I have had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the National Veteran Small Business Conference for several years. My company is a Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) certified service-disabled veteran-owned small business that is not located particularly close to any major government activity. Over the years, I have used the conference to help evolve and refine my company’s government business strategy. The VA has asked me to blog about my experiences and I’m pleased to share what I hope are valuable insights.  Here are a few things I have learned at the conference that have helped me in my business:

The New Business Owner (or How Not To Seem Like the Proverbial Deer in the Headlights)

If this sounds like you or your company, then this conference – I’m going to refer to it as the National Veteran Small Business Conference (NVSBC) from now on – is a great place for you to meet many subject matter experts and understand what it takes to be competitive in the government contract landscape.

However, the NVSBC is NOT a place where you’re going to win government contracts just because you attended. Rarely does this happen.  The conference, especially for first time attendees, is the first step in the journey to becoming a successful government contractor.

To maximize the value of attending, there are several things I would suggest you do before you write the check for your conference registration.

Determine and Be Able to Articulate What Makes Your Company Special

“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky

This step is where most of the new business owners I meet fall short. Telling others that you’re an “Information Technology (IT) services” or an “architecture” company does nothing to tell people what you do. s. It does nothing to distinguish and differentiate your company from the thousands of others that are in your field. Your pitch must be distinctive and pithy. People will make decisions about you – and therefore, by proxy, your company – within the first sentence or two that you say. They are key and critical and you must identify your point of distinction immediately. You are new. You cannot be everything to everybody. Specialize. Narrow. Focus. The more niche your product or service is, the more you can distinguish yourself from others, and the more likely it is that what you do offer will be of value to a potential user of your services.

Ours is in a constant and consistent state of refinement, so it is by no means perfect – please suggest improvements to us! The purpose it does serve is to firstly narrow down what we do and secondly establish our expertise in our field.

OpenSource Connections specializes in the Solr and Lucene open source search engine. OSC Principal Eric Pugh co-authored the book Solr 1.4 Enterprise Search Server, the only published book on Solr.

Build Your Company First

“Get rich slowly.” – J.D. Roth

Sales are the engine that runs any company. Certainly, your company must deliver what it sells, but if it sells nothing, then there are no delivery problems because there’s no work to do. As a fledgling company, this event is a financial investment for the cost of travel and your time to attend.

The large majority of people with whom I have spoken over the years tell a similar tale: “I came from [geographic location far, far away from the conference] and we’re a brand new company and I’m trying to figure out government contracting.” Unless your company offers something specific which only the U.S. government in offices and locations far away from yours needs, you’ve chosen the wrong starting point. In the beginning, your time, effort, and limited capital is much better spent learning how to pursue opportunities in your local market, so you can invest focused time with those potential clients.  This conference can help you learn how to identify those opportunities and then perform capture and proposal activities to pursue them.

The second part of your story needs to support your claim of expertise and specialization, and that is done through storytelling. Buyers want to build trust with you and believe that you can deliver quality products or services to them for a fair price. One way that you do that is to tell stories of how the buyer’s situation is similar to one that you have previously experienced and positively solved for someone else.

Research the Market

You’d never set up a meeting with a business who could potentially buy what your company sells without doing some research on them first. Know what they do, what they buy, what they need, and, IF IT IS TRUE, why you’re the best company to meet their needs.

Do the same for the NVSBC. Research the organizations (and take a look at the procurement forecasts for each organization. A simple way to do that is to Google for “[government organization] + OSDBU” (which means “Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization”). Search for, as an example, “NASA OSDBU”, and then go to the web page and look for the procurement forecast. If it’s not available, give them a call and ask for it.

Once you’ve done your research on each of the organizations you want to target and know what they are buying, it’s easier to come up with a compelling, memorable reason for the Government employees to remember you and your company apart from the thousands of your fellow conference attendees.

Pick a few who match your business profile in terms of both need and geographical proximity and really research them. Even if you drop ship your product or can deliver your services remotely, geographic proximity is still critical because the buyers will not attend NVSBC. You will meet the gatekeepers – some contracting officers and many OSDBUs who can put you in touch with the buyers. It’s easier to market to a geographic area because you can make a credible claim to being able to provide resources they need in a timely and competent manner.

At this point, you’re ready to maximize the value of your first NVSBC

Have a Learning Agenda and Always Be Networking

“Networking is an essential part of building wealth.” – Armstrong Williams

At the conference, there are a ton of sessions and a range of topics. There’s a temptation to try a little bit of everything. For your first conference, keep your learning agenda limited to the following:

  • Lay the foundation – something like “Contracting 101” which can give you the basics that you need to understand the general layout of government contracting.
  • Find opportunities – get beyond “go look at fbo.gov.” Learn how to set up alerts, look at forecasts, and find out what buyers are looking for.
  • Refine opportunities – learn how to use Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), look at previous awards, discover what the difference between a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotes (RFQ), Request for Information (RFI), and Sources Sought is and how each pertains to you. Learn how and where set-asides and sole source opportunities are possible.
  • Resp
    ond to opportunities – what are buyers looking for in solicitation responses and how can you make yours stand out.

In addition, talk to every person you can. The people who attend this conference are, generally speaking, either sellers (like you), buyers, or connectors:

“If you can solve a potential customer’s problem number eight, then helping them solve problems one through seven will greatly enhance your chances of being asked to solve number eight.” – Eriks Goodwin

  • Sellers – if they’re pure competition, that’s fine. Agree to respond to opportunities in the RFI stage and work to get them set aside. If they’re not, then they might be future partners. Learn who you could and would want to work with.
  • Buyers – these are the ones who will potentially cut your company a check to deliver on your promises. Find out what they need and, if there is a fit, how you can stand out compared to everyone else out there.
  • Connectors – EVERYONE is a connector whether they choose to act on it or not. If you can’t help someone directly but know someone who can, connect them.

NVSBC is a great conference for learning and meeting lots of people. However, if you don’t prepare adequately and thoroughly, you won’t get nearly as much out of it. Prepare, though, and the conference can be a great launching pad for growing your business.


Picture of Jason Hull

Jason Hull is a principal at OpenSource Connections, and a Solr search engine consultancy. He leads client engagements with marketing functions, helping them to think about the business case behind search. Jason holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business.

 

 

Topics in this story

Leave a comment

The comments section is for opinions and feedback on this particular article; this is not a customer support channel. If you are looking for assistance, please visit Ask VA or call 1-800-698-2411. Please, never put personally identifiable information (SSAN, address, phone number, etc.) or protected health information into the form — it will be deleted for your protection.

5 Comments

  1. Adam Steelfeather Stevenson May 31, 2011 at 01:07

    Osiyo! Wado, Thank You All, Everyone who gave their Service, We Are All Warriors, Wounded Or Otherwise, We All Deserve to continue our Missions, Our Work, And That is Designated, And Thank You All Warriors who served whatever and whenever time period..Men and Women, Regular and Special Operations/Forces on this Memorial Day!

    Now, Subject is, i served, was service-connected injured prior and post service,
    disabilities, mine is a SDVOSB/VOSB, more as Native American Disabled Veteran & Women Vet’s Owned Small Business, starting up, again. Many hardships, but now are ready again, have the education/technological background, and business acumen. As many say, the costs are nominal, even for one post-IBMer, and USACE, US Army Corps of Engineers combat engineer/communications/consultant/contractor, in AZ. I make no excuses, we are a first gen online, an amazing resource, despite the kids,
    the world/government is Open Source, Intellectual Property is more than IT today..my Father Vietnam Vet, died of Agent Orange, 2004, as we were putting this together, again. I had to endur several hardships, finally getting family and self together, and take care of returning Marine Nephew for I&A. I was Desert One, Desert Storm, and more, Black Ops, as Air Cav, busy since Nam. Do Computers and Creative professional work. Born in Military, served also in Gov’t. Was told to start again, new startup for the 3% percent set aside here.
    Anyways, Thank you for article. Was ready to go, after missing couple of SDVOSB events. Now show is in NOLA..New Orleans. OK, i understand the system, and just getting back up to speed, and the new security, too. I was original MIS/IT etc.
    Many Service People are new, are tech or online oriented, or ADA compliance and any event should now reflect the new ones, as those already part of the VA system. Or other abilities and skills. SCORE, SBA, please, was never enough. I wish everyone the best on their quest. Wado, Thank You, again for your Service!!

    PS..Remember, if you look online, their are now many regional and other SDVOSB, and related events scheduled, so just search if you can’t get to ’11 NVSBC, etc!

  2. Ken Lindsay May 26, 2011 at 15:15

    Very good article, but!

    The National Veterans Small Business Conference sounds great! But how many Veterans do not have an extra $1,000 or more to spend to attend or their disAbilities create obstacles that prevent attendance due to increased costs and logistics.

    My opinion is that since it is endorsed and partially supported with Federal funding for “disAbled Veterans” that it should be Internet accessible, to those “Veterans” as well. I guess what I might be trying to say, is that it should be a little bit more handicap compliant.

    I hope to be able to attend, as a very… small disAbled Veteran Owned Business, a card table at the event and the price of admission alone might be near $600,plus Lodging(?), Meals(?), Transportation Costs(?).

    I’ll probably be there, because I want to promote a “VA for Veterans”, as well as my personal Business Goals.

    Thank You,

    Ken Lindsay

    http://www.justforveterans.com

  3. Brown May 23, 2011 at 16:24

    In addition to the above, it is highly recommended that you contact your local SBA and SBDC counselors.

  4. Jason Hull May 23, 2011 at 11:55

    Jonathan–

    Thank you for your service.

    You might want to try your local PTAC. You can get started here: http://www.dla.mil/db/procurem.htm

    Jason Hull
    http://www.opensourceconnections.com

  5. Jonathan Edward Ledford May 22, 2011 at 09:27

    Iam interested in starting my own business. I am a 50% disabled Vietnam Veteran. I have tried several time to figure out how to get a government contract but it is too complicated. I presently work for the Georgia Dept. of Veterans Service in Blairsville,Georgia which is about a 100 miles north of Atlanta. I was a Middle School teacher and have taught Algebra,Science Reading. My professional careers include being a sales manager,district manager in the insurance business,a registered securities dealer on NASD,and a manager in several manufacturing settings.
    I love doing wood working and working on the computer. I wish I could work from home or nearby if I could find a product like making a footlocker for the military. I live in a mountain are where there are a lot of unemployed home builders.
    My education includes but is not limited to an Associates Degree in Industrial Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. I would appreciate any help you could offer helping me to start a small business.
    Sincerely,
    Jonathan Ledford

Comments are closed.

More Stories