A breath of fresh air and good information is the knife we’ll use to slice
through the stigmatic mist surrounding government contracting. This combined with a little motivation will always equal REAL Opportunity. Chris Denny, a creative genius and a founder of The Engine is Red, says,

“After looking at the world of government contracting through the lens of RBS, we no longer see a sea of red tape and process, but pure opportunity. Real Opportunity.”

So let’s dig right in and get the facts!

Big Fish

No longer do you need to talk about the proverbial “fish that got away”; instead we’ll talk about the Big Fish that you simply need to reel in. So, here are a few stats to describe this “fish”:

- In 2005 the federal government purchased $314 billion worth of goods and services from businesses both large and small;

- There are over 50 agencies within the federal government, each of which is obligated to contract to small businesses for over 20% of everything they buy.

Given this information, it only seems reasonable to start considering Government Contracting as a “REAL Opportunity”.

COMING NEXT:Rocket Science, The Road Map and Some Basics”

Now that you have the facts, it’s time to work on “the how”…

There’s a plague running rampant among many small businesses today. No…I’m not talking about that good ‘ole swine flu. I’m talking about Government Contracts…or more specifically…the perception of obtaining them.

“For us, the concept…was a paradox.”

The stigma surrounding government contracts resembles that ever elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This perception is best described by Chris Denny, President of Creative Strategy and a Founder of The Engine is Red,

“For us, the concept of the Government hiring small businesses was a paradox. While we knew of its existence, and believed it to be technically available, we never considered it to be a reality. Even if we could fathom the possibility of exploring obtaining a government contract, we didn’t even know where to start.”

This is largely the result of several factors:

- Can’t see it, Don’t believe it…The simplest explanation of this is “Lack of Faith”. Government Contracts don’t usually come knocking on the door or calling on the phone. A company must go looking. This becomes problematic when combined with the next factor;

- Lack of Information is probably one of the leading causes of any small business not pursuing government contracts. This combined with intimidation is extremely detrimental for any company.

“For the most part, government contracting is not ‘Rocket Science’”

- Favoritism and Red Tape are common, recurring themes when talking about anything political.

- The Fish that Got Away relates more to companies that have “tried” government contracting once or maybe even twice and have found the experience distasteful to say the least. But when the facts are laid out, this can generally be attributed to “Lack of Information”.

- Other factors are sure to be out there. I would love to hear your thoughts on obtaining government contracts. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at: Wes@ResoluteBusinessSolutions.com

Coming Next: Cures, Big Fish and Opportunity……”Real Opportunity”

Ken Larson, a volunteer counselor at SCORE, says it plainly,
“For the most part, government contracting is not ‘Rocket Science’, it’s just different.”

This spreading plague can only be cured by one thing……Cutting through the mist to see the reality.
A breath of fresh air and good information is the knife we’ll use to slice
through the stigmatic mist, that surrounds…….
Government Contracting.

Also, in my daily ventures through the mist…I have run across a blog with some really good info for anyone interested in Government Contracts:
http://www.smalltofeds.blogspot.com/

Technorati Profile

For every “opportunity” that you click on there will be a column on the right side that lists General Info(Click HERE for a example):

Notice Type  –  This will list one of several options, each representing a certain stage of procurement:

Sources Sought is where their simply trying to find out the amount of interest in a contract and “fishing” for contractors;

Presolicitation is a brief sysnopsis of a solicitation taht is going to be issued along with an anticipated release date for the solicitation;

Solicitation is the “meat” of what you’re going to need and the point at which you’re going to prepare and submit a proposal/quote;

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation is a combination of the Presolicitation and Solicitation;

Award is where you can see who won each of the contracts and generally the contract amount.

Response Date: This will be the latest date in which the proposal can be submitted.

Set Aside – There will only be something here if the contract is set-aside for a particular business type. Common business types are defined as follows:

Small Business – Fairly self-explanatory
8a – Minority Owned
Native American
Veteran Owned
Service Disabled Veteran Owned
HUBzone – This is a program by which businesses qualify based on the location of their business. I’ll go more into detail about HUBzone businesses later.