There are about fourteen thousand businesses that have a GSA Schedule (MAS). Half of them do not ever successfully use this contract vehicle. They do not fail as a result of their industry or expertise. Why, then?
It is not uncommon for two businesses offering identical products and services, possessing similar educational qualifications, attending the same conferences, and holding identical state and federal certifications to experience different levels of success in securing government contracts. Can you explain why this might be the case?
These different experiences are the results of how a business applies what it learns. This is the reason that small businesses should consider teaming up to meet the technical and other capabilities for bidding for opportunities on new contract solicitations, and sales. I hope that this article will encourage your business to think progressively about teaming for opportunity.
Many small businesses will search for the capability of potential teaming mates at SAM.gov, USA Spending.gov, Small Business Administration’s dynamics small business search profile, at industry associations, APEX Accelerators, the Small Business Development Centers, or at professional network conferences or trade shows. It is probably a poor effort to search for a business teaming partner via Bid-match services, in Request for Quotes (RFQs), marketing or advertising magazines, on social media, or in government personnel directories.
When well done, teaming partners build stable, strong, and very competitive capability platforms for winning several Government contracts. The capability that a small business would seek can come from engaging in pre-acquisition meetings, Sources Sought, Request for Information (RFI) solicitations by Government Contract Officers, and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Program Managers at Government Agencies.
For opportunity of Definite Quantity Contracts, and Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts, small businesses could form a Partnership Agreement, Prime-Subcontractor, Joint Venture, Mentor-Protégé, Mentor/Protégé Joint Venture, or Contractor TM Arrangement team. The team could set up a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), teaming agreement (TA), joint venture agreement (JVA), CTA agreement (CTA), or sub-contracting agreement (SUBK).
It could be quite rewarding for small businesses to focus their acquisition prospect efforts on Positioning their Capability for Prospects (80%); searching for or working on teaming and partnerships (10%); Responding to sources Sought Solicitations (5%), and Prospecting for released RFPs (5%). However, general surveys show that most companies spend 5%, 10%, 5%, and 80%, respectively, on the same activities.
Developing your information and knowledge base will help a small business to differentiate itself, and present its competitive advantage when bidding for government contracts. Don’t end up falling into the trap of comments like, “They won’t call me back”, “We don’t have time to dedicate a resource to the proposal team”, “The Big Boys take care of themselves”, “We are just as good as the other companies that received work”. Don’t beg or look for hand-outs, just communicate your value well in your negotiations. Convey your market intelligence.
When building a relationship with other businesses, focus on clear articulation of the value of your product or services, and your relevant past performance in private or on government contracts. The first meeting should be about your small business bringing the opportunity to the potential partner. Bringing an opportunity to a Prime contractor without effectively communicating the value to them is a killer switch for the meeting. It could be beneficial, even if the small business can completely do the work on their own. Teaming agreements between large and small businesses could guarantee work. It is standard for Prime contracts to mandate work with other companies (small or large). When the opportunity arises, it is prudent to negotiate for access to specific “Task Areas (TA)” or “Product Categories”, rather than “guaranteed Dollars”. You should expect the requirement of exclusivity, with possible exception clauses. There is always the possibility of conflict and competition, with being on two or more teams in similar industries.
Generally, large businesses evaluate small businesses for potential teaming in five functional areas. The market acumen, back-office maturity, competencies, Quid-Pro-Quo, and Acquisition differentiators. The small business is expected to know the customer, be in a relevant geographical location, have strong interpersonal skills for business development, be proactive and not reactive, follow-up on promises made, have a reputation, competitive pricing, complimentary capabilities, niche capability, past performance history, common interest, identification of mutual opportunity, socioeconomic certification, size standard advantage, and complementary NAICS codes.
I will close this article by reminding the reader that the small business aiming to sell must differentiate its unique capability. Again, it is not what you sell, but market the value that you provide. Avoid being “just another company”.
Bamidele Omotowa, PhD, CPP
Sr Business Consultant
Idaho APEX Accelerator