CERTIFICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE SUCCESS

Certification as a minority or woman owned business does not guarantee success; and that should be pretty obvious given that only 25% of certified firms won government contracts in 2012 according to a recent article in the Daily News. http://nydn.us/1mQwUzY
In 2013, I worked with a number of small, minority and women owned firms, some of them certified and some them were not. Many of the firms I worked with went on to win government contracts ranging from small purchases to multi-million dollar deals. In my opinion, the universal traits for thriving MWBE firms appear to be as follows:
1. Understanding/Maximizing Certification: the owners understand the purpose of specific certification program goals. In many instances they avail themselves to a combination of certifications (MBE, WBE MWBE, DBE, LBE, Hub Zone, 8(a), WOSB, EDVOSB, SDVOSB) giving their firms maximum exposure to a variety government agencies.
2. Identify Target Audience: flourishing firms know their target audience, they spend time researching each agency to understand how, when they buy and who they currently doing business with. Successful are solution oriented, identifying ways that their firms can solve a problem and provide value while helping buyers to meet MWBE participations goals.
3. Commitment to Marketing: firms that are winning contracts understand that the sales cycle for closing deals can take as long as 12-18 months, and in some cases longer. To that end, successful firms have a consistent method of staying in touch with buyers through a variety of marketing programs.
4. Knows How to Price Products and Services: winning firms have invested time in developing competitive pricing strategies that are meet government agency requirements. This does not always mean they are the lowest bidder, if there prices are higher they have successfully demonstrated best value to the government.
5. The Invest in themselves: up-and-coming business owners participate in workshops, seminars and work with coaches to develop and sharpen skills such as marketing, negotiating, sales and RFP and proposal writing. They also tend to ask for help and outsource services they might not have in-house such as accounting, legal and HR compliance.
Success with government contracting is hard work; I am pleased to be counted among the 25% of certified MWBEs that have successfully won contracts with the government. I also committed to working others through teaming, partnerships, and strategic alliances. I am also willing to share tips, resources and guidance through my newly created MWBE Success Bootcamp which provides step by step guidance on how to do business with the government. For more information, please email me @jean@jeankristensenassociates.com.