On this episode of MasterMinds Monday, Eric Coffie shares the benefits of IDIQs and IDVs and how to prepare your company in order to get these kinds of contracting opportunities.
BENEFITS OF IDIQs and IDVs
In the government contracting marketplace, there is a misconception that having a small business certificate would equate to a handful of contract opportunities. Although, this may slightly be true, you will not achieve much success from the programs if you are not ready yet.
“I think everyone out here should get 8a program, it is a pathway to riches and fortunes and generational wealth (however) only if you get it when you’re ready. If you do not wait until you’re ready, it can be a pathway to destruction because you spend so much time consumed with trying to learn it and trying to figure it out.”
This is further proven by one of the recent guests of the GovCon Giants podcast who did research on the companies that are part of the 8a program. The conclusion of the research made clear that the successful companies are the ones getting indefinite delivery vehicle (IDV) contracts. They keep on rising in terms of sales and are extending the life of their multi-year contract vehicles.
This is because IDVs are essentially a blanket purchase agreement that has hundreds and even thousands of smaller contract opportunities that only selected companies are eligible to compete. These types of vehicles also provide a definite time period that are usually 5 to 10 years but can be stretched up to more than that.
This is why if you’re doing your research for contract opportunities on beta.sam, you will find contracts that say ‘only vehicle holders are eligible to bid.’ In this case, regardless if you are part of the 8a or VOSB, you can’t still bid on these types of contracts.
So now instead of going to beta.sam and bidding on contracts, spend more time and effort on pre-qualifying for a contract vehicle.
PREPARE YOUR COMPANY FOR IDVs, IDIQs, AND OTHER CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES
In order to pre-qualify your company and take advantage of these indefinite delivery vehicles, you need to have a list of the IDV opportunities that are in your particular space first. Go to your nearest Procurement Technical Assistance Centers or small business organization.
Then, check if there are active or recently closed IDV opportunities in your industry, pull down the requirements, and analyze if you are qualified or not.
If you are not qualified, then make sure that you are ready and qualified for the next opportunities.
“If I were to give you a contract and give you an opportunity, you’re not even ready to receive it. So, how about we start getting ourselves ready and in a position so that we can receive opportunities.”
1. Get Funds.
Don’t use your own money to fund your company in order to get these contract opportunities. Rather, get supplier credit, vendor credit, or business credit.
This is for the reason that before the government pays, they still need to approve the products or services that you offer first. It’s not even about being financially stable or not. Unless the government has already approved the products that you sell, then don’t use your own money as it may go to waste.
2. No Ability
There are many requirements for a specific contract and you need to check all of these boxes. Because of this, contractors might be intimidated to do a project and just say that they can’t bid on it.
But rather than avoiding an opportunity, why not put all the stuff in place in order to get qualified? IDV is going to probably require the highest levels in terms of requirements so you need to make sure that you achieve this. And the best way to do this is to find people or a team to help you.
3. No Experience
Many people say that they don’t have enough experience and past performance to qualify for contracts. However, you can achieve this by including your team’s experience in your capability statement.
For instance if you’re bidding for a landscaping project. If you haven’t done anything like it before, you should not lie about your experience. However, you can hire another person who has experience in doing landscaping projects in the past and include their experience in your capability statement. This way, you are using that person’s performance to qualify for that specific project.
Remember that you do not build a building alone, you have a team who have various experiences depending on their qualifications. You can use that to qualify for contracts that require past performance. Besides, in the government marketplace, they allow you to bring on people that complement your strength.
RESOURCES
If you want to watch the full video where we talk about the benefits of IDIQs and IDVs and how to prepare your company in order to get these kinds of contracting opportunities, then be sure to click the links below:
Are you ready to win a contract, prepare your corporation for success using IDV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqs1D_TKZIg
Multiple year contract award (IDIQ) explained in simple terms – Eric Coffie