Learn from Mebz Manji and Branden Coffie, the two millennials of government contracting!
USHER THE NEXT GENERATION IN!
As we get older, we become more fearful to try new things because the world has beat us up and the world has stolen our sense of imagination and wonder.
With this, GovCon Giants want to inspire you out there by bringing the youth in this marketplace.
We may have this thought that millennials and the new generation of youth are lazy but we want to show you that these people are courageous and fearless to do something new.
“We’re going to go against the myths and we’re going to show you about people who are actually not lazy and we’re going to show you that the millennial generation that really, they want to get up and they want to make stuff happen, and they’re working with us, supporting the movement, supporting what we’re doing. We are bringing the next generation of government contractors and ushering them in.”
MEBZ MANJI
Mebz Manji came from East Africa and moved to the US to study. He built his company a year ago and decided to build a business in the government marketplace.
His first contract was an $8,000 contract to supply clay targets to Westchester county. Then, this contract was followed by more contracts of the same product.
After that, he and his friend moved to other products like staples, and decided to find a mentor to guide them. That’s when they found us, GovCon Giants.
1. Provide more than what’s needed.
The reason why Manji’s first contract was followed by more contracts was because he ensured to provide the best service. He went all the way to Westchester, New York to make sure that the clay targets were perfectly delivered.
So, if you want to have this kind opportunity come knocking on your door, make sure that you know what your target market wants and give your best to deliver what they need.
“One of the things that I say all the time, the government does not get the best people, they get the people who actually go to them. So, that’s why there’s so much room and opportunity for all of us who want to be better contractors, who want to actually give good service, to charge even a higher price because they’re not getting the best people, they’re just getting the people who respond and oftentimes that’s people who are accustomed to doing government contracts they take it for granted.”
2. Reach out to people.
The other reason why Manji is with us right now is because he reached out to people. Aside from reaching out to GovCon Giants, he also reached out to the guy whose story was used as the basis for the movie, War Dogs.
“I think a lot of us we, so many of us have watched the movie War Dogs, I don’t know how many of us actually thought to reach out to the guy who was the movie based off.”
BRANDEN COFFIE
Branden didn’t graduate in college and was pursuing acting before he joined the GovCon Giants team.
He has no knowledge or experience about government contracting and never really cared about where the money came from. However, just recently, he started working with us while also working with his first consulting client.
1. Just do it.
While editing some of the GovCon Giants videos, Branden stumbled upon one of Maria Martinez’ videos where she talked about how she got her clients. Then, fascinated how Maria thought of consulting as not difficult, he decided to do it.
He basically just followed what Maria did from market research to calling possible clients. Right now, he has one client out of three people he talked to.
2. Educate prospects.
One thing that Branded did when he called his prospects is he educated them about the opportunities on their door and how he can help them get it.
He’s just 23 years old but because he knew who he was calling and what they lacked in getting contracts, they agreed to work with him.
If you want to know some parts of his opening spiel, here it is:
“Listen, I’m not selling you anything. It’s not solicitation. This ain’t got none to do with that okay? I’m presenting to you an opportunity to just expand your company in the government arena. You guys had three contracts last year. That’s great. Very small contracts, but we can make that way bigger. We can get way more contracts, like it’s not a problem because you have it, you know, you have very big selling points.’”
3S TO REMEMBER
1. Stop giving excuses.
All of us are afraid. The person on the other end is afraid. The business owner’s afraid. The executives are afraid. We are all afraid. No one is completely confident and positive that these things are gonna work.
Mebz Manji and Branden Coffie are just like us. Whether you have a degree or not or you entirely know everything about this marketplace or not, you can do things that they did, you just have to try.
“No one has absolute certainty with any or everything that they do. So, we’re just, remember that in your head that we’re all operating out of some fear, right? Some of our fears are stronger than other fears. Some are more prevalent than others but I just want to continue to encourage you, continue to be able to show you, demonstrate you, give you other examples.”
2. Stop comparing yourself to someone else.
To be transparent with you, both Mebz and Branden did not feel that what they did were accomplishments and that’s because they’re comparing themselves to others.
“That’s the wrong way to do it. We should not be comparing ourselves to someone else because for what they’ve done and what they’re doing is huge, right?”
3. Solve problems not sell things.
One thing that makes these two young people different is they are not afraid to do their own research.
Branden found an industry and place where there is limited competition and limited opportunity and Mebz found a small municipality in New York where a customer has a need.
“How many times do I tell everyone, find someone who has a need, solve that problem. You’re a problem-solver and the more problems you can solve, the bigger problems you can solve, the more money you make. You’re providing solutions. We’re not selling anything. I keep telling people this. We’re not selling them.”
RESOURCES
If you want to learn more on how to start in government contracting and get inspiration from successful people, then be sure to click the resources below. You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!
Learn government contracting from MILLENIALS!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk23zoNhUW8
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