While I was not a Small Business Specialist during my Government career, I was the Technical Industrial Liaison Officer (TILO) for the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for a couple of years when they were stood up as a separate agency. (In fact, I was the first USSOCOM TILO, so that tells you how long ago it was!) I had both large and small businesses come in and talk with me about how they could do business with this brand new agency with its very own budget, and I can tell you I heard a lot of questions that just made me want to say “Goodbye!” to the company. More than one conversation went something like this with small businesses in particular:
- Hi, my company is AwesomeBiz.com! We want to sell you stuff! What does your agency buy the most? (Folks, I’m not kidding, I actually had more than one company say pretty much exactly that!)
My reply: OK, what does your company do?
- We can do anything! (Seriously?) Tell us what you need, and we’ll go find them and sell them to you!
My reply: Well, we purchase a variety of products and services that are unique to our agency. We currently have a $1 Billion contract for maintenance, repair, upgrade, and special services that we awarded last year. That’s our largest contract. It will be re-competed in about 3 years. If you look on our website we have considerable information up there about what we do, what we buy, and what we are planning to purchase in the next year. That might be a good starting point for you. How long have you been in business?
- Oh, we’re just starting our business and don’t have a contract yet, but we are sure we can do anything you want us to do! How can we get a sole source contract with your agency?
My reply: Well, if you are 8a certified (or possibly HUBZone or SDVOSB certified), and you provide a product or service that we are interested in that is unique to your company, then possibly we might be able to award a sole source contract. But truthfully, we rarely award a sole source contract. Even our 8a awards are competitively awarded.
- What’s an 8a program? I put the business in the wife’s name! How can I get her certified?
My response: You’ll need to talk to the SBA about that. Check out their website at www.sba.gov, and it will give you all of the details regarding how to apply, the forms to fill out, how the program works, and how to determine if you might qualify.
- Well, since we can do anything, how can we get a contract with your agency today?
My response: I would suggest that you take a look at our website and see what our agency is all about. See how your capabilities might meet our needs. Then, check out the Federal Business Opportunities website to see if your capabilities match some of the small business set asides for which we are currently running market surveys (e.g., Sources Sought, Requests for Information, or maybe a special notice). This might be a good starting point for you.
That’s an extreme case, but a very true story. When you go to see anyone in a government agency about doing business with them, BE PREPARED! Go to the agency’s website and read everything you can get your hands on. Go to www.USASpending.gov and see what that agency has been buying. Go to www.fbo.gov and check out what the agency has purchased recently and figure out in advance if what you offer is something they actually buy and would be interested in talking to you about. Don’t waste your time (and theirs!) showing up and asking questions that you can easily find the answers to yourself, before you go talk to not only the Small Business Specialist, but Government Program Managers, Contracting Officers, and requiring activities. Remember, it’s all about the customer!