98 billion dollars in federal contracts seems like a lot of money but it still falls short of established statutory goals for federal agencies. Over thepast several years, breaking into federal government contracting has not been easy for small businesses. During tough economic times,whereas many government agencies have statutory goals to meet, they have a tendency to be more focused on costs, where large businesses have a strong advantage over small business. Recently there have also been a great deal of consolidations on federal projects which make it even more difficult for locally owned and operated small businesses to compete. Finally, let’s be honest, there are no real consequences when government agencies fail to meet their goals. So, knowing all of this – the question is, is it even worth it to pursue government contracts, and the answer really depends on you and where you want to be in your business.
Understanding the disadvantage faced by small businesses when competing with large businesses, our company does not compete on those projects, and we advise clients on a similar strategy. Our efforts are strictly focused on contracts set-aside for small business, small disadvantaged business and woman owned small business. Next, we know for a fact that the federal government will rarely award contracts to firms that don’t have palpable past performance. Therefore, rather than wasting time pursing contracts we are never going to win, we have focused our efforts on developing relationships with buyers through a well thought out strategic communication plan. We stay in touch, we attend meetings, networking events and training sessions as we build our successful past performance one client at a time. We are focusing on micro purchases, small purchases and sub-contracting opportunities where competition is limited and focused on small business development.
As we build our past performance, we’ve taken steps to increase our capabilities by aligning ourselves with reliable and experienced government contractors, both large and small businesses. We know and understand that in order to grow, we need to get out of our comfort zone, and sharing in a piece of the pie is better than having no pie at all. We are also “staying in our lane” so to speak, although it’s tempting to take on more business, we are focused on what we do really well, and letting others do what they do really well, too. We know exactly what our capacity is, and we won’t jeopardize our reputation by taking on just any project, it needs to fit into our plan that is focused on quality and controlled growth.
The last thing I’ll say about doing business with the government or any other prospect for that matter is that business is about building relationships, so it’s so important to be courteous, respectful, even nice, especially when you don’t get the job/bid. Everyone is nice when they get the job;it is how you show up every day that really counts. Do what you say you are going to do; show up for meetings on time, return phone calls, answer emails timely and become a reliable source that people can count on.
