Federal Contracting Made Easy's Podcast

Listen to Nancy as she explains in detail the eligibility requirements for the 8(a) Business Development Program.  This is part one of a four part series.

Ever feel like the chicken and the egg?  You need past performance but how do you get it if the government will not give you a try?  Like any other business, the government requires contractors to have past performance.  So how is a small business supposed to get experience to overcome this stumbling block? 6 Ways to Gain Past Performance Today, we are going to discuss 6 ways to gain past performance experience. By following the six techniques below you will be able to build your government past performance. 1.     Use relevant commercial experience in your proposal. The problem with past performance is the Government picks winners based on their track records and not necessarily the promises in the proposal.  This does make a lot of sense and is like the way the commercial arena selects their vendors.  This results in companies paying more attention to successful performance and customer satisfaction because they understand that their past performance evaluations will make or break a company. The problem wit

All government contractors need to understand the ostensible subcontractor rule and how SBA makes the determination.  This is especially true for new government contractors who lack past performance.  Even if a prime contractor is following the limitations on subcontracting, it does not mean that SBA cannot find affiliation between them.  Small business government contractors that rely too much on another business for subcontracting could raise concern for affiliation under the Ostensible Subcontractor Rule. What is Ostensible Subcontractor Rule? Ostensible contractor affiliate happens when a small business holds a prime contract, but a subcontractor ends up controlling the work.  SBA will review whether the subcontractor performed the primary and vital work of the contract.  If the subcontractor performs the primary and vital work on the contract, then SBA will deem that the small prime contractor is affiliated with the subcontractor based on the ostensible subcontractor rule.  The Ostensible subcontractor R

3/4/2019 Limitations on subcontracting for prime contractors is an important topic. Especially now that the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) are NOT in agreement. Let's get into this topic in more detail, shall we? Background In January 2013, the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) became law. This Act made major changes to the limitations on subcontracting. The law changes the way the government determined compliance with the limitations on subcontracting for prime contractors. By the way, limitations on subcontracting applies to service and supply contracts. The old way was formula based upon “cost of personnel” and “Cost of Manufacturing”, to formulas based on the amount paid by the government. Most importantly the 2013 NDAA allowed small primes to claim performance credit for “similarly situated entities.” In essence, this would make it easier for a small prime contractor to meet his self performance requirement. A prime contractor could use the

  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   054 How To Become a Government Subcontractor? Introduction Please help support our podcast by purchasing from our store. https://teespring.com/stores/federal-contracting-made-easy We all know that the government is the largest buyer of products and services in the world. The competition is fierce for prime contractors. As a result, there are companies that are building relationships with these prime contractors in hopes of receiving a subcontract. Many

I answered the  phone the other day and the gentleman on the other end of the line stated that he wanted to start a business.  I responded "Okay what type of business are you interested in?"  His response was "the one that sells the most to the Federal Government".  I have heard that response before.  In reality, he did not know what type of business he wanted,  he just wanted to sell to the world's largest purchaser of products and services. I then proceeded to tell the man that he needed to find something that he was passionate about doing before he decided to go into business. PASSION When one is passionate about their business they have the drive to work on their business day in and day out.  They are driven to put the time and effort into something and no longer think of it as work.  They are eager to get up in the morning and invest more time on their business.  In other words, they are excited to get to work and it is all that they can think about. Many small business owners started their businesses be

The Freedom of Information Act, otherwise known as FOIA, allows individuals to request federal agency records or information.  However, there are exceptions, nine in fact, and three special law enforcement record exclusions.  We will go through the list of exemptions and exclusions for your benefit.  Remember, the more educated you are, the better your FOIA requests will be.

When you meet someone for the first time, they instantly form an impression based upon your age, gender, race, height and weight. People will also judge you based on your body language. Do you look someone straight in the eye? Do you cross your arms? Do you stand up straight? Your total impressions are a combination of all these factors. So what does this have to do with 30 seconds to make an impression? Everything! Though you cannot change your age, gender, race, height or weight you can change the way you stand, whether or not you fold your arms or legs. Average Attention Span In business you need to capture the attention of everyone you meet within the first 30 seconds. Why within the first 30 seconds? That is the typical amount of time it takes to ride an elevator from the bottom floor to the top floor of the building. Thus this is where the name elevator speech or pitch came from. Add to this the fact that the average attention span of a human is between 8 to 20 seconds and you soon realize how important

  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   Episode 051 Small Businesses Don’t wait learn these contracting secrets now!!! In today's competitive Federal contracting market, it is necessary to take advantage of all opportunities available. In this second part series, we discuss our secret method using an Internet Search engine for finding opportunities that have not been released for proposal yet. Why is finding contracting opportunities prior to their release so important? Well, here are a few

  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   GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Today, we answer the public's questions on a variety of topics. -Subcontracting -Where to find prime contractors (SBA Subnet https://eweb1.sba.gov/subnet/client/dsp_Landing.cfm or USASpending usaspending.gov) -DCAA Audits -Contracting Trends -Support our channel. http://bit.ly/fcmeProducts

I cannot think of anyone that I know that loves to fire an employee but sometimes you just have to do it. The first thing that comes to mind is how to protect the business from a lawsuit. Even though most businesses are covered by at-will laws, which allow for firing of an employee for no reason. This language should be incorporated into your employment agreements, offering you another layer of protection. However this will not stop an employee from filing a lawsuit against you for wrongful termination. Even if the courts rule in your favor you are still left paying for the court and attorney fees. Consider the following guidelines when hiring employees and while employees are working for your company.   Probationary Period Consider a probationary period. It is difficult to determine an employee’s work style before they begin work so many companies institute a probationary period during which employees may be fired. This is a great time to determine if the employee is meeting your expectations, fits the com

  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   Episode #049 Contracting Secrets, Finding Opportunities Before Your Competitors, Part 1 Watch Part 1 of Contracting Secrets, where I walk you through the process of 1.) finding government agencies that can use your product or service, 2.) Show you where to find opportunities before your competitors. 3.) Show you where to find opportunities before on Fed Biz Ops. Stay Tune and Subscribe for the second part which is coming soon. *Support our channels (Po

    HIRING 1ST EMPLOYEE   You only hire an employee for two reasons: The employee can save you money. The employee can reduce your expenses. Before you hire your first employee make sure that you take the time to put things in place. Does your business have an Employer Identification number? (EIN) Do you have Worker’s Compensation Insurance? Post required Notices Job Safety and Health Protection Equal Employment Opportunity (Only if involved in Federal Contacting) Fair labor Standards Act Employee Eligibility Verification Setup record keeping Have you determined the first position that needs to be hired? Do you have a list of duties and assignments that needs to be fulfilled? Have you started to develop your employee handbook? Have you developed a Job Description for the position?  Daily Tasks Weekly Tasks Monthly Tasks Answering the Phones             Call and remind clients about upcoming appointments Issue Parking Passes Greet guests       FCME uploads new episodes ever

1 Feb 19          Top 5 Things To Do Now Government Is Reopened   Congress has created an Act called Fair Compensation For Low Wage Contractor Employees Act. I found information for this at www.vox.com   Breach Of Contract. It is advisable to review your contracts to see if the Government breached the contract.  If so, contact your attorney and come up with a game plan on how to proceed.   Bridge Contract – Don’t consider your contract over yet.  In some cases, the government may issue a bridge contract to cover the time until they can rebid the contract.   Do not start work until you receive from the Contracting Officer permission to do so.   Review contracts for continued costs accrued during the shutdown. You can get reimbursement for expenses.                  

The new buzzword is employee accountability. What does employee accountability mean? Basically, it is holding the employee accountable for the outcome of the work that they are performing. That sounds simple enough in theory but can be harder to implement. Human resources, employee accountability in the workplace.

  The 10 Most Common Mistakes Small Business Owners Make   The American Dream - starting and operating your own business.  I don't know of anyone that has not at one time or another thought about starting their own business.  Being one’s own boss, setting your own work hours and being responsible for your own destiny draws many people to start their own business.  Once the business is started is when one finds out how unprepared they really are. These mistakes are not listed in any order.  They are what I have found when consulting with small business owners.  How to Read Financial Statements I have interviewed over 50 small business owners and 49 of them stated that they lacked the knowledge to be able to read and comprehend their financial statements.  When asked what they look at on their Profit and Loss Statement most small business owners stated that they look three things: Total Revenue, Total Expenses and Net Profit.  However, they don't have a clue as to where these numbers come from in their accoun

When was the last time that you looked at your business goals? Today? Last week? Last month? Last Year? If it has been awhile, maybe it’s time that you dusted off those goals and refresh your mind on why you set those goals in the first place. Goal setting can be a very powerful technique for achieving specific outcomes if used correctly. So let’s give goal setting one more try.   goal settings, smart goals, goal setting for businesses, goal setting for personal development, how to set smart goals, goal setting tips, government contracting, federal contracting, smart goal, smart goal,

The Three Steps to Writing a Bid   Welcome to the wonderful world of government contracting.  We wish you all the best in 2019 and thank you for your continued support of our blog, podcast and YouTube channels.  Please remember to subscribe, click the notification bell, and hit the “Thumbs Up” button.  This is episode number 40 for our podcast and episode number 6 for our YouTube channel.   Today’s topic is on Three Steps to Writing a Bid. These simple steps will make the proposal process easier.  Just try it. Step One There are three steps to writing a bid.  The first step is analyzing the solicitation.  It is imperative to read and understand the solicitation requirements.  As this will help you determine whether to bid on the project. Once the decision to bid on a project is made the next step is to break down the solicitation.  We need to make sure that your proposal addresses all the requirements of the solicitation.  Remember the goal is to convince the buyers to award the contract to your company. Step

Here we go again. The Government has shut down again. This is at least the second time this year.   How does this impact my government contracts?  That all depends on what Agencies you have contracts with.  The Department of Defense (DoD) is partially funded.   So, depending on the whether the DoD activity is directly related to the warfighter will determine if the contract will continue or a stop order issued.  Let’s see the affected agencies, shall we?   Agencies Affected by the Shutdown?   The following are Agencies impacted by the Government shutdown.  Each agency will have to determine which employees are essential during the shutdown.  These employees will work for no pay while their coworkers are at home. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Health and Human Services (HHS) Justice Department S. Intelligent Agencies Department of Homeland security (90%) operational, only 10% Furloughed Department of the Interior (DOI) (Campgrounds, full-service restrooms and concession impacted) Department of Transportation

When working on your Business Development Strategy for Government Contracting it is vital to position yourself to win Government contracts.  There are many strategic ways to do this, especially if you are a Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).  Your status as a VOSB or SDVOSB is a great start for increasing your chances of winning contracts.