Tag: fbo

Mastermind Monday: Why are you scared to be in the arena?

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Don’t be afraid to build a relationship and bid on government contracts!

BE THE MAN IN THE ARENA

Do you know what ITA stands for? Well, this stands for In the Arena based off of Theodore Roosevelt’s quote which is called The Man in the Arena:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The reason why we highlighted this quote is because we want to encourage all of you to get in the arena. Talk to people in your space. Talk to our podcast guests and if you’re similar to them, build a relationship with them.

However, the problem is people are trying to do everything alone. They’re an island by themselves.

They are sitting at home on their computer trying to price jobs, but have no one to overlook their mistakes and do things that are a must for bidding and overall govcon activities. 

Just take our very own Maria Martinez for example. She is a kindergarten teacher who has no govcon background, but when she dive into the arena and started building relationships with others, she succeeded and won multiple contracts. 

“She did not let people say, the cynics, tell her that she couldn’t do it. She tried. What happened when she tried? She succeeded… So again, in the arena. The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena.”

So, what are you going to do now? Well, you need to do the activities. And with this, we have some advice below. 

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

1. Learn from people. 

When you jump into the marketplace without learning the basics, it is very easy to get in trouble. 

However, you can avoid this if you are studying from people who are living and breathing all of this stuff every day. 

We actually did have a student that won a contract but his price is 20,000 lower than the production cost. This is a huge problem. Good thing he was able to talk to the manufacturer about this, but what if he wasn’t?

“Learn from people. Listen, learn, learn, learn, first.”

2. Do your market research. 

The government buys everything. The thing is they don’t always buy it the same way that you’re thinking. 

For instance, if you have a specific niche service and you looked it up on FBO but nothing comes up, that service might have been bundled with other services. 

The key is to know where to do your market research and not just rely on things posted on beta.sam.

So, what you’ll do is look based on your NAICS or PSC code and go to USASpending, FPDS, or to similar platforms that showcase past procurement data.

3. Just do the activities.

You need to start doing your govcon activities. This means not just bidding but doing your business development. 

As said above, Maria Martinez didn’t just get lucky, she does the activities. So, what you need to do is to start reaching out to people and building relationships with them. 

4. Be a subcontractor.

In this marketplace, we always do this all the time that if we cannot win a contract as a prime, we’re contacting the prime to be their subcontractor.

The way we do this is we just call them up and tell them that we looked at the project that they won and that we’re all aware of the scope of work that it entails, and with that, we can execute a piece of that work.

8. Stick with the experts.

Stick with the people in your industry that are doing this every day. You can learn from them through our podcasts, but we highly recommend that you build a relationship with them as it is much better. 

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about how to build a relationship and bid on government contracts, then check our full video below. 

You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

Why are you scared when bidding government contracts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDrHSxbIPdU

 

Beta.sam.gov Now Allows for Notifications

Posted on by Eric Coffie

YES! Notifications are finally here!

In the chaotic and technology world we live in we all rely on notifications. We all really on that ding, ping, pop up and little red circle to tell us there is something new for us to see.

Yesterday GSA put out word that beta.SAM.GOV has updated the platform to allow for notifications. This is a highly requested change that was long overdue. Somehow they failed to include this during the FBO transition. But no fear they are back. 

Simply click saved search and check “notifications”. For more information. https://lnkd.in/eSiAYdm

beta sam notifications

Finally beta.Sam.gov turns on notifications feature for saved searches

Posted on by Eric Coffie

After the transition from FBO to beta.SAM.gov the government has been struggling with bringing back some of our favorite old features. Today I just learned that they finally added the notification alerts.

This is significant because up until now you had to keep checking beta.sam.gov for new projects.

Now under saved search you can click on notification bell and it will send out daily notifications at 9pm EST.

Beta Sam notification Update

While this is not a perfect solution it is a work around for now that allows you to not have to leave your Inbox to see if anything new was released.

For more information on the other features that were released check out the GSA website.

Does the Government Buy What I Sell?

Posted on by Eric Coffie

In this article, we’re going to talk about the answer to the question, “Does the government buy what I sell?” We’ll even take it a step further by discussing what entities are buying products and services and how much are they buying. Read this article to learn more!

WHAT DO YOU SELL?

The first thing that you should look at is the kind of products or services that you sell and analyze the NAICS code related to it. 

For instance, if you’re providing janitorial services, then what is the NAICS code under that service? Upon searching, 561720 is the code for janitorial services. 

To learn more about the complete NAICS code list, you can view it from the U.S. Census Bureau or by contacting the bureau through 1-888-756-2427 or on their email address NAICS@census.gov.

If you also want to know about this code and how to choose one, then check this video entitled “Primary vs Secondary NAICS Code.”

SYSTEM FOR AWARDS MANAGEMENT

Getting Contract Opportunities

You can easily check all of the contract opportunities without logging into the database. All you have to do is choose “Contract Opportunities” in the search bar, type your NAICS code, and then click search. You will then see hundreds of results, depending on your NAICS code.

You can also filter that result by adding more keywords or changing other information on the left side of your results page. You can edit your preferred date, types of notice, federal agency, DUNS, PSC code, and place of performance. 

Then, if you’re okay with the results, you can already check all of the contract opportunities and see which fits you. 

If you click for a specific result, you can then check its notice ID and the agency posting it. You can also see its general information, classification, description, attachments and links, history, and contact information. 

Apart from that, these are the things you should consider:

  1. The place of performance might be different to the address of the agency.
  2. While you can easily see the results without logging in, you might need one if you want to:
  • Save and rerun searches
  • Download search results and display it into .pdf or .csv files
  • Follow opportunities to keep up to date to its changes
  • Add yourself to an opportunity’s Interested Vendors List
  • Run customized reports on opportunities data
  • Request access to controlled, but unclassified attachments

Getting Award Data

Through the integration of FPDS and SAM, you  can now analyze award data through the SAM database. With this, you can already do historical research and determine the opportunities that have already been awarded to companies. 

Suppose you are a small business and fits the Small Business Administration’s size standard table, then there are a handful of companies that you can solicit for work.

What I usually do is build a target market list where I put the top vendors that are being awarded by my target agency. Then, I look for their contact details to start soliciting work from them. 

You see, these vendors are the incumbents, not your competition. In fact, you should consider them as allies because they are always looking for small firms to either solicit joint venture teams and partnerships or build good subcontract partnerships. 

“I can promise you this, every one of these companies, they have good companies that work for them and bad companies. So, if your firm delivers a quality product and service, they want you. I mean they want you, like desperately. They’re wanting you bad.”

USASPENDING

USAspend.gov is similar to FPDS where you can look at historical data, it just presents it in a different format.

The only thing that you need to do is do a keyword search and type in your NAICS code. Upon typing the code, 561720, the result showed almost 200,000 contracts and less than 30,000 of these are Indefinite Delivery Contracts. 

Other than that, you can also do an advanced search where you can filter it in terms of time period, award type, and others and download all of this information. 

Now, you can do some data mining and continue making your target market list. Who are the people in your backyard that are doing janitorial stuff? Who do you need to call? Start doing some data mining based on that information. 

RESOURCES

Now that you have information from SAM and USAspending, you already know that the government buys what you sell. 

This is the beauty of the government because this is public information and you can use this to analyze your next step, unlike the private marketplace where you have no idea who was awarded what, how much, and when.

With this in mind, if you want to learn more on how to do government contracting, then check the resources below. 

You can also join us here at GovCon Giants or check the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

Does the government buy what I sell?

https://youtu.be/q6ZLYKdfhA4

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/final-does-the-government-buy-what-i-sell.pdf

Build a Target Market List using FPDS -Federal Procurement Data System

https://youtu.be/gUbTyb2h7as

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Build-a-Target-Market-List-using-FPDS-Federal-Procurement-Data-System-1.pdf

Public Sector Contracting versus Private Sector Contracting

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Here’s an outline of the key differences in dealing with contracts between the federal government or the public sector and the private sector. 

FINDING CONTRACTS

The federal government typically operates procurements through the System for Awards Management and the Acquisition Central which centralizes several acquisition and procurement activities. 

Meanwhile in the private sector, some larger companies centralize procurement, but most deal with it in a decentralized way at a regional or departmental level.

GETTING THE CONTRACT

To ensure fairness, maintain high standards, and deliver value to the US taxpayers, the federal government has a strict procurement process in place.

Contractors need to send a proposal in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) posted on a procurement site. Then, the Contracting Officer is typically delegated the full buying authority necessary to make the purchase in federal government buying decisions. 

Federal government services are less sensitive to the economy simply because taxes are collected regardless of economic conditions, however, businesses need to qualify, even annually, in order to maintain a position of “good standing” as a government service provider. 

On the other hand, private sector contracting varies dramatically and can often be accomplished through personal connections rather than sales effort because the contracts are highly sensitive to shareholder influence.

Private sector contracting might be sold through any number of sales techniques from cold-calling to sales presentations. Contractors may even frequently require the sign-off of higher levels of authority, each who need to be “sold” on the product or service.

Hence, in the private sector, a business’ track record and contract may be enough to acquire business, but in doing business with the government, qualification differs, depending on the agency served and the products or services delivered.

ENGAGING ON THE CONTRACT

Federal government agencies are often highly bureaucratic, so each agency carefully manages its own “jurisdiction”. As a result, private sector contractors transitioning in the public sector are sometimes surprised to discover just how “political” and “pigeon-holed” their works were.

Then, in terms of the successful completion of a project, in the private sector, contracts are considered complete based on performance-enhancing or bottom-line-enhancing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

On the other hand, the federal government may be occasionally cost sensitive during the selection of their service provider, but their KPIs are typically not tied to performance or the bottom line. Rather, they are tied to time, budget, measurable completion of the project, or some other indicator.

MAKING MONEY

Margins are usually higher in the private sector since the federal government rewards work to the lowest bidder. However, change orders and longer-term contracts make federal government work lucrative to companies that are able to work within the margins.

Payment is also different between these two sectors. Due to bureaucracy and pre-established systems, businesses can expect longer timelines on payment (1-6 months) from the government compared to the private sector where a 30-day payment schedule is typical.

SUMMARY

Breaking into the federal contracting marketplace isn’t always easy to do as it requires careful adherence to the pre-established process as well as creative navigation of the bureaucracy. However, companies that can establish connections as government contractors usually enjoy long-lasting opportunities.

With this in mind, if you want to learn more about doing business with the government or anything about doing government contracting, then join us here at GovCon Giants.

Just visit our website and other social media platforms or check the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!