Your team has an RFP to answer, a deadline approaching, and a folder of company documents written for half a dozen different purposes. The project summary describes the work you completed, the staffing plan explains who was involved, and a customer reference mentions the problem you solved. Somehow, all of that needs to become one […]
An opportunity alert can get a promising contract onto your radar, but it should not have the final say over your proposal calendar. The date beside a listing may look perfectly clear until you open the procurement documents and discover it belongs to an entirely different milestone. New York offers a useful example. As checked […]
Ask a business owner whether they sell to the Army, and the answer may come before the question is finished: “We don’t make weapons.” That response makes sense if the Army brings to mind armored vehicles and ammunition, but it can also rule out a customer before anyone checks what the customer actually purchases. Keeping […]
December has a way of turning a manageable administrative task into something everyone promises to handle after the holidays. For GSA Schedule contractors, that is a risky approach to Transactional Data Reporting, especially when the person who understands the sales spreadsheet is also taking the last two weeks of the year off. GSA’s applicable TDR […]
You found a government opportunity that looks like a great fit. Your company can do the work. You have relevant experience. The deadline is manageable. Then comes the question: Who has time to write the proposal? For many small business contractors, the answer involves a business owner working late, a small team juggling several responsibilities, […]
A prime contractor opens an email from a small business, reads a paragraph about quality and customer service, and reaches the familiar question: “Do you have any opportunities for us?” The sender may be excellent at what they do, but the message leaves the prime to figure out the connection. Someone has to identify a […]
You have your federal certification, your capability statement finally looks the way you want it, and a county solicitation appears to fit your business perfectly. Then you reach the supplier requirements and find an unfamiliar acronym, a different certification office, and another application asking for documents you are fairly certain you have already submitted somewhere […]
RJ’s Printing, a family-owned business in Kalamazoo, Michigan, had never considered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a customer. According to an October 7 SBA article, the company did not know the agency existed until connecting with an NRC representative at a supplier matchmaking event in Detroit. That introduction led to an award for signage, displays, […]
By the time a city posts a bid for a major project, several things may already have happened: funding was approved, the governing board discussed the work, staff developed a schedule, and someone started figuring out how to purchase what the project needs. For a small business contractor, those earlier events can be useful. They […]
You can spend months learning an agency’s needs, introducing your business, and preparing for the next opportunity, only to discover that the customer plans to buy through a contract vehicle your company does not hold. Your capabilities may be a perfect fit, but the conversation now includes a purchasing question you need to answer. That […]