Tag: federal contracts

HOW TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS TO THE GOVERNMENT

Posted on by Eric Coffie

What is the most effective way to win federal contracts? Market your business to the government. 

When people think about government contracting, the first thing that comes to mind is bidding contracts. Most people believe that bidding is the only way to get government contracts, and that is entirely false. 

You could win government contracts in so many ways, and quite frankly, bidding is not the route we advise you to take. 

When you bid, you are thrown into a pool of people, and some of them might not fully understand the contract requirements. Some might not be qualified or even capable of the work expected of the agreement. 

You’re saying, “So what? I’m capable, so it doesn’t matter.” but actually, it does. You aren’t putting your company in the best position.

CONSIDER NEGOTIATED CONTRACTS

How do you put your company in the best possible position? Through negotiated contracts! When you negotiate contracts, you become the expert. 

The government is turning to you and trusting you to give your opinion on solving their problem. This method, however, is not a process that is as direct as bidding contracts. 

Building relationships and getting connected to contracting people plays a vital role in this method.

For you to even have the opportunity of negotiating with the government, you need to market yourself. You need the government to know who you are and what you can offer. 

ABC’s OF MARKETING TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

1. Go to a business specialist.

When you are a small business, you can reach the government by talking to small business specialists. They are called different things; OSDBUs, Small Business Liaison Officers, or, in short, SBLOs. 

No matter what they are called, they do the same thing. More specifically, they can help introduce you to people who can negotiate directly with you, such as people from agencies or contracting officers.

Bear in mind that these small business specialists do not give contracts. They, however, can help facilitate government and small business relationships that will lead you to contract opportunities.

Assuming that you have already built your target market list, now you want to start talking to people about contracts. Since we follow a chain of command, the small business specialist is the first person you go to.

Most agencies have a forecast list that shows their upcoming projects and, instead of being pigeon-holed to the idea that these projects are projects that you want to get, use the forecast list as a marketing tool. 

Identify the projects you know you’re capable of performing, and you have past performance on, then present to these small business specialists.

2. Have a complete and updated SBA Profile

You did your presentation, and you spoke to the small business specialist, so what’s next? The small business specialist will most probably talk to the contracting people about you.

When that happens, the government will go to your SBA profile to know your past performance and experience. Please remember that the government is looking at this to judge you. So curate your profile in a way that speaks to a contracting officer.

The second way to market to the federal government is making sure that your SBA profile is complete and updated. Your profile should be a reflection of who you are and what you do. 

Make sure to put all your experience, even those not related to the federal government. Although this is something so easy, this is often overlooked by people. 

3. Respond to Sources Sought

Sources sought is another way to market yourself to the agency or the office. The contract specialist has your information, so there’s no need for you to contact that contracting officer.

It is an opportunity for you to tell your company’s capabilities, social-economic status, and past contract experiences. It’s like giving a free pitch.

The government has to do sources sought for market research, and by responding to them, you are helping them with it. In fact, in an interview with Donnie Harris, a former senior contracting officer, he said that he doesn’t return emails to people who don’t help with sources sought.

You’ve already spent your time with the small business specialist, updated your SBA profile, and now you’ve responded to sources sought, the contracting officers can’t get away from you.

4. Join Events

When you attend events, you meet many people from different industries, and those people know people who might be your company’s future clients.

If you leave a good impression, the chances of you being contacted are amplified, as they remember you and your company’s services. This is how you connect with people.

To make your way in the government contracting industry, you need to build relationships with people in the marketplace, and one of the most effective ways is by meeting and talking to them. 

Through this, you can let them know what you can offer, and who knows, maybe 2 or 3 years from now, they need people to perform services that you can do. 

Let’s take a few steps back. You’ve met with a business specialist, updated your profile, responded to sources sought, and now joined events with contracting specialists and people in the federal arena.

 Congratulations! You have now placed your company in the best position to get contracts.

RESOURCES

Now, you know the fundamentals of marketing to the government. It’s about time for you to go and do it! Government Contracting is more about building relationships than bidding contracts. 

With this in mind, if you want to learn more about the tips and tricks in winning government contracts, then join us here at GovCon Giants.

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

To learn more about the topic above, check these resources below:

11: Unlimited Warrant to Write Billions in Contract Actions – Donnie Harris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_H15m0jKgY

ABC’s of Marketing to the Federal Government

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_QFjjeZMCA&t=1427s

 

How To WIN FEDERAL CONTRACTS With No Past Performance

Posted on by Eric Coffie

On average, there are 2,000 to 5,000 new government contracting opportunities available each day in all industry categories. 

Taking a piece of that pie is no small matter, as government contracting involves technical complexities that people often find overwhelming. 

Is it possible to win Federal Contracts with no past performance? The answer is yes.

It’s a massive market, and almost everyone, if not all, wants to go into this industry. But many small business owners don’t how to do it or don’t have the time to learn about it, so that’s where consultants come in.

There are companies that have the potential to go after and win federal contracts, as they have tools, money, and past performance. 

All they need now is to hire someone who can do the research and preparation for them while they focus on running their business.

THE ANSWER: Consulting Government Contracts

The reason people struggle when going into the federal marketplace is that they’re going through it alone. 

They think they can come into this market and start by being a small firm and expect that their business will eventually grow and build credibility over time.

The problem with that mindset is that hoping to grow strategically over time is ineffective in government contracting. The government cycles are so long that the opportunity you’re looking at might be gone for the next five years.

Organic growth only works if you’re building products, revenue generation models, and subscription-based services. 

When you’re in the federal marketplace, you need to take advantage of what opportunities exist right now while you’re active. So how do you do that when you’re just the little guy? 

If you lack the capability, team, and capital, you’re going to have a hard time successfully doing government contracts by yourself.

When you do it as a consultant, however, you don’t need any money. All you need is hustle, grit, and knowledge on federal procurement. 

Although doing local and city work like micro-purchases, the government might give you some money upfront, that’s still not enough money to take care of yourself and feed your family. 

If you want to make more money, like six figures, government consulting is the way to go.

HOW TO BECOME A FEDERAL CONTRACTS CONSULTANT

I’ve got videos on how you could become a Consultant for Federal Contracts on my YouTube channel, but in a nutshell, what you do is you find companies that want to get into the marketplace and help them win federal contracts.

Many small business owners think that the government will not buy their products or services, but on the contrary, the government buys everything. 

So what you do, as a consultant, is work out a contract between the small business and the government, and if successful, you will receive payment in response to that.

I’ve also written a guide on How To Become a Federal Government Contractor. It’s a step-by-step process for people who are starting out as a contractor.

Do You Need Set-Asides to Win?

There’s so much misinformation about set-asides, like how they’re the only way for people to win in this industry. 

Apart from the fact that set-asides only represent a small percentage of all the opportunities in the federal arena, I’m here to tell you that they’re not even written or asked on most contracts.

If you go through sam.gov, you will see that most contract opportunities put “Total Small Business Set-Aside” as their contract classification. 

What is Total Small Business Set-Aside? This pertains to companies that fall underneath the small business size standards table by the SBA.

If you find yourself under that threshold, then you are a small business and you are qualified to go for that contract.

So, the answer is No. You don’t need set-asides to qualify for these contract opportunities.

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about how you could win contracts with no past performance, then be sure to click the resources below. You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu, where you know everything about government contracting!

How to WIN Government Contracts With No Past Performance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR8vdTtvuyU

How to Win Government Contracts WITHOUT Past Performance! PT 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on8gxVwwHQ8

Want to make money as a Government Consultant, follow these steps – Eric Coffie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1801TXW3pQ&t=133s

http://www.bidnotice.org/Facts.html

State and Local Contracts Might Be Worth the Risk!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

With the new changes and new packages being provided to state and local governments, contracts within these areas might be worth the risk!

STIMULUS PACKAGES FOR THE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

As everyone already knows, here at GovCon Giants, we preferred federal contracts over state and local contracts. 

There are various reasons why and some of these is the fact that there are always delays in payment whenever someone in the office fails to do the paperwork on time. 

However, given the instances in the past year and the new stimulus packages being provided to state and local governments, contracts within these areas might be worth the risk!

Besides, the government at this point has now passed two stimulus packages. The first one was in March and the other one was in December 2020. Both packages are injecting money back into states and local governments. 

The other thing is that President Biden is now attempting to pass a new 1.9 trillion trillion dollar stimulus package which will surely give a whole lot more money into that for state and local governments. 

“The good thing is that all of you folks have been working, getting paid even if it’s a little bit late. You’ve still been getting paid. They haven’t abandoned you and that’s the wonderful thing. That’s what’s giving me hope about state and local contracting.”

So, to help you navigate this marketplace, written below are the ways you can take advantage of these new opportunities in doing state and local contracts!

ATTEND ANY LOCAL ADVISORY BOARD MEETING

If you’re thinking of going to the local contracting arena, it is best to take a look at the local advisory board for your local city or municipality.

You may have to do some searches or call the local municipal offices, but definitely see if you can get some inside information with the local advisory board for your particular arena and your area. 

Why? Because there’s a lot of good things going on.

For instance, in Miami-Dade County, we have a Small Business Development Center that is designed to help small businesses and a Small Business Enterprise Advisory Board for Construction.

What you will find with these is that these boards usually have meetings that you can attend to. 

First and foremost, you’re going to meet people like you who are starting or already navigating in this marketplace for years. This could also help you learn who are the good contractors from the bad contractors.

“You have to get active. You got to participate. People have to see your face, know your name, and be able to identify you.”

Apart from that, you will also learn how your local government procures goods and services, and that’s so critical if you want to be in this arena. 

CHECK ANY LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS RELATED DOCUMENT

Aside from attending the above-said meetings, you can also check and analyze any local documents related to your industry because they often issue reports and minutes that you can go back into.

Primarily, you can see in these reports the members of the board that are providing their services and are officiating these meetings.

These reports also highlight the issues that were brought forth by the board in which you can start learning and investigating in order to make the best possible decision for your business.

Then, if you also want to see how much contracts were given to set-asides for minority groups, these reports may also highlight this.

Most importantly, these reports also highlight the companies that are doing state and local contracts together with the data related to their businesses, including the total value awarded, costs of work, and percentage completion.

So, if you want to navigate this marketplace, is it best to do your own research using these resources because this may either lead you to your first contract or a possible partnership, among other things. 

“I always remind people to start with the research. Let the research guide your activities.”

THERE MIGHT BE HOPE FOR STATE AND LOCAL CONTRACTS

The gist of this whole article is that if we continue along this trend of bringing on stimulus and propping up the economy, then that’s great news for small business contractors who are considering starting at the local level.

“The government is making sure in putting dollars and putting not just dollars, they are putting their voice behind ensuring that they prop up small businesses to keep the economy flourishing.”

Although you still need to have capital to sustain your business until you get paid, at the very least, we don’t see any time soon that the state and local government will leave small businesses behind because there is so much money flowing around.

RESOURCES

So, with the new packages being provided to state and local governments, GovCon Giants think that doing contracts in these areas might be worth the risk!

However, consider that if there are warning signs of things changing, we definitely want to be here to step in and let people know about the change in climate.

With this in mind, if you want to learn more about this matter, 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!

ALERT: State and Local Contracts might be worth the risk Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-o04pXqCGE&t=313s

State and local contracts might be worth the RISK – Part 2 of 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpjGtrrOwUs&t=617s

Angela O’Byrne: Award Winning Architect and President of Internationally-Known Perez APC

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Learn how to win local and international federal contracts with award-winning architect and CEO of Perez APC, Angela O’byrne!

BACKGROUND

Angela O’Byrne came from Cali, Columbia where she was born and moved to the United States years later. 

She then earned two master’s degrees in architecture from Tulane University and in real estate development from Columbia University, respectively. 

Meanwhile, she became part of the Perez APC, a U.S. based architecture and planning company with international reach. A few years later, she was asked by the owner to take over the company. 

Currently, O’Byrne is a licensed architect in 15 states, a licensed general contractor in two states, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a LEED Accredited Professional.

She has also successfully led complex design and construction projects around the world, including a $500 Million USAID contract in Afghanistan— the largest infrastructure construction contract awarded to a women-owned business to date by the USAID-Afghanistan Mission.

With all of these, she was named as the 2016 Small Business Person of the Year in New Orleans and the first runner-up for the National Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“Keep going around the world and keep doing more and more.”

ADVICE FOR BUSINESSES

1. Bid but ask for a debrief. 

O’Byrne doesn’t think that bidding is a bad strategy, in the sense that it’s a way to get your name in front of people. The only thing that you should do is ask for debriefs.

Although you don’t win every bid, you will be able to learn a lot from it through asking what’s wrong with your proposal and it also helps agency decision-makers learn from your company. 

“Like everything, if they don’t know who you are and they’ve never met you, at some point, you do have to look on FedBizOpps and start submitting proposals… You’re not going to win it the first time because they don’t know who you are.”

2. Market to international missions.

It’s not enough to just go after contracts in Washington D.C. because there are far more opportunities in the international market. 

With this, why not market to missions because these basically have their own budgets. 

Apart from that, you can meet people who are doing these jobs for years and learn from them. Although you will be spending money on marketing, the return on investment is far more advantageous.

3. Find the ones who want to help.

Avail all the resources that you can use in building your business and these include organizations and people who want to help you. 

In fact, it was years on being in the 8(a) program when O’Byrne got their first contract and she would have never done that without the help of their Procurement Technical Assistance Center person. 

So, you really have to find the ones who really care and then latch onto those people and they will help you. They really will. 

“You can tell quite quickly who in those agencies and which OSDBUs actually care about the mission and want to help you. And you can tell which ones don’t care. So, don’t waste your time with the ones that don’t care because they will waste a whole lot of time.”

ARE YOU COMMITTED ENOUGH?

Building a business is really difficult and it is easy to get discouraged, so O’Byrne recommends to do some soul searching and decide whether you’re committed enough to stick it out.

You have to decide, “Are you committed enough to stay the course?” Because if you’re not, don’t do it. 

Don’t put yourself through this because it’s going to be tough. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs. You never arrive, you’re always striving, and it’s always going to be difficult. 

“It’s not for everybody. You know, you really need to be real with yourself and don’t do it, if you don’t really feel like you’re up for it.”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more on how to win local and international federal contracts with Angela O’byrne, then be sure to click the resources below. You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

005: Angela O’Byrne – Award Winning and Internationally Known Architect

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/2019/05/28/005/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbcwfN57Y9Y

 

Where Do the Contracts Go?

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Learn the reason why over half of the contracts are not on beta.sam and where you can find them!

WHAT MOST PEOPLE USUALLY DO ON BETA.SAM?

Most people recognized beta.sam as the only platform to browse for opportunities.

What they do is they look for certain contracts within the last few months, their NAICS code, their location, and their certification, among others. 

Then, in most cases, they use all of these keywords to look for certain opportunities. And what happens is there’s only a few results. And now they’re left wondering where the contracts go. 

And if this is their question, it must be for you too. 

WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WITH THE BID OPPORTUNITIES?

When you visit the Department of Defense website for Defense Pricing and Contracting, the latest full report was in 2015. Although there are reports in 2018, it still lacks for the fourth quarter, so we’ll use this instead. 

Going back to the 2015 Department of Defense Competition Report, the negotiated competition trends, over the previous 10 years going back, hovered around 56% to 60% and back to 56% again.  

“So, what does that mean? That means that the government is not competing half of the projects, which also means that they’re not showing you half (of) the projects.”

However, when the negotiated competition was only 56%, the effective competition was 87%. 

“And that’s how these large organizations and agencies are saying they’re meeting their goals.”

Then, we also have the non-competitive bids wherein this report says that the majority 76% of non-competitive dollars were obligated under the FAR 6.302-1.  

WE HAVE TO START QUESTIONING THINGS

So, what all of those data above mean? It means that when people tell you that government contracting is competitive, you gotta question their position, intent, knowledge, and experience, because this report says otherwise. 

But what can you do with this information? Well, use this as a way for you and for us, small and minority businesses, to win.

“This is designed not for you to go back and pout and cry and complain and say that this is unfair. This is for you to understand, to gain wisdom, to seek clarity, to know how to operate within the confines of the rules that someone else has set out for us.”

IF NOT IN BETA.SAM, THEN WHERE? 

Now that you understand that most contract opportunities are not really on beta.sam, then you can use the same strategies that we use here in GovCon Giants. 

With this, we use the Federal Procurement Data System and USA Spending to do our own market research in order to find out and do a predictive analysis of what the government’s going to be doing next.

“So, we get ahead of the opportunities. We get ahead of the actual bids before they come out. We respond and we let the government know that we are ready, active, and able to go after these opportunities.

Just take into account that you should not rely on any type of software and on a single marketing strategy or source of information, and you need to interpret this information or else it will just be nothing.

“So, simply having the information alone is not good enough. And again, we all like to use, at least in the govcon world, we all like to use fishing analogies. Simply having a fishing rod and the fishing reel doesn’t teach you how to fish.”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more on where to look for these contracts or learn the step-by-step process of GovCon Giant’s strategy, then you can visit and join us at GovCon Edu where we teach you how to start a government contracting business and win contracts. 

Also, you can check these resources below or follow us on our website and social platforms.

THESE CONTRACTS ARE NOT POSTED! Where to find them?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7U0-A_o3wU

2015 Department of Defense Competition Report

https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/cpic/cp/docs/DoD_FY_2015_Competition_Report.pdf

Finding all the search results on beta.sam.gov with Mo and Eric Coffie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcxGZ87hw70&t=95s

Before the RFP/RFQ comes the presolicitation learn how to use it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xtSfNgUpY

How to get AWARD Data from USA Spending?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr_U9z1xK2g

How to respond to a Sources Sought?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eEGLkukCOo&t=19s

5 Ways IT Companies Can Start Winning Federal Contracts

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Apart from the traditional request for proposal bidding opportunities, there are other ways to start winning federal contracts and making big bugs as an IT company in the federal marketplace!

FIVE METHODS TO USE

1. Other Transactions Authority (OTA)

Over the last three to five years, OTAs have been steadily rising in terms of the amount of dollars from the government spending. This is due to the fact that it is commonly used by the Department of Defense (DOD) to carry out prototype, research, and production projects.

Generally, this method is not required to comply with federal laws and regulations that apply to procurement contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. The good thing about this is that it seems that the government is making it easy for people to bring them IT solutions.

In order to look for these specific opportunities, you can hop over to beta.sam and type the keyword, OTA. Thereafter, you will be provided with OTA opportunities to start responding to.

2. Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)

This method is a merit-based source selection strategy for the DOD to acquire innovative commercial items, technologies, or services that directly fulfill requirements, close capability gaps, or provide potential technological advances.

3. Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

This method is used by the government to request scientific or research proposals from private firms concerning certain areas of interest which may lead to contract opportunities.

This is a bit similar to CSO however it applies to the acquisition of basic and applied research. This means that it is more aimed at advancing the state of art or increasing knowledge and understanding rather than focusing on a specific system or hardware solution.

4. Agency Incubators

The first agency incubator in this section is In-Q-Tel which has an office within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). With this, they act as an interface center of the agency in order to find private

companies to help work on unclassified problem sets and fill the gaps.

The next one is the Silicon Valley Innovation Program which is established, in their own words, to help reshape the government. They are working with the Department of Homeland Security to reach out to the innovation community in terms of new and previously inaccessible technologies that can help strengthen national security.

Lastly, we have the Defense Innovation Unit which provides non-dilute capital in the form of pilot contracts for commercial innovation to solve DOD problems. They do a lot of pilot contracts ranging from 25, 000 to 100, 000 that includes hardware, software, or unique services and their ideal target in terms of awards is 90 days.

5. Best In Class And Spend Under Management

This falls under the General Services Administration and has 12 IT categories which includes the NASA SEWP, IT schedule 70, Army CHESS, 8a STARS II, VETS2, Alliant, and Alliant 2 Small Business.

If you’re a small business, this is a way for you to break in the government because these usually last for five to twenty years and are always compared to subcontracting.

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video to learn more about the five ways to start winning federal contracts and making big bugs as an IT company in the federal marketplace, then be sure to click the link below:

Five (5) methods I use to teach IT companies to make Big Bucks – Eric Coffie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_dRMMjbFR4

Sonia Mundra (AK): Doing Business as an Alaskan Native Corporation (ANC)

Posted on by Eric Coffie

You have to be prepared for an administrative burden when you start to do business with the federal government. Sonia Mundra, President of Chenega Analytics Business Solutions has provided us insight on how taxing and expensive government contracting can actually be.

However, Mundra is dedicated in sharing her expertise and helping entrepreneurs and businesses effectively navigate the process. Her discussion also provides an insider’s look into the tools and forming the right mindset needed in order to be successful in federal contracting.

 

ABOUT SONIA MUNDRA AND CHENEGA ANALYTICS

Last 2017, Ms. Sonia Mundra became the President of Chenega Analytics Business Solutions (CABS), a subsidiary of Chenega Corporation. They have been doing business with the federal government contracting community since 1989. 

Ms. Mundra has over 15 years of combined experience as a Certified Public Accountant, Project Management Professional (PMP), and a certified Government Blockchain Consultant. 

She is the professional that you’d want to consult when you consider diving into federal contracting processes and blockchains. She has assists federal and commercial agencies to implement information solutions that include storage, digitization, data migration, cloud storage, and security.

CABS is also a small disadvantaged business (SDB) who received its 8(a) certification last September 2018. They are also an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC), that enables them to receive direct awards from all federal government agencies up to $22M without the need for justification and approval. 

Their current contracts and past performance have nearly included all DoD agencies, DHS and most Fed Civ agencies.  

 

NUMBERS AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

Ms. Mundra has always been a numbers oriented person. But she advises businesses to not replace communication and relationships by relying purely on SLA’s as she believes it is a very tone-deaf thing to do.

“Customers still need TLC (Tender Love and Care) at times. And you gotta reach out and touch them to make sure that relationship is good,” she says.

SLAs or Service Level Agreements defines the level of service expected by a customer from a supplier. It lays out specific metrics that customers can answer or leave as a feedback.

Although SLAs are a critical component for any outsourcing and technology vendor contract, SLA can SLA metrics will vary depending on the services being provided. But its approach should be kept as simple as possible to avoid confusion and excessive costs.

 

CALCULATING PROBABILITY OF WIN

Truthfully, you won’t be able to see your future without looking at your past performances. Your previous stats are actually a great source for insight to your PWIN. However, what is Probability of Win, exactly?

Probability of Win (PWIN) is by its name the probability of winning a particular opportunity. It is a tool that can help you assess where you stand at a given point in time.

Although Ms. Mondra says that PWIN can be quite subjective. But when used properly, it can help financially-oriented people to weigh in the financial value of a project and assist capture-oriented individuals to assess where they are on the opportunity. 

In federal contracts, PWIN is used in competitive bidding. 

Competitive Bidding is the process when companies will put together their best proposal and compete for a specific project. The bidding is actually beneficial because it makes the environment competitive which means that small agencies are able to keep up with larger companies since the costs will remain low. 

And the government issuing the project can simply wait to look for the most qualified companies to do the work.

 

TOOLS BEING USED BY BUSINESS ANALYTICS

In addition, knowledge has always been power. And so with tools like calculator for PWIN, we have Deltek GovWin IQ and beta.SAM.gov. 

These are critical resources in developing and refining a long term growth strategy especially with business developments that deal with selling to the federal or public sector.

In order to optimize your sales processes, government bids and contract awards, GovWin and BetaSam are tools that’ll assist you in planning in advance for Government Bids, Request for Proposals and Contract Vehicles that are to be released even before taking action.

They are vital for those companies who are looking to piece together a proactive business development strategies. These platforms cover opportunities that range from months to even years before contracts go out to bid.

These tools can also help your government sales team in developing a long-term actionable pipeline. And it is a foolproof strategy in getting ahead of the competition. 

Because, by arming yourself with more information than your competitors. Companies will use these tools to identify which agency contacts, spending trends and government purchasing history can help build a powerful proposal for the bids.

 

UNDERSTANDING BLOCKCHAINS

If you have been following banking, investments, or cryptocurrency, you may be familiar with “blockchain”, the record-keeping technology behind the Bitcoin network. 

“A blockchain is essentially a distributed ledger,” says Ms. Mundra. 

Blockchains or also referred to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has the potential to eliminate huge amounts of record-keeping. It can also save money, streamline supply chains and disrupt I.T. in ways that we haven’t seen since the internet arrived.

A blockchain in simple terms, is a time-stamped record of data. It is managed by a cluster of computers but isn’t owned by a single establishment. Each of these “blocks” of data are secured and are bound together using cryptographic principles or “chains”.

In Ms. Mundra’s words, “Blockchains ensure that what you are consuming is clean. This means that it is a fair trade that’s devoid of foreign corrupt practices such as child labor, human traficking and more.”

 

THE 4 BIRDS PERSONALITY TEST

Ms. Sonia Mundra also opened up that when advancing to being the top management in her field, she needed more than technical skills and willingness to work hard.

She also needed to improve her few soft skills that helped her to take her career as far as it could go. 

Whether it was to practice discipline, take on more projects, learn to develop situational awareness, and inspire others, she believes that being a leader means that you are part of a team. That you are inspiring collaboration with encouragement and guidance. 

And the best part of becoming a good leader is that it resolves conflicts instead of ignoring them or hoping they will go away. But each individual needs a unique approach. And one way to be an effective leader is to become a discerning listener.  

One can do this by learning a lot more about who you work with with a simple D.O.P.E. Bird personality test.

This test doesn’t need you to become a psychologist. Instead, it is a fun and useful tool that notes down an individual’s different characteristics, strengths, motivation and experiences. 

However, these bird types do not pin down who or what you really are in life. But it can be an interesting way to find out more about others and yourself. 

But why does it have birds in it? 

Each bird represents a trait. The Doves are peaceful and friendly, the Owls are wise and logical. The Peacocks are showy and optimistic, and the Eagles are bold and decisive.

A person will have a combination of these types. However, just keep in mind that they must not be used as a psychological assessment of your life. 

3H LEADERSHIP (HUNGRY, HUMBLE & HUSTLE)

Lastly, although one can prepare to be a leader. One shouldn’t forget that there are things that we can’t control. The H3 Leadership provides a practical outline for implementing and living out the transformational habits of a great leader.

However, will all the adversities you’ll face. One should always strive to remain hungry, humble and hustle. 

Because at the end of your journey, will you become someone who is willing to work hard and get things done? And can you make sure that it won’t be about others are treating. But how you treat yourself. 

And ultimately, how transformative you can be that you can influence others to do the right habits to succeed. 

 

RESOURCES

If you want to watch the full video with Sonia Mundra, be sure to click on the link below to redirect you to our YouTube channel where I share free content about the government contracting process as well as my interviews with other GovCon giants.

055: Doing Business as an Alaskan Native Corporation (ANC) with Sonia Mundra – Eric Coffie

Federal Contracting Process: A Guide Before Working with the Government

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Working with the federal government is quite different than working with private entities. There are certain processes and rules to follow. So, here is a guide to help you understand the federal contracting process. 

WHAT MAKES GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS DIFFERENT?

Federal contracts are highly regulated to encourage competition, guarantee the proper use of the taxpayer’s money, and promote healthy socio economic goals. 

Each contract also contains mandatory clauses that enable the government to have special rights within the contract.

It includes being able to change its terms and conditions and even end it.

Then, claims and legal actions from contractors should also follow the procedures of the Contract Disputes Act because the federal government is a sovereign entity. 

WHAT GOVERNED FEDERAL CONTRACTS?

Federal contracts are subject to several statutes including the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act and the Competition in Contracting Act while its procurement process for executive branches is also governed by the Federal Property Administrative Act and the Armed Services Procurement Act.

Due to these, the federal government developed a body of administrative law to address all of these through the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

Other agencies such as the NASA, the General Services Administration, and the Department of Defense also created supplements on this regulation in pursuit of the Administrative Procedure Act.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICER?

A contract will not be bound without the authority of a contracting officer.

In order to follow the rules governing the contracts, an executive agency issues a warrant or a certificate of appointment to a contracting officer to grant, manage, or terminate a given contract. 

These warrants may either be a warrant with a specific amount of money or an unlimited warrant that is used for various contracting opportunities.

WHAT IS THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS?

Once the government agency provides a warrant to a contracting officer, this person moves to the next phase which can be either through sealed bidding or negotiation. 

When the contracting officer chose sealed bidding, he or she directly advertised an Invitation for Bids, read the bid to the public, and chose the lowest responsive bidder. However, if one of the conditions for the sealed bidding is not met or present, the contracting officer then awards the contract using competitive negotiation.

Competitive negotiation starts when there’s already an official issue of requests for proposals. It is then followed by the proposals review, negotiation, revision of proposals, second review, and lastly, the awarding of a contract. 

Regardless of what process the contracting officer chose, this person mainly checks the proposals and the background of each company if they are fit for the project. 

WHAT ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES?

During and after the procurement process, you must meet the business practices and ethical responsibilities imposed by the federal government. 

This includes not doing any act of bribery, false claims and statements, kickbacks, attempting to influence the award or modification of the contract, discussing employment to government officers and employees, and obtaining restricted information before the award of a contract.

This also goes the same way inside your company such as not encouraging discrimination to and between employees, following the socio-economic obligations as a government contractor, providing a subcontracting plan for small businesses, following the labor standards, and providing a drug-free workplace.

WHAT IS THE CONTRACT DISPUTE ACT?

When the contracting officer terminates or changes some parts of your contract that you didn’t agree with, you have the right to appeal these by following the Contract Dispute Act.

The act follows a process wherein you present a claim to the contracting officer regarding the action that you find unreasonable within your contract.

However, if the said person doesn’t provide a final decision regarding your dispute, you can appeal this to the US Court of Federal Claims which will then be forwarded to the Court of Appeals, and lastly to the Supreme Court, if not yet resolved.

Just remember that the government has sixty days to file an answer towards your company. And for your complaint not to be defeated, you must file it within a year after you receive the contracting officer’s final decision. 

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about how the federal contracting process works as well as analyze the laws and rules written above, then be sure to click the links below.

https://www.justice.gov/jm/civil-resource-manual-70-contract-disputes-act

https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far

https://www.onvia.com/for-business/go-to-market-guidance/sealed-bids-vs-proposals-how-they-compare

https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/grow-your-business/become-federal-contractor

https://www.usa.gov/become-government-contractor

https://corporate.findlaw.com/law-library/federal-government-contract-overview.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_procurement_in_the_United_States#Law

DBE vs. MBE vs. Federal Contracts: Which is better?

Posted on by Linette Genao

While there are opportunities in DBE, MBE, and Federal Contracts, one may have questions as to which route is best to take. By diving into and comparing the three, we will see which one is ultimately the best choice for small businesses.

  1. Program Funding

MBE supports local and municipalities. This means the local city would be the one providing the funds. The bad part is, they occasionally have issues with paying people. We’re not talking about a week or two weeks late, but a month or two months plus! The DBE is not as likely to have these issues but if the market crashes (which it has), this affects how they are able to pay the contractors. Federal contracts on the other hand, are backed by funding. You will not get a contract by the federal government unless the funding is already there.

No pay, maybe pay, guaranteed pay? I don’t think there’s another question to ask.

Winner: Federal Contracts

 

  1. Prime Mindset

As a small business, you will most likely be working as a sub-contractor with a prime. At the local level with MBE, you are not really protected. Why? They do not blacklist or remove primes who treat others poorly, unfairly or fail to pay others. This is both careless and reckless, as they do not govern how they should operate and treat businesses, especially small businesses. At the DBE level, they are more mindful. Working with larger firms, they are more conscious, but they can still avoid paying you. At the federal level, they do not want to lose money. These are their bread and butter contracts. Therefore, they will not jeopardize this by not having people paid. If the prime doesn’t pay their subcontractor, they will be marked negatively.

Winner: Federal Contracts

 

  1. Company Size

At the state and local level, goals are about 5 million or less. In the federal arena, at 10k employees or $33.5 million, you’re considered a small business. That’s almost a ten-fold potential for your company to grow into before you reach the mid or large size business brackets!

Winner: Federal Contracts

 

  1. Teams

Teams are integral in business. Most businesses start off small with 1 or 2 people doing the work. Meaning a few companies will have to work together to accomplish a task. At the local level, they do not support teams. When two companies attempt to work together, they call it “co-collusion.” You will actually have to sign to say you while not be working with others to complete the tasks! The DBE doesn’t support teams either. They aren’t so up front about it, but they expect you and your employees to complete the task. Where with the federal government, working together or with your competition is the norm. The most important part for them is getting the task done, regardless of the number of companies needed to join together to make it happen.

Teamwork makes the dreamwork? 

Winner: Federal Contracts

table

  1. Contract Rules

Both MBE and DBE’s rules vary and differ from county-to-county or state-to-state. On the other hand, the federal government entails the entire US, meaning they use the same set of rules, the FAR or DFARS. No matter where you go, you follow the same rules.

Winner: Federal Contracts

 

  1. Source Selection

The MBE and DBE go with the low bidder, even if they know the contractor cannot perform because that is their policy. The federal government is a little bit smarter and tends to learn from both theirs and other’s mistakes. Instead, they go with the lowest responsive bidder. Taking this route means they can throw out the bids that are deemed “non-responsive” and go with the next lowest bidder. They will continue this process if necessary until they find the someone that can complete the job. If they can’t, they throw away the entire job and start over. Quality matters.

Winner: Federal Contracts

 

  1. Growth Potential

Here we will dive into the DBE, MBE, and Federal Contracts growth potential. The MBE and the DBE allows you up to your set goal. For example, if you say 5 million, then you’re capped at 5 million. Whereas with federal government, the sky’s the limit. Therefore, your growth is unlimited.

Winner: Federal Contracts

 

  1. Business Development

Business development is last on the list. When you want to succeed, you want to learn and you want to grow. Both, MBE and DBE do not provide you these opportunities like the federal government does. They have programs, small classes and workshops, but they are ineffective and are not reaching their targeted goals. Whereas at the federal level, there are formal business development programs to help you improve and grow. There are even agencies designed to help small businesses win contracts, like the 8a program. Overall, the knowledge and assistance you receive is invaluable.

Winner: Federal Contracts

table 2

After 8 different topics and analyzing and comparing DBE, MBE, and Federal Contracts, I think you know who the winner is—federal contracts! We can easily say federal contracts blow the others out of the water. They are overall the most effective and trustworthy choice of the three.

 

If you want to learn more about the differences, advantages and disadvantages between the three, watch the video below. If you want to learn more about federal contracting, visit our YouTube Channel.

16 Reasons to Hate County and State Contracts

Posted on by Linette Genao

County and state contracts are not the best way to go. Plain and simple. They may be the “safe route” and hate may be a strong word, but by the end of this you’ll understand why this route is not the most beneficial.

But can’t you make money working these contracts? Yes, you absolutely can make money working county and state contracts. However, there will be a lot more effort and time spent, with a result that is nowhere near the federal level.

County and state contract results are incomparable to the results federal contracts give you. It might be easier or quicker to bid county and state contracts, but after all of the unsuccessful proposals you will need to design, you’re going to burn out. Once you are burned out bidding jobs unsuccessfully, then you’ll start to understand why we don’t suggest going this route.

 

16 REASONS TO HATE COUNTY AND STATE CONTRACTS

 

  1. Rare to Begin And Make Millions Of Dollars

Working on smaller projects allows you to become comfortable and stay stagnant for years to come. There will be little progress as the years pass and once you get comfortable, the millions and larger projects will probably never be touched.

  1. No Ability To Scale

You can’t hire an outside man and they can’t hire an outside man. If you go this route, you better be ready to do all of the work. With federal contracts, you can bring in whoever you need to as long as the job gets done and the people you hire can also bring in whoever they need to.

  1. Requires That You Have All The Tools

You won’t be able to leverage other people and other team member’s resources. If you don’t have the money or the tools to do it yourself, you are out of luck. It’s a big never-ending cycle. In the federal arena, you can work as a subcontractor on a half or million-dollar project and the prime will cover the bonding. Meanwhile, you get the experience to increase your bonding level.

  1. Pay Is Slow More Often Times Than Pay Is Fast

The number one complaint from small-business owners? The local and state governments pay is slow. Being paid slow versus being paid fast is the norm. If you are a subcontractor, you are waiting double the time. Whereas, the federal government pays on time.

  1. Allows For Underbidding

Bidding and winning a job that the county and state know you will not be able to afford, is a risk you shouldn’t want to take. Starting out, you don’t have any money to lose, so why would you put yourself at a disadvantage right out the gate? It’s a waste of time for everyone.

  1. They Award Projects Without Securing Funding

This is scary. If you are doing a project, don’t you want to assure you will get paid and that money has been allocated to receive payment? The federal government allocates money so when the job is done, you get paid. State and local governments? They need something done but have no idea how they will pay for it. After you do all of the work, all of a sudden, “they are sorry and trying to get the funding.” I don’t know about you, but we much rather be assured that after all of the work that goes into completing these projects, there is money for everyone to get paid.

  1. No Blackball List; Not Widely Used

Ethics is what is comes down to. You don’t want to work with someone who is unethical. However, the local governments do not blackball contractors who take advantage of disabled and elderly people, walk out on jobs, fail to complete jobs or pay their sub-contractors. This also means that the prime contact can abuse you and never be removed from an approved vendor’s list. Sounds comforting? Didn’t think so.

  1. Designed For Handymen

These contracts are made for people who are going to self-perform the work or bid so cheap as though they are going to self-perform the work. There are also no opportunities for you to scale or grow a team this way. They want you to do all of the work but pay you as if you’re doing them a favor or are hiring and paying others under the table. Not based on your expertise, experience and what it actually requires to complete the job and pay an experienced team.

  1. Do Not Offer Maximum Leverage

Local levels do not support joint ventures. This is such a shame. Because they do not support joint ventures, there is no way or opportunity to actually leverage your abilities and talents to grow a business out.

  1. There Are Prejudices Based On Race, Location and Relationships

Don’t get upset over what you just read. Take a second to understand. There are still minority, section 3, public housing and similar type of programs out there. However, these contracts won’t actually scale your business and lead you to success. On the other hand, they can actually get you in trouble. You cannot get success by demand. Find the best company to work with and for you. You want to be the best company and work with the best companies regardless of what they look like, who they are and where they’re at.

  1. No Training Contract Officers

With the lack of stability in maintaining positions and the constant revolving of moving people to different positions, people who lack the experience are the ones judging the contracts. Whereas in the federal arena, a contracting officer is a contracting officer no matter where they go.

  1. Funding Is Tied To Federal Or State Grants And Subsidy Programs Like CDBG

Did you ever stop to think where the county gets their money from? Yes, some of it comes from tax payers. But the rest of the money comes from the state, which comes from the federal government. If their dollars are coming from the federal agency, why don’t you just work for the federal agency? If it’s good enough for the state and the municipal government to rely upon, don’t you think it’s good enough for you to rely upon?

  1. Constantly Changing People

Relationships are key to maximizing opportunities. If the people in the positions are constantly being changed, how can you have or build these relationships? You should be looking to maximize opportunities and leverage skillsets to grow your business. ­­

  1. Inconsistent Bid Process

With so many different departments within the counties, the bid process is inconsistent. This means you are creating new proposals for each bid. However, with the federal government, you follow one rule book—the FAR or Federal Acquisitions Regulations. They use the Standard Form 1449. Therefore, one bid process is almost identical to the other. Meaning, the first proposal you invested time into, you now only have to change names, prices and details.

  1. Can Cancel A Contract With No Apparent Reason

If you want to be spending time going after opportunities for someone that turns you away and doesn’t give you a chance over something like a protest, then the county is the way to go. But who wants to waste all of that time for nothing? No one.

  1. Big Enough To Screw You, Small Enough To Overextend And Not Pay You

There was a man who had a contract to build the Pinecrest Library. Once built, the real estate market crashed and he was told he would never get paid. Not because they didn’t owe him the money, but because there was no money to pay him. End note, they are big enough to screw you, small enough to overextend and not pay you. Don’t be that guy.

 

As a beginner, federal contracts might be intimidating but being new and ignorant is your blessing here. It’s actually a strength that you are at a disadvantage, because you don’t know any better.

When you don’t know any better, if you pursue a multi-million-dollar federal contract with limited experience and limited knowledge and you land that job, then everything works out. Whereas, if you start small, these numbers will seem unattainable and you’ll never give yourself the opportunity to reach these limits.

At this point, you probably changed your mind and despise county and state contracts too. We say, go for it. Start with the “scary.” Go for the federal contracts. You’ll be happy you did in the long run.

 

Check out our video below for more information on this topic. To learn more, visit our YouTube Channel.