Entrepreneur Soundoff!

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Many small business bidders don't really know how proposals are ACTUALLY SCORED.  They read the Statement of Work (SOW) or Performance Work Statement (PWS) in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and their eyes get really big.  WE CAN DO THIS!  Then they write, what I call, an "I love me" proposal, stating how great they are at doing what was stated in the proposal. 

In this euphoria, they never consider how their proposal is going to be scored.  As such, they have ZERO concept that RISK is literally HALF of their Combined Technical/Risk Rating!  

Most small business owners would be aghast if they knew how most Source Selection Board members...the people who are evaluating their proposals...think about small businesses.  Small businesses are un-branded, un-known, and with a very checkered past regarding performance. Objectively, small businesses ARE high-risk!  So, if risk is "technically half" of a large business bid's score, then it's "REALLY HALF" a small business bid's score! 

Admittedly, risk is a difficult topic for any bidder to address, especially small businesses without large past performances to point to and say, "we didn't screw up on these!"  Without significant contract performance, corporate credentials are the only way to validate a small business's corporate maturity.  Regarding risk, ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification is likely the easiest and best credential to obtain.  Here's why.

The ISO 9001 Standard provides your company with fully documented management programs that are globally-accepted, industry best practices. One of these management systems is a robust Risk Management program.  Possessing ISO Certification, a small business bidder can repeatedly cite various aspects of their "ISO 9001-Certified Risk Management Program" and how it virtually eliminates contract performance risk.  

With only 1% of US companies possessing ISO 9001 Certification, now your company is playing into the Source Selection Board's fears about small businesses.  You can now ghost the 99% of your "high-risk" small business competitors without ISO Certification, while playing the role as the "mature, responsible, low-risk bidder."

To learn more about ISO Certification and how it can help your small business win more...and much larger bids...visit www.GCACampus.com

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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The one constant to life is change.  That can be said about a person's career and professional success, as well.  Although the term "transition" has been largely associated with the military community, every successful professional experiences at least one major career transition.  

In fact, some of the largest career transitions have nothing to do with changing industries.  Instead, it has to do with changing your role in an industry.  Transitioning from a customer-facing contributor to the corporate office is a massive change.  Similarly, transitioning into a leadership role can be just as daunting.  In fact, accepting a position performing the same role in a different company can also be a significant transition due to corporate culture. 

Without embracing change and transitioning from one industry, position, role, or company, you are not only becoming stagnant in your personal growth but also your career and financial well-being, as well.  Most people forego the opportunities to learn, grow, advance and earn more money to simply stay in that same comfortable seat due to their fear of transition. 

In the military, I learned how to become comfortable transitioning from job to job, role to role,  and command to command.  In the military, it's easy.  It's called Orders. :-)  Every 18 months to 36 months, the US Navy completely changed my professional world.  Usually, the only constant in a new set of orders were the uniforms.  

The trick that I used to overcome the discomfort of transitioning was a mind-set.  Every transition has what I call the "Three Weeks of Suck." The first three weeks of any major change will be challenging.  Even POSITIVE change requires at least a three week transition period!  I remember moving into a much nicer corporate office and disliking it for the first three weeks because it was unfamiliar.  

Knowing and accepting that my life would be turned upside down for three weeks put finite bounds around my transitions.  Instead for thinking "this change is going to be awful,"  I could mentally put bounds to the amount of awful by thinking "this change is going to be awful for three weeks."  I would then consider previous "awful" periods of my life that I transitioned and it gave me confidence.  "I made it through (FILL IN THE BLANK), the next three weeks will be nothing."  As a Navy veteran, I had a stack of things to "fill in the bIank!"  :-)
     
For entrepreneurs, transition must be a way of life! Stepping away from a "job" to the great unknown of entrepreneurship or pivoting your company in a new direction...again and again...can be tough!  However, it can also provide a lifetime of exhilaration, profession growth, tremendous personal satisfaction, and financial success!  So what's three weeks of suck when compared to that!    

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
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The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
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"Just putting in time" doesn't cut it for anything that really matters...and this holds especially true for entrepreneurship.  In most companies that I worked, it was taboo to shut your office door.  Why?  The boss couldn't tell if you were looking appropriately engaged in your work.  

When I was the CEO, I actually encouraged my team to shut their doors so they could focus better.  Was I concerned that they weren't working hard?  Absolutely not.  Here's why.  In a small business, you can't coast or "phone it in."  As soon as you take your hand off the sausage-making crank, everybody knows!  

However, here is the shocking news...launching a successful company doesn't take any more time than any other professional job. If you're a white-collar professional, then you know you're not working a 9-to-5 job.  You have a responsibility to "produce results."  

Here's the real difference between being an entrepreneur and an employee...although the TIME requirement may be the same, the EFFORT and FOCUS are not!  Launching a company means that there are things that MUST get done and it doesn't matter if it takes you 40 hours or 400 hours to complete them.  Coasting or phoning it in doesn't get things accomplished.  

BUT...here's the unexpected great news!  If you train yourself to be 100% focused when you're working on your company, then you can launch your dream company while you keep your day job and normal income!  

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
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The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
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Most people rent their time...  They will waste large portions of their life, expending countless hours of meaningless time because they're scared that if they try to make those hours really count...and fall short...then they'll be crushed.  To avoid that pain, they throw those hours away by not investing any emotional equity in them.  That way, they can avoid all possibility of failing because they never tried. 

For example, people will work for 40-50 hours per week just for a paycheck to pay the bills.  In some cases, they may not be in a position to do anything else.  However, that is usually not the case.  A lot of people are willing to throw away 40 to 50 hours every week towards dead-end jobs because investing their emotional equity...their hopes and dreams...in a rewarding career can lead to failure and pain.  Fear of failure is debilitating and leads to a path that is so much worse than failing!

Failure is part of the process.  Plus, nobody really gives a damn about your failures. Life is not like baseball where you have three strikes, or failures, and you're out.  Failures don't matter.  They're the plot twists, miscues and dead-end inquiries in a good mystery novel.  Nobody tosses an Agatha Christie novel after the second chapter because Hercule Poirot just interviewed a completely innocent person. Instead, we're all turning the pages as quickly as we can to see how he brilliantly solves the case in the last chapter.  

As a GovCon small business owner, my losses stung, but I learned from them and moved on.  However, my wins meant everything!  They changed my life.  And, I never would have experienced those life-changing successes without the losses or with buying my time and making those 40 to 50 hours per week count. 

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
Randy’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wimmer/
The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
Our Podcast ▶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2hq4ymWn4v9hI2hmdxuk?si=0e2aa77541b34b45
Our YouTube▶ https://youtube.com/@GovConAcademy

There is nothing more sought after than finding a roadmap to riches...Or a Playbook that guarantees you success if you just follow the checklist.  
And that is how franchisors prey on aspiring entrepreneurs!  The old saying that if it's too good to be true, then well...it usually is.  Franchise Disclosure Documents provide real up-front costs.  And these costs are usually BRUTAL.  However, people are will to pay them for the "secret roadmap to riches" because Franchise Disclosure Documents will frequently list estimated potential annual income like this 
Estimated Income: "3,000 to $300,000."
Here's the FACTS:
The AVERAGE income of all franchises is $66,000.
The crown jewels of the franchising industry are restaurants...OVER HALF of all food service franchises make LESS THAN $50,000.  I'm not going to disparage $50K, but restaurant franchises frequently require up to $1 MILLION just to have less than a 50% chance of making $50K.  
If franchises were SOOOOO profitable, why don't the franchisors keep them to themselves?  Why do many franchisors only own a few of their own companies?
  

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
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The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
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Would you do what 88% of the MOST SUCCESSFUL GovCon small businesses are doing?  

99% of small business owners don't...

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
Randy’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wimmer/
The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
Our Podcast ▶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2hq4ymWn4v9hI2hmdxuk?si=0e2aa77541b34b45
Our YouTube▶ https://youtube.com/@GovConAcademy

This is a recording of the Government Contracting Academy's Webinar, How to Win Government Set Aside Contracts. 

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
Randy’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wimmer/
The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
Our Podcast ▶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2hq4ymWn4v9hI2hmdxuk?si=0e2aa77541b34b45
Our YouTube▶ https://youtube.com/@GovConAcademy

It all begins at the top with great leaders. However, leadership doesn’t always look like people think it does.  Being a great CEO does NOT mean that you must be able to come through with heroics, time and again, to be successful.  In fact, the opposite is true.
 
The driving forces behind business success are documented processes, well-defined roles & responsibilities, management oversight, and data-driven decision-making. Good leadership is documented. Bad leaders heroically respond to non-existent policies, undocumented processes, and ill-defined corporate roles.   

As a first-time CEO, I learned this the hard way when I discovered that my company could not grow beyond our first large contract award. I relied upon the structured construct of becoming ISO 9001 Quality Management certified to achieve my business goals.   

It worked...we won hundreds of millions of dollars in set aside contracts, leading to a successful acquisition.   

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To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
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Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
Randy’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wimmer/
The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
Our Podcast ▶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2hq4ymWn4v9hI2hmdxuk?si=0e2aa77541b34b45
Our YouTube▶ https://youtube.com/@GovConAcademy

The transition management plan section, whether explicitly or implicitly required in the RFP, can be a major discriminator...if you write a great one!  In fact, small businesses usually win their first prime contract by demonstrating their ability to transition the contract AND successfully rebadge the incumbent employees...while pricing the proposal significantly less that the incumbent.  The Source Selection Board will accept the risk of going with a "new company's" if they feel confident of getting the same incumbent people at a worthwhile discount!   

_________________
To get on the fast track to government contracting success, visit our website at:
https://governmentcontractingacademy.com/
_________________
Follow us on other platforms to stay up to date on the latest GovCon tips and tricks:
GCA’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/company/governmentcontractingacademy/
Randy’s Linkedin ▶ https://www.linkedin.com/in/randal-wimmer/
The Entrepreneurial Times ▶ https://theentrepreneurialtimes.com/
Our Podcast ▶ https://open.spotify.com/show/4T2hq4ymWn4v9hI2hmdxuk?si=0e2aa77541b34b45
Our YouTube▶ https://youtube.com/@GovConAcademy