid expert Andrew Morrison when I moved to Scotland in 2025. As the Association of Proposal Management Professionals’ named Global Thought Leader, Andrew has twice my bidding experience. He has also evaluated bids from the buyer’s side, giving him public sector insight I simply do not have. We are also very different people.

What has made the partnership work is mutual respect, open communication, and honest feedback that neither of us takes as a criticism. We manage that because we agree on something more important than being right: the client comes first. And because we are friends, any difficult conversation always comes from a place of care.

A healthier way to bid

The bidding industry can be a brutal place to work. Punishing deadlines, a win-at-all-costs mindset, and millions of pounds resting on one person getting a compliance checklist right. It takes a toll on people. Andrew and I built Aspire Bidding to prove that there is a kinder way to do this well. In practice, that means little to no weekend or out of hours working. It means respecting time off, and giving people a few days to recover after a frantic bid. Plenty of consultancies describe themselves as human-first, and usually they mean keeping a person involved as AI takes on more of the basics. For us, that is only the beginning. People are everything, and they deserve the space and care to do their best.

What I have learned about myself

At the start, I let worry take up more room than it deserved. I fretted about what might go wrong, and about what I might not be capable of, and it robbed me of some of the joy you ought to feel when you begin something new. Six months on, I see the same habit in our staff, and it is just as unfounded in them as it was in me. People are far more resilient, creative and capable than they give themselves credit for. That includes me, and it probably includes you.

When we started, we wanted to keep Aspire Bidding intentionally small. In spirit, that is still the plan. But demand meant our team of five doubled to ten inside six months. I am proud of the bids we have delivered for our clients. I am prouder still of watching our younger colleagues flourish, and of learning that I can lead a team, and apparently do it well.

The next six months

The settling-in phase is behind us. Our team, for now, is complete. I am more confident than I was, I enjoy the work more, and I am learning to delegate rather than trying to carry everything myself. The first six months were about learning, building, and proving that this model works. The next six are about thriving. We are in the right gear, and more than ready to put our foot down.