Federal Compass - Waypoints

At Federal Compass, we strive to provide you with knowledgeable, actionable, and insightful information to help your federal contracting business succeed. This means providing you with content that is informational, not riddled with sales pitches and promotions. We have monthly webinars with GovCon experts to provide insights into different elements of contracting. Some experts focus on growth, some focus on capture, and some focus on helping get started. Each speaker has their own niche.

Navigating the complex world of federal contracting is difficult. I cannot think of a time when anyone ever said it would be easy. As someone who has nowhere near the level of experience of most federal contracting experts or consultants, I have found one element that remains constant. Everyone is always learning. The industry is ever-evolving and the amount of content and available resources is endless.

 

So, when navigating and trying to learn, where do you turn? How do you not only find information, but make sure it is accurate and up-to-date? Is there a subject matter expert (SME) in-house? Is there a heavy reliance on teaming partners? Is an outside consultant brought in to provide guidance? Those answers can make you feel like Alice in Wonderland going down the rabbit hole.

 

With so many different sources and knowledge repositories, how do you grow your business within the federal market? Naturally, that answer is never-ending and evolves with time.

Before adding a new piece to your tech stack, where do your current needs lie? There are free tools, paid tools, and other expensive alternatives available. So where do you turn and how do you identify which problem you need to solve? You can get feedback from friends or other businesses, but more likely than not, your needs are slightly different than theirs. Meaning, they chose a solution that fills their gaps and it may not necessarily do the same for you.

 

For federal contractors, there is often one core element that is sought after. What helps us win more federal revenue?  Sound familiar?

 

In what seems like a neverending list of options, how do you know what will work best for YOU to increase your federal revenue?

When you think of marketing, what comes to mind? Is it a memorable ad that you saw on TV? Sometimes for the wrong reason. Is it when you click on an online ad for a pair of shoes and for the next week all you see are shoes? In short, marketing is that squeaky wheel that continues to make itself heard until it gets taken care of. It is the image the company portrays and wants everyone in the market to see.

 

Think of a front door attendant standing outside of a business. They can pass out flyers and have conversations to get people inside to have a conversation to learn more. Maybe they play music to garner more attention to attract a larger crowd. Whatever the effort may be, the goal is to get people in the door. Once inside, it is up to other team members to point them in the right direction. At the end of the day, the goal of marketing is to promote the company, get new leads for the sales team, and help with customer retention.

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November 2-4, 2022 is SAME's Federal Small Business Conference and we are exhibiting at booth #1317. We cannot wait to see what they have in store!

Once a contract has been awarded, what happens next? It might seem like an easy answer: complete the work and get paid! Although that might be correct to a certain extent, there is a lot more that needs to be accounted for and it all starts with having a strong capture process. From the very beginning, your legal team needs to get involved, your contract manager(s) will need to step up, and your capture management process should have decision gates and ways to measure success. You mean government contracting is not as easy as people make it out to be?!

In today's technology-dependent world, there should never be a time when you say that you cannot do something because your software lacks functionality. Let us be real, we can order a pack of cookies, hand towels, and "try on" a pair of sunglasses without leaving the comfort of our couch. There are some very powerful software solutions out there, and when it comes to looking for a new one, you should have a list of criteria that needs to be met. If you are settling for less, you could be setting your team up for failure.

When is the last time you wrote a capability statement? Better question, when is the last time you UPDATED your capability statement? Your capability statement is your opportunity to make a great first and long-lasting impression on the government. Why are you the team for the job, how do you help them, and what have you done that makes you the best fit to accomplish the task? It is not so much who you know or what you know, it is what you can do.

When it comes to doing business with the federal government, some businesses are better at it than others. For those in a great position, it may be due to the fact that they have decades of experience and understand the intricacies of the federal government. For those who are getting started or struggle to win, it may be because they are directing their efforts in the wrong places. Doing business with the government is not easy, and when it comes to winning, it becomes even harder. The core elements of finding success as a federal contractor, focus on where your customers are and what they want. Stop focusing on set-aside statuses.

 

Set-asides are powerful boosters for small and disadvantaged businesses, but at the end of the day, the government wants someone who helps them accomplish their mission. If that means going with a contractor who does have a set-aside, great. If that means going with a contractor who does not have a set-aside, so be it. If there is one thing for certain in federal contracting, it is that there are no guaranteed contracts.

Change, to some degree, is something we all struggle with. Whether it is changing our hairstyle or adopting new software, there will always be some apprehensions to change. One of the first elements that come to mind when thinking about change is "why". Why would I change? Why do I need to change? Why does our company need to make this change? Why can we not just keep the same process, it is working fine.