Gross margins vs net margins was all it took to put close to a 100 people on the dole. In a cut-throat industry it takes pretty precise bookkeeping to know what you can bid on a contract, if you think you're making 10% when you're actually making -10% growing your business is the worst thing you could possibly do. First you'd need to fix your margins, and if that is not possible and some competitor still outbids you then you should simply let it go. Otherwise you'll end up winning all the battles but you will still lose the war.