Federal Contracting Made Easy's Podcast

Remember the government’s goal is to ensure effective and efficient expenditure of public funds. They also want fair and expeditious resolution of protests to a solicitation or award on government contracts. As a result of these goals the government wants to reduce the number of cases that go outside the agency. Therefore, the government regulation was written to direct that prior to submission of a protest the contracting agency, and all parties use their best efforts to resolve the concerns with the agency contracting officers through open and frank discussions. What happens when you cannot resolve the problems at this level? Well, you the contractor, can submit a protest to the agency. As a result of the protest, the agency must provide for inexpensive, informal, procedurally simple, and expeditious resolution of protest and to use, where appropriate, alternative dispute resolution techniques, third-party neutrals, or even another agency’s personnel.

  Welcome to the wonderful world of Federal Contracting Made Easy. It is our job to take the complex world of government contracting and break it into simple steps that anyone can master. We are on episode number 99 and today’s topic is on “All About Protests?” But before we get started in today’s topic let’s roll that intro. Welcome Back Before we get started today, I wanted to talk about a new opportunity for my viewers. Federal Contracting Made Easy is now on Patreon. Patreon allows viewers of our blog, podcast and YouTube channel the opportunity to join our community. This means that you will have access to Patreon only videos and our blog. I will be posting topics information such as Agency’s Open Houses, Changes affecting contracting, Regulatory Changes, and much more. Depending on the level of membership you may have your name mentioned on our videos and an opportunity to meet with me as a group and ask those pressing questions. Don’t wait. Stop this video now and go to http://bit.ly/FCMEPatreon now. I

  FCME uploads new episodes every Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. MST. Topics include proposal writing, bonds, types of contracts, why do business with the federal government, 8(a), business services for veterans and women, where federal opportunities are listed, and more. You can listen to the podcast here or with your favorite podcast provider (iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or Stitcher). FCME is also active on social media and launched the Federal Contracting Made Easy YouTube channel on January 1, 2019.   Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube   October 4, 2019 Episode #098 Support our channel: Continued support: http://bit.ly/FCMEPatreon One-Time support: http://bit.ly/2lYw4ZIBreach of Contract We would be remiss if we did not mention Breach of Contract during our articles on contract terminations. In a Breach of Contract by the government recoverable costs (damages) may include monetary costs such as forecasted profits, overhead, and damages for time lost or otherwise needed to perform the work required

  FCME uploads new episodes every Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. MST. Topics include proposal writing, bonds, types of contracts, why do business with the federal government, 8(a), business services for veterans and women, where federal opportunities are listed, and more. You can listen to the podcast here or with your favorite podcast provider (iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or Stitcher). FCME is also active on social media and launched the Federal Contracting Made Easy YouTube channel on January 1, 2019.   Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube   Friday September 27, 2019 Episode #097 Termination for Default (T4D) - Contractor Edition Government Will Protect Itself Remember, that the Government is going to protect itself first and foremost. So, they will insert clauses that provide them with an option if the contractor does not perform the work or provide the services within the time frame specified. Also, if the contractor does not use the correct materials or refuses or fails to perform the work as requir

Friday September 20, 2019 Episode #096 Termination for Convenience. Those three little words are something that no contractor wants to hear. After all, who wants the government to seek termination actions on their contract. But let's be honest, it does happen. Contract terminations can happen at any time. Sometimes the contractor is at fault and sometimes the contractor is not at fault. Our goal for today’s episode is to educate you on the procedures that transpire when the government terminates a contract. In addition, we will go over the resources available to both parties (government and contractor). Remember the better educated you are the better business decisions you can make. Up next, we will go over the contract termination options used by the government. Types of Contract Terminations There are three types of contract terminations available to the government. The first called Terminate for Convenience otherwise known as T4C. The second called Termination for Default otherwise known as T4D. The third

Friday September 13, 2019 Changes in Government Contracting That You Need to Know About.   Welcome to the wonderful world of “Federal Contracting Made Easy”, where we take the complex world of government contracting and break it into simple steps that anyone can master.  Today, we are celebrating our 95th episode and to mark the occasion we will be discussing some changes that GSA is implementing that will impact you!!!.  BUT before we get started let’s roll that into.   Welcome Back   The General Service Administration (GSA) oversees many acquisition and awards processes websites.  They are moving 10 of these online websites into one massive website.  This site will become the official U.S. Government website for people who make, receive and manage federal awards according to GSA.  New site will be called beta.sam.gov.   The following sites will be migrating over to beta.sam.gov: SAM, Federal Assistance (CFDA), Wage Determinations (WDOL), Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), Federal Business Opportunities

A Surprising Tool to Help You with Your Contract Performance   Welcome to the wonderful world of Federal Contracting Made Easy.  Where we take the complex world of government contracting and break it into simple steps that anyone can master.  This is episode number 94 and today we are going to discuss a tool to assist you in performing your contract.  But before we get started let’s roll that intro.   Welcome back.   Introduction   Up to this point you have been selling the government that your business can perform this contract.  Guess what?  Now, you must demonstrate your capabilities.   We cannot cover every situation that might be involved in any contract, but we can offer you a checklist of actions you need to take immediately upon receiving the contract.  The items on the checklist may seem obvious to you, but most companies get into trouble simply because they fail to do the obvious.   Contract Performance Checklist   Reread the Contract. You need to reread the provisions of the contract.  In fact, y

The Ultimate Guide To The PREAWARD SURVEY     Welcome to the wonderful world of Federal Contracting Made Easy.  We are on episode number 93 and today’s topic is on preparing for the preaward survey.  But before we get started let’s roll that intro.   Welcome Back.   We have walked you through the bid process and through the evaluation process.  Now we are going to discuss the pre-award survey.   Recap   The government is responsible for evaluating a bid to determine, first and foremost the responsiveness of an offer to the solicitation.  Yes, this is a technical process and consists of checking all the paperwork.  They will also be making sure the proposal does not contain unacceptable deviations.  Lastly the government must decide whether the proposed winner is responsible and capable enough to handle the contract.   What is a Pre-Award Survey?   To assist with the determination, the government may perform a Pre-Award Survey, otherwise known as a PAS.  How in-depth is the pre-award survey?  Well, the survey

Welcome to our channel Federal Contracting Made Easy a division of Byerly Enterprises. We are federal contracting experts and can assist you in your government contracting needs. We specialize in helping small businesses with their government contracting journey.   Today we will be discussing what happens after you have written your proposal. Early episodes we discussed how to write a proposal, invitation for bid (ifb), request for quote (RFQ), and request for Proposal (RFP). Beef up your proposal writing skills by listening and watching our videos. We are your government contracting "how to" expert. Learn our proposal writing tips and tricks.   Remember to subscribe, comment and smash that "LIKE" Button.

    Final Proposal Checklist Congratulations on arriving at your last step in the proposal writing process.  At the present time, you have finished writing your proposal. There are multiple ways that you can submit your bid.  Some of them are U.S. Mail, UPS, FedEx or hand deliver to name a few.  Remember, the U.S. Post Office is the only carrier that the government will recognize for consideration of a late bid.  As a matter of fact, you may want to remember the USPS when determining your bid submission method. Before we submit our proposal there is one more thing that we need to do. That is, we must review our proposal. That is today's objective. We need a process in place to ensure that we have met the requirements in the solicitation and have provided the best response to the solicitation. Next, we will review questions that should be considered when developing our proposal checklist. Final Proposal Checklist We need to develop a process to review our proposals prior to submitting them to the government. T

Last week we discussed Part One of our steps for writing a bid on a Request For Proposal.  This week we are going to discuss a ton of tips to assist you. Proposal Writing Tips Most important, your proposal needs to address the government's requirements, be written clearly, and be persuasive.  Below we will discuss our suggested writing tips.  Please feel free to use them as you see fit. The Proposal Is a Sales Document. Write your proposal like a sales document. Your bid must sell your company's ability to meet the requirements, to fulfill all the stated conditions, and to deliver on time.  Be specific and direct. Don't be vague as this will demonstrate that you do not understand the requirement and create questions in the minds of the evaluators.  Substantiate your promises and assertions with facts and details.  Remember your goal is to persuade evaluators that your offer is superior to those of competing companies and to prove that your company can do the job. Demonstrate your understanding of the governme

  FCME uploads new episodes every Monday & Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. MST. Topics include proposal writing, bonds, types of contracts, why do business with the federal government, 8(a), business services for veterans and women, where federal opportunities are listed, and more. You can listen to the podcast here or with your favorite podcast provider (iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or Stitcher). FCME is also active on social media and launched the Federal Contracting Made Easy YouTube channel on January 1, 2019.   Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube   Last week we walked through how to write an Invitation to Bid. Today, we are going to concentrate our discussion to the Request for Proposal (RFP). We will however be mentioning the Request for Quote (RFQ). An IFB your proposal consists of filling out the forms provided by the government. However, RFP and RFQ are different. Sooner or later you are going to want to bid on a Request For Proposal. To find all requirements over $25,000, click here. What is

  FCME uploads new episodes every Monday & Friday morning at 6:00 a.m. MST. Topics include proposal writing, bonds, types of contracts, why do business with the federal government, 8(a), business services for veterans and women, where federal opportunities are listed, and more. You can listen to the podcast here or with your favorite podcast provider (iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or Stitcher). FCME is also active on social media and launched the Federal Contracting Made Easy YouTube channel on January 1, 2019.   Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube   “How To Write Your Invitation to Bid (IFB) Proposal. Welcome to the Wonderful world of Federal Contracting Made Easy. It is our goal to take the complex world of Government Contracting and break it into simple steps that anyone can follow. This is episode number 88 and today we are going to discuss “How To Write Your Invitation to Bid (IFB) Proposal. Last week we discussed pricing your proposal. This week we are going to talk about writing the proposal

Hello and welcome to Federal Contracting Made Easy, I am your host Nancy.  Today we are on episode number 87 and will be discussing “ It's All About (The) PRICING SERVICES GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING”. This is not an easy task and took me a day to do all the calculations.  (It would have gone faster but those darn interruptions.) DISCLAIMER. "I wanted to take a moment and tell you that I am not a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and you should always consult with your accountant and have them help you compute your service pricing. If you do not have an accountant you can find one here." Recently, a comment was left on my YouTube Channel (Federal Contracting Made Easy) asking me to walk through pricing services.    We did just that based on my knowledge.  Step one is to determine our hourly overhead expense. Hourly Overhead Expense + Hourly Wage + Profit = Total Price Per Hour Well, that seems simple enough! We first must figure out our hourly overhead expenses.  Next,  we need to break it down by the parts.  Hour

How to Write a Proposal – Pricing The best advice that we can give to you is to be as competitive on your pricing as possible.  There are too many ways to price a product or service.  I am not going to provide you with a ton of insight into this, but I will provide sound guidance.  I can tell you that the old stories of the government buying toilet seats for $200 and $300 hammers are simply that – old news.  In today’s age, you had best sharpen your pencils and be as competitive as possible. Next, we will be discussing common pricing factors to consider. Common Pricing Factors Make sure when pricing your product or service that you cover all your costs and protect your profit.  Here are things to consider when determining your price: Pricing History – For pricing information on previous products, you may be able to obtain pricing from Block 10 of FS Form 33. That is if that form was used.  If not, contact your local PTAC and ask them to research for you.  They will be able to provide you with a report for an

Episode #85. How to Write a Proposal – Technical Data  #proposal writing #government contracting Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of government contracting.  We are on episode number 85 and today we are going to talk about How to Write a Proposal – Technical Data.  But before we get started let’s roll that intro.   Welcome Back!  Now that you have reviewed and understand the contents of the solicitation package, it’s time to start gathering the required information needed to complete our proposal package.  This includes the technical data need to put into our proposal.   What is Technical Data?   Technical data is comprised of the specifications and standards, such as engineering design and manufacturing documents, drawings that describe the requirements for the material, product or service.  It also includes the criteria for determining whether those requirements have been met.   Under federal regulations the specifications cover only the government’s minimum needs in a manner to encourage maximum pr

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of government contracting.  I am your host, Nancy, and today we will be going over "How To Read a Bid?"  Can you believe it?  We are already on episode number 84.  But before we get started let's roll that intro. Introduction We left off on our last episode with you reading the solicitation multiple times. But before we go on let's review where the government posts its solicitations.  Remember the Federal Business Opportunities website is where the government lists all bids over $25,000.  The only exception to this is the Federal Aviation Administration.  The purpose of reading the solicitation was to make sure that you thoroughly understood what the government is wanting to accomplish.  You may have highlighted certain items in order to draw attention to them later.  Now you can begin to break down the solicitation. We have broken this down into the following five steps. Step 1 The first and most important sections that you should read together are Supplies or Service

Listen to Nancy as she walks you through the proposal writing process for IFB, RFQ, RFP and other types of contracts.

We are taking two-weeks off our production schedule and changing our release days to Fridays.

Today, we will be talking about “Contract Types and Contract Clauses.”   When preparing to respond to government contracting bids, you need to be sure that the requirement fits your business model.  There is no point in spending resources working on a proposal when your chances of winning are slim. This is going to be a multipart series, so make sure that you subscribe. When you subscribe to our channel, you will be automatically notified when we release new episodes. The first step in the process is to review the solicitation and see if it is one that aligns with your business.  Next, we are going to download the solicitation package. Download the Contract Solicitation Package If you found the solicitation from one of the Government’s websites (i.e., FBO.GOV), the next step is to download the solicitation with all supporting documents.  You will be downing the solicitation package or bid package. Make sure that you double check the solicitation number before you start downloading the package from the website