How do I create and show value to GOVCON industry partners?
#002
In the inaugural edition of this newsletter, we discussed creating and maintaining professional and strategic partnerships within the GOVCON community and how to appropriately introduce your company. (Read it here)
Today, we discuss the age-old question of value. I often have small businesses approach me touting their set-aside as the only reason or discriminator to work with them or seeking to partner on an opportunity. At times, this is the initial engagement – “Hi, I’m so and so. My company is an 8(a) which aligns with your former set-aside.” While I appreciate the introduction to their set-aside, industry partners are generally interested in developing long-term partnerships where value is defined more than by a set-aside! First you need to build a relationship and let us know about your company’s specific or unique attributes.
Before I get to far - This week’s Small Business highlight is ASET Partners, Inc.
ASET Partners is an industry-leading provider of systems engineering and financial management solutions with vast experience in the intelligence community, specifically DIA and DHS. ASET is a Small Business Administration (SBA) certified HUBZone Small Business, ISO 9001 Certified and CMMI Level 3 v1.3DEV assessed. The company has several attributes that bring value to any team– they conduct outstanding opportunity capture, can write exceptional technical proposals, recruit TS//SCI polygraphed folks like crazy, and lastly are very easy to work with! If you are a job seeker, check out their career page.
Andreh Haftvani, Senior Vice President for Enterprise at WWC Global and I collaborated on the below points, about how small business can provide value. Drop him a follow, on LinkedIn!
I think we all can agree mid-size and Large Businesses (LB) have a solid foundation to build upon and a wealth of past performance under their belts. Additionally, they tend to have more resources at their disposal, which can translate into more manpower or technical solutions. Large businesses also typically have well-established systems in place, including processes, procedures, and policies.
Where do you create value for partners?
Large businesses may have agency specific past performance, but do they know the specific client being bid? Sure, they have the resources to reach a wide audience, but when it comes to specialization, do they understand the client’s unique operating process? This is where you can add value by providing effective capture or subject matter expertise to write a winning technical proposal. So, what's your specialty?
Large companies have big bucks, but they don't necessarily have the right people to execute specific business development, capture, proposal, pricing insights, recruiting or other necessary tasks needed to bid or execute a contract. That's where you come in - show 'em what you're made of by volunteering for those tough tasks that no one else wants to handle or the partner company needs assistance in. Your eagerness to help won't go unnoticed.
As mentioned above, larger firms tend to have additional overhead and G&A expenses than their smaller counterparts. While important, but not the only reason to partner - SBs can be a simple way to reduce costs and increase profitability on labor. Small businesses shouldn’t attempt to be the cheapest nor have bloated rates. Personally, I look for partners with center of the road rates which show me they care about employees through benefits (reduces turnover) and provides adequate corporate capabilities to facilitate growth.
Do you have a software or hardware solution? There are amazing individuals and small businesses out there who provide a solution that other large businesses do not. This discriminator can lead to partnership opportunities, technical writing insights, or even a unique staffing capability. A friend of mine stood up a software company in 2017. He was working in the intelligence community (IC), with a desire to create technology because he observed a gap within collection. Partnering with a software SME, they created a small business that provided both a unique software solution and cleared onsite FSRs to enhance their IC customers insights. The individual leveraged their network to seek customer meetings while eventually getting direct awards or added to subcontracts to provide this software and services to both government and commercial clients. Due to their specific customers, other firms would come to them seeking to partner on new opportunities, enabling steady growth.
As businesses grow, they tend to become less agile as their personnel increase and the organization develops structured processes and policies. But sometimes, the rigid system they’ve built can become slow and unresponsive. As an agile and flexible SB, you can step in and help them achieve the results they need. Be their go-to partner for nimble problem solving, quickly staffing, or quickly identifying key personnel for an opportunity.
To be a successful partner, it's important to be kind, respectful, and reliable. Think of yourself as part of a team and make sure you're someone others want to work with and trust to meet deadlines. Avoid being arrogant or pushy, and always be on time. Being an agreeable person or company can go a long way in getting invited to future projects. But, don't simply rely on these chances - focus on turning them into more opportunities by establishing meaningful connections.
So, here's the deal. This is not something that happens overnight.
This takes time and patience, so make sure you set your expectations appropriately. I had a mentor one time who told me that it took him 18 years to become lucky overnight. He spent 18 years building his reputation and his firm, then overnight he won a major contract, and everyone came out of the woodwork and told him how "lucky" he'd gotten. Luck is simply the intersection of preparation and timing.
The last thing you want is for people to completely forget about you. You could be doing all the right things and still be out of sight, out of mind. That's why it's super important to consistently stay in touch and make sure you're staying on their radar (without being too pushy, of course). The key is to stay at the front of their minds, always. Review the newsletter from last week for more tips on this.
None of this is easy, but it is very simple. Be useful, professional, be easy to work with, and stay in touch.
***Disclaimer***
GOVCON Hustle is a publication of Stolle Group, Inc. Stolle Group, Inc. bears no responsibility or liability for the frequency of provision and accuracy of the GOVCON Hustle newsletter or any use made of the GOVCON Hustle newsletter information by the subscriber, whether or not arising from the negligence of any of GOVCON Hustle newsletter or the authors. Please take all steps necessary to ascertain that information you receive from Stolle Group, Inc or the GOVCON Hustle newsletter is correct and has been verified.
The past performance represented is historical and is not a reliable indicator of future results. Clients may be unpredictable and have ever-changing results and outcomes based on known or unknown factors.
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