Businesses seeking to develop or increase their participation in the government marketplace should not just look at small-business prime opportunities but also subcontracting opportunities with large business primes. The increase in IDIQ procurements and the emphasis on small business requirements opens many opportunities for small businesses to join a large business team. The competition is stiff so it’s important to lay out a strategy for setting yourself apart.
First, you have to find the opportunities and the large businesses. Obviously using the internet to locate new contract opportunities is the place to start. Attending conferences and trade shows will provide opportunities to meet potential prime customers. Government small business liaison offices can also be helpful. Even social media (for example, LinkedIn) can offer ways to “meet” potential teammates. Networking is very important because primes are not generally publicizing what opportunities they are pursuing.
The second challenge is how to demonstrate your company’s capabilities. Have you taken advantage of every small business category you qualify for? Does your profile in SAM (System for Award Management, www.sam.gov) reflect that? For example, you could be a Small Disadvantaged Business, Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned, Disabled Veteran-Owned AND HUBZone qualified. Make sure you have registered in all categories that apply to you. In certain market areas, HUBZone businesses are particularly difficult to find. If you are in a category like this, you will have more opportunities than small businesses who are not. Make sure your profile in SAM has all NAICS codes that apply to you and that your company website reflects your qualifications. I actually went to the company website of a small business who contacted me about joining a team and nowhere on their website did it mention that they were a Veteran-Owned business!
Once you have found opportunities, made contact with primes, and ensured that your SAM profile and company website reflect your qualifications, the next step is how to sell your qualifications to potential teams. Large companies seeking small business teammates are looking for partners who have good past performance, established business systems, and a positive reputation with the government (or at least a clean slate). Assemble documentation to demonstrate these things. If you have done work for past primes and they have not given you past performance reviews, ask for one for your files. Draft it yourself if necessary and ask them to review and approve. Collect kudos you have received for your employees or positive product reviews. This should all be part of your marketing portfolio.
Keep in mind that most large primes have small businesses they are used to working with. If you are trying to get on a team for the first time, you have to demonstrate your capabilities and performance using more than just “we have done this, we can do that”. If you are selling services, you should have data and statistics on the qualifications of your current staff, your recruiting resources, and how quickly you can find and fill requirements. Data like this can give you a leg up over current subcontractors with whom the prime’s experience has not been as good. A current subcontractor can’t make their numbers look any better than the prime knows they have been from experience. Make sure your data is complete and realistic. Remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Don’t overlook the importance of your back-office systems and processes. A large business prime wants a subcontractor who can provide timely and accurate invoices, turn around subcontract mods in a timely manner, and submit all required reports and data on time, in proper format and accurately.
Don’t forget to review all your FAR flow-downs carefully as many of them have reporting requirements that may not appear elsewhere in the subcontract. Keep records that demonstrate your compliance with all these requirements. The fact that you take the time to track those things demonstrates your understanding of their importance. A subcontractor who can’t do these routine things without being prodded, who nit-picks every word in a proposed Non-Disclosure Agreement, Teaming Agreement, or Subcontract, is not one a prime is going to want to work with.