Good News for Small Businesses From the US Senate
Posted in: Blog on October 12, 2009 | 1 Comment
There was some good news coming out of a Senate hearing last week, especially if you are a small business – As of Oct. 2, nearly 26 percent of all federal stimulus contracting dollars, or more than $4 billion, was awarded to small businesses.
Joe Jordan, associate administrator for government contracting business development at the Small Business Administration, testified last week before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. The transcript can be found here: http://bit.ly/2eWQDm.
The Recovery Act does not set a specific goal for small business contracting, but in most cases, agencies have been instructed to follow the government’s annual goal of awarding 23 percent of all prime contract dollars to small firms.
“Put simply, this is a win-win situation,” Jordan said. “Small businesses get increased volume, sales and hires. They get a lift to be competitive in the global marketplace and help lead the nation toward economic recovery. In addition, federal agencies get to work with the most innovative, nimble and responsive companies.”
The Recovery Act spending totals for the various socioeconomic and disadvantaged categories also have been encouraging, Jordan testified. For example, small disadvantaged businesses have received 11 percent of stimulus contracts, exceeding the goal of 5 percent, he said.
The only subcategory in which agencies have failed to meet the overall goal is women-owned small businesses, which have received 4 percent of all Recovery contracts as opposed to the goal of 5 percent, Jordan said. To increase that figure, SBA developed its first online training module specifically geared toward women in contracting. Read more about the course here: http://bit.ly/3zd5NQ.
Jordan testified further that “agencies are working to make procurement information available and accessible through http://www.recovery.gov, and promote http://www.fedbizopps.gov as a database where small businesses can access contracting opportunities.”
This Year Is Looking Very Stimulating
Posted in: Blog, Government Contracting on October 8, 2009 | No Comments
The federal fiscal year started on Oct. 1. This means that the fourth-quarter (July-Sept) was a spending spree for federal buyers. If you’ve been following the trends on FedBizOpps you’ll notice that the number of new early stage solicitations (Pre-solicitation and Sources Sought) is starting to rise. The fourth-quarter saw mostly notifications of money that was being spent – e.g. Sole Source, Special Notice, and Re-awards of one type or another.
When the dust settles and the final numbers are reported for the 2009 federal fiscal year, spending will have topped $550 billion. Fiscal year 2010 is likely to look much the same. On top of that, the Obama Administration has set a goal of spending 70% of the stimulus money by this time next year. That’s $592 billion. So far, only 47% has been allocated for specific purposes; of that only 16% has been spent. That leaves over $314 billion of new money that has yet to be allocated.
This year is looking very stimulating.
Remember, the stimulus money is actually small compared to the everyday purchases that federal, state, and local governments make. What’s more important – the government buys everything. The question is whether you’re willing to do what it takes to win the business.
So, the money is out there – you just have to do your research, choose the correct opportunities to pursue, and start responding. Our suggestion – start with a simple process.
- Do your research – follow the deals on FedBizOpps, read about government spending, talk to potential partners. Get involved early – you have almost nothing to lose by responding to a Sources Sought solicitation – if nothing else, it will help you tailor your message to government buyers.
- Choose wisely – First, if you are small business, look first at small business set asides, your chances of winning these are higher. Second, stay centered – there isn’t a need to stretch in most cases, look for the deals that fit your company.
- Respond – read the RFP, follow the rules, and above all, respond on time. For RFPs, if you don’t have time to prepare a reasonable response (quote) you probably are better off moving on to the next deal. If you’re involved early (and you WILL be, right?) ask questions before you respond. There isn’t any need to guess – if it’s unclear, ask.
Agencies to spend more on IT in 2010
Posted in: Blog, Business of Government, Government Contracting on October 6, 2009 | 1 Comment
The government research company INPUT announced at a webinar on Tuesday that information technology spending at civilian agencies should climb significantly next year, but much of the money will be spent renewing or replacing existing contracts.
The total value of the 20 largest federal IT projects in 2010 is 50 percent higher than the previous year, increasing from about $120 billion to $180 billion.
The majority (all but two) of the projects are contracts that will be re-competed (which is good if you are new to government contracting, especially if you are a small business) or are consolidations of existing pacts (which is good for you if you are a potential sub-contractor).
The best and largest example is the Homeland Security Department’s EAGLE II contract which will replace the EAGLE contract as DHS’ preferred vehicle for procuring IT services. This is a huge contract – INPUT expects DHS to award EAGLE II during the second quarter of fiscal 2010 with a ceiling of $45 billion. The original contract had about $2.8 billion in business during fiscal 2007 and $3.3 billion during fiscal 2008.
DHS is choosing to re-compete EAGLE II rather than exercising the original contract’s two option periods because many of the small business vendors originally awarded under EAGLE have outgrown their small business and disadvantaged designations.
Here’s the really good news if you are a small business that provides IT services: DHS is looking for a new set of small business vendors for EAGLE II. The contract will include separate tracks for different classes of vendors, including small businesses, service-disabled owned companies, 8(a) certified organizations, and firms located in HubZones.
If you want to know more about EAGLE II, you might read the recently posted (September 22nd) copy of the vendor day questions – (https://www.fbo.gov/utils/view?id=6a0edab4eb0b1e83a3f46ff0cced4b7d). In Bidspeed, search for DHSEAGLE2-UNRESTRICTED in the global search.
Why A Well-Defined Process Is Essential To Government Contracting Success
Posted in: Blog, Government Contracting on October 2, 2009 | 1 Comment
The dramatic downturn in the global economy and a change in government administration have created an unprecedented business environment for today’s government contractors. Whether you are just getting started or preparing for an increasingly competitive marketplace, it is critical for government contractors to have well-structured processes and technologies in place, especially when it comes to business development – that is, new business development.
Government contracting opportunities can seem so plentiful that the prospect can quickly become overwhelming. The federal government alone spends hundreds of billions a year in a normal year. After the stimulus plan passed, those numbers just got boosted by several hundred billion more.
Of course, to be successful in your government contracting effort, you are going to need to follow some sort of well-defined process. You still have to target the correct prospects (agencies) and qualify the correct leads.
We’re not saying that your process has to be a complex process, we’re just saying that you need one. It isn’t just us that’s saying this either, according to an article in Harvard Business Review (Understanding What Your Sales Manager is Up Against), using a standardized, well-defined, business development process increases a company’s ability to accurately target prospects by 20% and properly qualify leads 30%.
Truthfully, only the largest (and most successful) government contractors have invested in a “well-defined” process and a technology solution that helps their business development people follow the process. That doesn’t mean you have to be a large company or even a successful government contractor to have this magic of a “well-defined process.” Even small companies CAN be successful if they follow a few basic rules:
- Start now. Last month there were over 15,000 new federal opportunities submitted. These are real leads with a value greater than $25,000. The opportunity is there but you need to get started.
- Choose wisely. Easy to say, we know. You will not win using a shotgun approach. Read the RFP and decide if it makes sense. Keep track of who the contracting officer is and ask them questions. Keep track of the questions. Keep track of the answers.
- The “Hail Mary” approach does not work. You cannot paste together a bunch of company boilerplate, pick a price based on what you’d LIKE to be paid, and expect that the contracting officer will pick you because you know that you can do the job. You’ll have to invest a little time, simple as that.
- Find out why you didn’t win. So you didn’t get the contract? Ask why. Every. Single. Time. In fact, contracting officers are required to “de-brief” you on their selection. You’ll have to ask nicely but most of them are humans and are willing to fill you in. So ask. And, keep track of the answers.
- Write it down. That response document you just spent a week working on is valuable intellectual property. Keep it around – somewhere safe and where it’s easily shared. You should also keep exactly one copy – the FINAL one.
- Expand your thinking. Federal opportunities aren’t the only government contracting available. Every government entity – state, local, city, county, even local civic centers and libraries, have some sort of procurement process. Sure, it can be a little overwhelming to find this data, but it’s out there and once you have it, the process is exactly the same.
- Get some help. If you run your own small business then you are probably already smart, capable, and really, really busy. So take the help where you can. Our suggestion – start by using Bidspeed. Four reasons: One: it’s super simple. Two: it’s part of a “well-defined” process. Three: it’s cheap. Four: it works.
Recovery.gov launches
Posted in: Blog, Business of Government on September 29, 2009 | No Comments
For the last few months, the federal government’s stimulus-tracking Web site has been attacked by critics who argued that a private sector effort by Onvia called recovery.org has been doing a better job.
With a relaunch this week of the official www.recovery.gov site, the Feds are now competitive again. The new Web site features an easy-to-use map that lets you zoom in and click on green, blue, and pink dots that represent where contracts, grants, and loans from the $787 billion stimulus legislation are ending up.
One of the interesting things to note is that grants spending is more than 11 times greater than contracts spending. As of September 19th, there has been $12 billion in contracts and over $141 billion in loans, all directly from recovery funds. The spending isn’t slowing down either. There have also been over 17,000 new solicitations posted in the last 30 days alone.
Bidspeed Official Launch
Posted in: Blog, News on September 28, 2009 | No Comments
Costa Mesa, CA – September 29, 2009– NetQuarry, netquarry.com, the leading enterprise development platform for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, has launched Bidspeed, fedbidspeed.com, the first web-based opportunity management system directly integrated with FedBizOpps, the Federal Government’s official procurement site for all contract opportunities over $25,000.
According to company President and Co-founder Ryan Reid, “Bidspeed is specifically designed to help small and medium-sized companies bid on and win government contracts. There will never be a better time than now to sell your product or service to the US Government, and BidSpeed improves your chances of winning the contracts.”
“Bidspeed helps your entire company collaborate on the bidding process in real time via a streamlined, efficient, web-based software tool,” adds Cam Woods, COO and co-founder of Bidspeed.
Woods explains, “BidSpeed helps companies manage the avalanche of information: so many opportunities but so many people, phone calls, emails, notes, documents, follow-ups and tasks. What IS this opportunity again? Who are the responsible contracting officers? What did we last talk about? Who else is working on this? What’s next? Bidspeed keeps track of it all.”
About Bidspeed:
Bidspeed is an easy to use web-based opportunity management system integrated with FedBizOpps and specifically designed for winning government contracts.
About NetQuarry:
NetQuarry is the leading SaaS infrastructure platform based on Microsoft .NET. NetQuarry helps developers build secure, highly scalable SaaS applications in less time with significantly lower risk. Since 2005, NetQuarry-powered web applications currently service hundreds of thousands of users worldwide.
For more information on obtaining a free trial subscription to Bidspeed or for a live demonstration of the NetQuarry SaaS development platform, visit www.fedbidspeed.com or www.netquarry.com.
House adopts stopgap spending measure
Posted in: Blog, Business of Government on | No Comments
The House adopted a stopgap measure Friday, Sept. 25, that will keep government agencies funded through the end of October and buy Congress time to finish its annual spending work.
The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but Congress has not yet cleared any of the fiscal 2010 appropriations bills. The legislation passed Friday — known as a continuing resolution (CR) — would prevent a government shutdown. The CR, which will last through Oct. 31, was added to the conference agreement on the fiscal 2010 Legislative Branch spending bill.
The conference report was adopted on a 217-190 vote. The Senate probably will take up the legislation Sept. 29.
The bill also would prevent the nation’s highway programs from expiring, and it would free up funds for the Postal Service by lowering the payment it must make into a trust fund intended for future retiree health benefits, to $1.4 billion from $5.4 billion in fiscal 2009.
Republicans were critical of Democrats’ decision to include the CR in the Legislative Branch bill because it prevents them from being able to offer amendments to the stopgap bill.
They also seized on the somewhat ironic fact that the first fiscal 2010 spending bill to be enacted will be the one funding Congress’ own budget while the rest of the government is still waiting for its funding.
Bidspeed Partner Program
Posted in: Blog, News on September 4, 2009 | No Comments
If you currently consult with companies that are selling or trying to sell to the Federal Government then you should consider a Bidspeed partnership.
Bidspeed (www.fedbidspeed.com) is an opportunity management system that is directly integrated with FedBizOpps. Its web-based software that puts a simple process around finding, managing, and winning government deals. A process that your customers can benefit from.
If your customers use FedBizOpps then your customers need Bidspeed. It helps manage and win government deals.
Here’s how it works:
- We provide you with a referral code that you can give to your customers or use on your website.
- When your customer signs up using the referral code they receive a discount.
- After your customer makes their first payment (there is a 30-day free trial), you start making money. We share a percentage of the entire first year’s revenue with you.
If you have any questions please contact us at 877.663.9043 or send us an email at partnership@fedbidspeed.com
Filtering your Opportunities
Posted in: Blog, Help, Using Bidspeed on August 29, 2009 | 9 Comments
The Bidspeed application provides simple and flexible filtering capabilities.
The quickest way to get started is to watch a video:
Most of the time, you’ll be looking for Active Opportunities that are posted to your “main” classification code.
For example, if you are in the “Lease or rental of facilities” business, the most effective search is to add a “Class Code” filter of your classification code. (You can click on the filter funnel (
) in the Class Code field to see a list of available codes.)
Here’s what it looks like:
To toggle the filter so that you see only Active opportunities, simply click on the Filters button (at the top of the page), and check ‘Active Opportunities Only.’ (Active opportunities have not been archived.)
To apply the filter, click the little ‘Apply’ button (
) at the top left corner of the list or press ‘Enter.’
You can also add more fields to the list – either to refine your filter or to see more columns – by clicking on the ‘Customize’ button (at the top of the page) and selecting ‘More Fields.’ The fields will be added with a little red ‘x’ on the top left corner that will allow you remove the column if you no longer want it in the list.
Here’s what it looks like:
Click on the filter funnel in a field () and you will get a list of options for even further filtering. Many fields support multiple selection – for example, the ‘Type’ field (add it using the Customize, More Fields menu item) allows you to select multiple opportunity types.
Here’s what it looks like:
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or ideas about filtering or anything in the application, we love to hear from you.
What’s New – August
Posted in: Blog, What's New on August 20, 2009 | No Comments
We’re frantically trying to get new features into each release – here’s a few notable ones:
- Email integration – you can send email now from the contact list or contact detail. Email that you send is logged to a note on a contact.
- Search – we’re always trying to improve this, but we’ve made it a bit more friendly to those crazy solicitation numbers (things like W912PB-09-T-0341).
- Outlook integration – from a contact click on the Outlook button and we’ll generate a vCard – very handy.
- Create your own opportunities – so the deal you’re working on ISN’T in FedBizOpps? No problem. From the Home page click ‘Create a new Opportunity’ and fill out the information.
It’s a new product, and we’re dedicated to making it work the way you want it to, really, so you’ll have to keep those comments / requests coming.