| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
|
|
How to Get Started As A Government Contractor
Becoming a contractor or sub-contractor for the U.S. government can bring in lucrative, on-going revenue to your small business. But doing business with the government is very different than typical business-to-business selling. For example, sales cycles can be much slower. There is a specific process that must be followed, and you'll face stiff competition from larger companies with more experience. In fact, the process can seem overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out. You need to be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort before you start bringing in large contracts. So how do you get your foot in the door, start bringing in money NOW and cut down on your learning curve? Start by selling to locally. Municipal agencies in your city, town or county government, such as water and sewer commissions, parking bureaus or even boards of education - regularly do business with small, local companies. How to Get Started: Who is your ideal client? Make a list of your local government agencies. Which ones might be interested in your product or services? Target the top two or three agencies that you think will be the most likely to need your products or services. Don't try to be all things to all people. Find out what their needs are: Go to your local library and read the newspaper archives. Attend a couple of city council meetings. What are the issues they are faced with? What actions are they taking? How can your products or services help them to solve their problems? Knowing what their problems are and having an instant solution can go a long ways in getting you the contract. Find out who you need to see: Find out who is responsible for creating the RFPs for the agency. Who is in charge of purchasing? How do they prefer to be contacted? Get as much information as you can about the process as well. Determine your Price. Remember that local agencies are usually required to get three bids and take the lowest one, so they can show that they're not wasting taxpayer's money. But?before you lowball yourself into losing money on the deal, carefully look at each aspect of your bid. Make sure that you can live with the amount you bid, because once accepted, it's very difficult to make changes later. Create your marketing strategy: Figure out your "who" "what" "when" "how". Set up face-to-face meetings when possible. Bring information such as brochures and catalogs with you. Because government agencies base most of their purchasing decisions on short-term expenditures, not long-term value, you may need to adjust your sales strategy accordingly. Make Contact: When you make the initial phone call, use the knowledge you've already collected about the agency to get an appointment. You also want to know what is their process for making purchases? Do they have registration requirements? What are they? What information do they need before they make a decision? First Meeting: Your objective here is to LISTEN to your prospective client. What does she/he think are their most immediate problems and pressing needs? (From the research you've done, you should already have a general idea of what they're looking for, and what their needs are. Now is your opportunity to get the "inside scoop.") Ask intelligent questions, and give basic information about your company, your abilities and your products or services. Just remember - this meeting isn't about You, it's about THEM! Make sure you ask any questions you've still got about the application process, and what you need to do in order to put in a bid. Leave the information with your prospective client, and tell them what you will do next. If you set a time to follow up, DO It. If not, you're going to follow up anyway, but more about that in a minute. Follow-up: After the meeting, put together a plan of action. Create at least three solutions to your prospective client's problems, but make it something unique that can only be done by your company. If you sell a product, perhaps you could provide a free training workshop, to get users up to speed more quickly and efficiently. If you provide a service, offer an additional incentive, or extra component that either solves another problem or provides added value and benefit to the client. Then get the information to the person you saw. For example, you could send a simple letter?"Dear Fred, Thanks for meeting with me last Friday. After we talked, I started thinking about what you said about ?, and came up with ?" Don't be afraid of giving him your best ideas. You want him to understand that you can solve his problems. You don't need to go into details about "how" you'll accomplish it. Just let him know that you can. Make sure that you follow the application process completely, and turn it in before the deadline. Network, network, network: Don't stop now. Who else do you know who can help champion your cause? Who is your local city council person? Other elected representatives? You don't have to be a major contributor to ask your representative for assistance. Most politicians are more than happy to help local businesses succeed. Getting the word out about who you are and what you can do is just good business. Talk to your local chamber of commerce, or small business development center. Be professional: Above all else, you want to project an attitude of competence and professionalism. Go the extra mile. Make sure that your client is more than satisfied by doing business with you. And once you've got one government client, it will be easier to convince other agencies to do business with you. Microenterprise Answers for your Personal Success (MAPS) provides information about the resources small business owners need. Cheryl Antier is the President and CEO of Dream Weaver Enterprises, a business and fundraising consulting company that helps small business owners by them consistently find the funding, training or technical assistance they need to "weave their dreams into reality." If you're a small business owner who needs answers now, visit http://www.microenterprisesuccess.com Sign up for "Directions" a free monthly ezine that does all the research for you -- get insider information about where to find a small business grant, access the technical assistance or training you need to succeed.
MORE RESOURCES:
Small-Business - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Franchising Companies Relationship Strategies Franchising Corporations need to maintain an iron fist when it comes to certain things in order to maintain absolute integrity of the system; Consistency, Quality, Cleanliness and Customer Courtesy or Service. Ray Kroc in his book; "Grinding it Out" made that point perfectly clear, some called him a hard ass on the details and indeed it served him well and turned 11,000 franchisees into millionaires along with some 1500 executives early on. Franchisee; Vacation Managing Do you own a franchised business? Over 400,000 franchised businesses currently operate in the United States, which is a true testament of free enterprise. There are many advantages of franchised businesses, which anyone who owns a small business has thought about. Quality Controls for Franchising Companies Sample Outline Quality control in franchising companies is paramount and all franchising companies must have strict guidelines to insure consistency. To insure this takes place throughout your franchise system you must make this a policy in your confidential operations manual. Corporate Shells A corporate shell could be liken to a house that had been occupied by a family, prior to the family moving out it was a home. But now it is just shell, a skeleton a plain house with nobody in it, but if a family was to purchase the house and moves in, it becomes a home. Accounting Methods - Cash and Accrual When starting a business, you have to determine the method you are going to use for accounting and paying taxes. The two choices are the cash method and the accrual method. What Is YOUR Value Proposition? Every company has a value proposition. That is a statement of their perceived value to their clients. The Step Zero Effect The key to organizational focus and helping those who need what you do is knowing, precisely, what you do well -- and what you don't do well.Once there was a semiconductor company in financial trouble. Small Business Secrets: Self-Confidence Can Be Arranged At first blush this idea might be difficult to wrap your brain around. That's because you've been taught that self-confidence is achieved through mastery of knowledge or skills. Finding the Right Virtual Assistant for Your Small Business Articles abound advising the business community how to properly screen when looking for a Virtual Assistant (VA). Unfortunately, some of the advice may lead you astray, as it often ignores the fact that VAs are not employees but independent contractors providing professional business to business (B2B) services. Business Scents - Do They Work? You see it often in large shopping complexes. Customers seem to be flocking to a certain stall in large droves. Pressure Washing and Hospital Accounts Most pressure washing companies never look into some of the best niche markets. One, which you may not have thought about is Hospitals and if you run a pressure washing company it can mean good steady income. Who Makes the BEST Business Partner How do you find the best business partners?Finding a good business partner (outside partner, such as an alliance) requires an amount of due diligence. This simply means you will need to look at all aspects of the other person's business and sometimes a bit of their personal life. Truck Detailing Shop Business Case Study As an entrepreneur you can learn a lot by following the real life case studies of other entrepreneurs. Often the text books in school leave out the beginning details and the juicy part of how it all comes together and is created out of nothing but a thought. 10 Best Practices to Consider as Your SBIR Negotations Approach Contract Signature 10 Best Practices to consider as your SBIR negotiations approach contract signature:1. Draft your confirmation of negotiations, be sure to memorialize that this is an SBIR type contract along with the applicable data rights and SBIR related terms and conditions. Growing Your Small Business Through Alliances and Joint Ventures -- Beyond Cold Calling, "Warm" Calling and Sending E-mails --Many Solo Entrepreneurs work from a home office. Our only connections to the outside world are the internet / e-mail and the telephone. 5 Small Business Management Questions to Help Choose Marketing Programs As small business managers, we juggle limited resources in a quest for success. To an extent, when we focus on success in one area we forego attention elsewhere. WARNING to Home Based and Small Business Who Want to Buy Television Cable Advertising Most small businesses will not even try to advertise on television. It's too expensive and the audience is too broad. Self Serve Car Washes in the United States In the 2003 Auto Laundry News Survey it was determined that only 10% of the Coin-op Car Washes had a web site. So if you are doing lots of individual research on car washes that are self serve, do not expect to find a lot of data on the Internet. Restaurant Operators - What Skills do you Need A tongue-in-cheek look at the skills required to operate a restaurant but?on he whole they come pretty close to the truth.People Skills, You need to be good with people, because you will have different customers almost every day, you will have repeat customers who have higher expectations, a high-maintenance shift-based staff to manage, suppliers who won't always meet your expectations or time frames and creditors who want their money now. Small Business Franchise Opportunities Many businesses offer small business franchise opportunities. There are many things that are needed for a small business of this kind, but the rewards are great.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
