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federal government, government contracts, success


MY FIRST AWARD – SUCCESS IN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING

September 29, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

I recently changed the tagline of this blog to “success in government
contracting”.  I’m pretty humbled and excited to let you know that I was awarded
my first government contract. Yippee.  Hooray. Excited. Pat on the back.



The award is directly related to my earlier post about my first submission of a
bid. I was notified about 10 days after the submission that I was unofficially
awarded the contract (by phone call) and a day later, the actual award came via
email which I proceeded to promptly sign and send back.

The reason I was notified a day earlier is that the buyer, in this particular
case happened to be traveling to the South Florida area and wanted to know if we
could meet in person.  Luckily, we were able to meet about half way between my
office and their conference – about an hour’s drive for me. This meeting yielded
some very interesting data points and insights into the selection process from
their perspective as well as further clarified the some additional information
about what’s expected, etc.

For me personally, this was an outstanding accomplishment and a rare one,
considering I’m just now on-boarding with government agencies for work.  What it
did though, is confirm that the process work and there are opportunities for the
little guy to succeed in this enormous $500 billion marketplace.  I’m now
working on my next bid, for a slightly larger project, will right about that
experience once I submit it.

 

awardcontractingsuccess
government contracts, small business


MY FIRST GOVERNMENT CONTRACT BID

September 4, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

I did it! Hooray, hooray, I did it.  I submitted my first bid to a government
contract.  What started out as a maybe, I’ll think about it, who’s got the time
has concluded in my first submission to a government buyer.

This particular contract is small, very small in scope and it looks like there
are others bidding on it, but not many, so there’s hope.  The submission process
itself was a huge learning curve.  Beyond registrations, reading and
understanding the contract requirements was an exercise in patience and
restrain.

There are several interesting aspects to this particular contract, I’ll list
them below.

 1. The project is for a university – probably a grant that someone got to do
    this as the buyer is a professor at this particular institution.
 2. The bidding process is being done under a reverse auction process, I’ll be
    writing about that soon enough.
 3. I’m communicating directly with the buyer who’s answering my questions
    promptly. I wonder if it’s a plus to engage the buyer ahead of the award in
    such a way, I think it is, they get to know you before making their
    decision.

Wish me luck, I’ll circle back to the blog in a few days with an update on this
particular bid.

bidreverse auction
small business


SELLER BEWARE OF PREDATORY MARKETING PRACTICES

September 3, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

Today I got a phone call from an unknown number.   In general, if I don’t know
who the caller is, I tend to not answer it as I’m busy working on client
projects and they can leave a message.  In this case, they opted to not leave a
message.  So as I do with most unknown numbers, I Googled it.



I love these sites that collect information about callers from phone numbers, so
much can be gleamed from them, 800notes.com is one of my personal favorites.
 Within a few minutes, I found the name of the person who was calling and was
able to locate the company they were calling from (I’m purposefully leaving this
information out).

What do you know? turns out that they are a for-profit agency which claims to
help small businesses pursue government contracts.  From registration processes
to contract reviews and submissions, the list goes on and on.  In one of the
posts I read about them, I found out that the way they work is through a monthly
subscription service, probably a tiered pricing model with different options for
those that can afford the service.

As a truly small business, looking to do business with the government, the last
thing I can afford, is to pay for someone to help me fill out paperwork and
forms.  Yes, there are many of them, yes its confusing, yes it takes time, but
even if you pay for someone to help, you still have to gather the information
and think about your answers, all they’re doing, is filling out the same forms,
which are free by the way, except they are charging you money for that service.

I’m not saying that all of these services are bad, but I am saying that “seller
beware” – that’s you, you’re the seller – before signing up with one of these
companies.  Do your due diligence, ask for references, try filling out the
paperwork yourself, you’ll learn a lot along the way an become better equipped
at understanding the process.  The more you do, the more you know, the less
“scary” it will be.

Oh, last but not least, there are free resources, yes, free resources, which
will help you do the same thing at no cost.  Why would you pay for something
that’s offered for free? Checkout the SBDC for starters.

P.S. I wonder how they got my number in the first place? My hunch, just like any
other good marketing company, they troll the bid sites, SAM registrations, all
of which are public domain, find out who’s registering, who’s bidding, who’s the
new kid on the block, chances are, someone will buy into it, for now, it won’t
be me.  What makes it a predatory marketing practice is that they are offering a
service, which  you didn’t seek out and may not be able to afford.  The
enticement of winning that first contract is what makes the whole thing
attractive.

Do your homework! Don’t get caught up in the moment and sign up for something
which will cost you more than its worth.

sba, small business


SMALL BUSINESS CERTIFICATION

September 2, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

When working with the federal government for contracting purposes, there are
many business classifications which can help you win contracts.  The reason
these classifications help is that there are specific set asides for business
classified as disadvantaged, i.e. minority, woman owned, veteran owned, etc.



Most of these classifications require a formal designation from the SBA or to
file an application to be classified in a particular way.  For example, if you’d
like to participate in the 8(a) program, you must apply for it and follow the
on-going protocols for remaining in the program.

One of the classifications that does not require an application, which is the
one I’m using, is the “small business certification”.  Small businesses which
fall under the SBA’s size standards for small business can self-certify
themselves as a small business.   This is an important guideline which can be
confusing to those of us just getting started.

Let me make sure its clear. If you fall within the small business size
standards, you can self-certify as a small business and apply for contracts
where there’s a set aside for small businesses. Can we say cheese :-)?

So what are SBA size standards and how do you check if you fall in this category
of self-certification? follow the links below to get the answers you see.

Am I a small business?

Size Standards Tool (you will need your NAICS codes for this one)

certifications
Terminology


WHAT DOES ARO MEAN?

September 2, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

I’m hoping to submit my first bid this week.  For a delivery time frame, the bid
states the following:

> Buyer requires delivery (ARO) to be less than or equal to the specified Bid
> Delivery Days listed above.

Turns out that ARO means “After Receipt of Order”. In this particular case, the
buyer is saying that the product,  must be delivered within the given time frame
after the bid is awarded: within 30 days to be exact.

Yet another business term / acronym that I’ve never come across until now.

 

small business, Terminology


THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTIVITY UNIT (AU) AND EACH (EA)

August 29, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

This week I started the process of submitting my first government bid – wish me
luck.  A small project which I hope to have some success with, we’ll see. What
was most interesting, was that this project, immediately accelerated my various
action items related to winning a government contact.

Action items such as completing my SAM registration, updating my capabilities
statement, etc.

For this particular project, which happens to be a reverse-auction project, I
noticed something unusual.  In the unit column, where I would submit my bid,
there was a strange acronym: “AU”.  I called FedBid client services and asked
about it.  I was told they didn’t know what it meant and to submit a question to
the buyer.  I found it interesting that they didn’t know what it was.



I went ahead and submitted my question and a few hours later, received the
following response:

> AU stands for “Activity Unit” which essentially means we are paying for a
> single service, or a piece of work, as opposed to EA or “Each” which is paying
> for a single good. AU is typically used for services while EA is used for
> goods.

Having gone to the web first to try and find my answer, I came up empty handed.
 Hope this article helps someone.

activity uniteach
florida, state, vendor


VENDOR REGISTRATION WITH THE STATE OF FLORIDA TO SUBMIT W9

August 19, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

So I completed my vendor registration and was immediately told that I also
needed to provide a W9 in order to get paid.  Makes sense.  At the moment, since
I’m not receiving any payments, this does not actually matter, but I decided to
go through with it anyway.

Turns out its another Florida site which requires a different user id and
registration than that of the marketplace.   Link to the site is below.  You’ll
also need your FEIN, contact information and yet another password.

MyFloridaCFO

 

registrationvendorw9
florida, rules, state


RULE 60A-1.031 – THE 1 PERCENT TRANSACTION FEE

August 19, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

I learned about this the other day when I met with my SBDC counselor and we were
discussing doing business with the state of Florida.  Since November 2004, any
(with some exemptions) Florida contractor doing business with the state, must
pay back the state a 1 percent fee of the gross receipts for the contract.  This
fee must be paid on a monthly basis alongside a monthly report, showing revenue
generated for the contract(s) and fees paid.

Per the ruling:

> The State of Florida, through the Department of Management Services, has
> instituted MyFloridaMarketPlace, a statewide eProcurement system. Pursuant to
> Section 287.057(23), F.S., (2002), all payments shall be assessed a
> Transaction Fee of one percent (1.0%), which the vendor shall pay to the
> State.

My understanding is that the reason for this ruling is to support the electronic
marketplace set up by the state to enable online procurement services through
the MyFloridaMarketPlace website. To read the complete 60A-1.031 ruling, follow
this link.

60a-1.031administrative codeone percenttransaction fee
small business


GET TO KNOW YOUR LOCAL SBDC CHAPTER

August 18, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

I first found out about the Small Business Development Center or SBDC when I
walked into our local library and saw a posting for an upcoming informational
session on “how to do business with the federal government” – for small
businesses of course.   I signed up for it and a few days later, found myself in
a 2 hour class held by the local SBDC chapter representative.  This wasn’t my
first encounter with the SBDC, but it was the first one that mattered.

For those of you that are not sure what it is, a quick online search for SBDC
should take you to the SBA’s page which describes SBDC as the following:

> Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provide a vast array of technical
> assistance to small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. By supporting
> business growth, sustainability and enhancing the creation of new businesses
> entities, SBDCs foster local and regional economic development through job
> creation and retention. As a result of the no cost, extensive, one-on-one,
> long-term professional business advising, low-cost training and other
> specialized services SBDC clients receive, the program remains one of the
> nation’s largest small business assistance programs in the federal government
> . The SBDCs are made up of a unique collaboration of SBA federal funds, state
> and local governments, and private sector resources.

On the surface, that sounds complicated, but in a nut shell, its a collaboration
between the public sector (SBA – which funds 50% of the program), private sector
and local and state agencies to spur economic development by assisting and
mentoring small businesses through phases of growth.  In particular, the SBDC
focuses on helping small businesses properly pursue federal, state and local
government contracts – and the best part – its services are free.  In
particular, this is in start contrast to private sector companies which claim to
put you on the right track for a fee.   Buyer beware.

The key to working with the SBDC is to get to know your local SBDC director and
staff, make the time to meet with them one-on-one and follow up on their advice,
recommendations and suggestions.  For me personally, I’ve met with my local SBDC
chapter representative for the first time last week and found the meeting both
productive and extremely educational.  The challenge of course is to follow up
on the todo list from the meeting and get everything done for my next meeting,
which is tomorrow.

federal government, marketing, small business, time


ALL IT TAKES IS TIME, MARKETING TIME THAT IS

July 29, 2014 Ilan Leave a comment

Any kind of marketing, whether to the federal government or any other business
community requires an investment of time.  As a small business owner, this
commodity is one of the most precious that I have available.  After all, I need
time to work on paying projects, manage my business finance, chase after new
business and find some personal time to be with family.

As part of my budding business plan, I’ve developed a marketing budget – yey,
now the question is, what to spend it on? online advertising – who’s going to
manage the campaigns? print advertising – which publications?  How can I ensure
that the limited marketing budget I have goes to good use? do I pay someone to
do it for me? So many questions, so little time, there it goes again, the
question of time.

The objective of this blog, is to show case my experience – and the process – of
how I marketed my services, successfully (or not) to the federal government.
 The challenge of course is to find the time to market my services properly to
the federal government, finding the time to educate myself about the process,
finding the time to write this blog, finding the time to write a capabilities
statement, finding the time to… find the time.  Surprisingly, I’m finding that
spending time writing this blog and putting my thoughts to paper is a rather
freeing feeling and worthwhile activity – no matter how much time it takes.

The point of all of this is that at the end of the day it may in fact not be all
that difficult to win my first contract, provided I find the time to put in the
work to market my services and follow the process.

As a final thought, one of the reasons I’m choosing to spend my time marketing
my services to the federal government is important to understand.  The federal
government spends an estimated $500 billion dollars a year on contracts, $100
billion of it is set aside for small businesses with various designations.  So
why not spend my time and marketing dollars trying to gain traction with the
largest business in the world? I think that’s time and money well spent.

federal governmentmarketingtime


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HELPFUL LINKS

 * Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC)
 * Procurement Opportunities Guide - 2013 (PDF Download)
 * The Winning Edge: How Government and Corporate Buyers Select a Small Business
   Supplier – 2014 Edition (PDF Download)
 * Government Spending at Your Fingertips
 * Center for Effective Government
 * US General Services Administration
 * Federal Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Directors
   Interagency Council ("OSDBU Council")
 * VA Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization
 * Mentor Protege Program Guide (PDF Download)
 * Florida Women's Owned Business Center
 * How Social Media Can Help Your Business
 * Contract Responsiblities

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