People often ask me how I know so much about tenders and the completing of tender documents. The answer is easy; training. I believe that we must always try to learn as much as possible. The more training you will do the better you will get at responding to a tender. Chris kirubi, one of Kenya's successful entrepreneur and industrialist of all time, used to say: “Your odds of succeeding increase when you have a plan and you put in the necessary effort required to achieve your goals.”

That is the whole point of training. The more you know about a subject like tenders, the better you will get in responding to it. The better you respond to it the better your chances will become in winning a tender.

The problem is that there is not much Tender Training going around and some of the Tender Training that is available is not always very good. Some Government departments such as AGPO provide free training on how to complete their tenders. This is good but it does not teach you anything about Private Sector Tender responses. So be sure that when you do receive training it includes both Private and Public Sector training. The differences are not big, but there are differences.

It is also important that whenever you pay for Tender Training, it MUST at least cover these areas:

1. An overview of the tender environment.
2. The practical completion of a tender.
3. Factors that influence the outcome of the tender process.
4. Fatal mistakes not to make when completing a tender.
5. Preparation of documents that need to accompany your tender.
6. Hints and tips on how to respond to a tender.
7. A Basic overview on how to start a company in Kenya.
8. The different tender terminology should be explained.
9. The Preferential Points scoring system should be explained

The better equipped you are in the tender process, the better your chances are in winning a tender that could change your life forever.