Tag: federal contract

James Lee: How an Active Soldier Turned an Idea into an Opportunity!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Be inspired how James Lee turned his daughter’s idea into a laundromat business that won two government contracts while being in the military!

BACKGROUND

James Lee is an IT professional with 16 years of military service who decided to make a mark in this world by being an entrepreneur. 

Currently, he is pursuing laundry service contracts through his company Home Away From Home Laundry-Services, a full-service linen supply and dry-cleaning company with multiple employees at various locations.

They offer different services to their federal, state, and local customers, including dry cleaning, laundry, wash, dry and folding, alteration, and pick up and drop off delivery services.

TURNING AN IDEA INTO AN OPPORTUNITY

The idea of building a laundromat business didn’t come from James Lee himself but from his daughter’s drawing that looks like a laundromat. That then motivated him to build a business in that industry.  

“Sometimes the best ideas come from the littlest people.”

Although he was psyching himself out at first, after listening to a business mentor and to a friend who has his own IT business, he then took action and started researching the govcon market. 

“Like I said, my business mentor, Jesus, he would have like little Facebook lives and I would always listen to him… so when he said that the only person stopping you is you… that fire just lit in me.”

This was when he stumbled across Eric’s YouTube videos and started learning more about govcon. He thought he could do it and he did— he filed for his FEIN number, started his SAM registration, and started looking for opportunities at FBO. 

WINNING HIS FIRST CONTRACT

The first contract that James Lee won came from a sources sought notice. 

At first, he thought of not pursuing it because some of the cleaners down in Florida said that the contract was already promised to them. 

However, he still responded to the notice and after a back and forth email from the federal buyer asking for verification documents, he was awarded a contract. 

“So, everything happens for a reason. And it’s just me staying true to my faith and the Lord kept me pushing through. And not only that, if I’m trying to teach my kids never to quit at anything, I’ve been certain a bad example of being a hypocrite. And so, that was one of my reasons for pushing.”

Still, after that, he needed to perform the job. But the job was in Florida and he’s in Hawaii, so the federal buyer asked him if he had people in Florida or else he would lose the contract. 

Luckily, he was able to put them at ease because he had a friend who’s in the state who he then hired as a project manager.

Even with that, he flew from Hawaii to Florida to actually present his company. He was even creating business cards while on flight and printed it as soon as he got on the ground, just to show how dedicated he is.

“It was a blessing for me to even get the contract, but then it was even a bigger blessing for me to have somebody so close, especially when I was… gonna lose the contract.”

After that, he then performed the contract with the help of his project manager and even extended it for a year and a half. He was also able to get a second bigger contract.

Currently, he plans to continue getting contracts and also starting a new niche for his business. 

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

1. Don’t kill your own dream. 

James Lee wants to show to his kids that if you want to achieve something, you need to always keep doing what you’re doing. 

This is why, even though he’s still working a full-time job in the military, he still pursued building his laundromat business. 

“If you have a plan, just continue to keep pushing forward… Don’t let your dream be like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna keep putting it off…” because you do that too many times, you’re never gonna do it.”

2. Take advantage of sources sought notices.

Sources sought notices and requests for information might not end up with a contract award, but responding to these market research is still beneficial to your company. 

This is due to the fact that this shows how dedicated you are in marketing your business and letting your federal buyer know who you are and what you do.

“Government’s not gonna come find you… you have to tell them this is who I am, this is what I could do, and this is how I can help you at the end of the day.” 

3 Make time for what you want to do. 

When James Lee started his business, he made time to do his research because he wanted to understand the marketplace first. He even made sure to present his business in a professional manner by flying from Hawaii to Florida. 

This should be something that you should be doing if you want to succeed in doing government contracts. It’s not enough to just look the part, you should be the part. And with that, you need to do the necessary things needed to provide the best products and/or services. 

“You’re gonna always make time for what’s good for you and when you make time for it, that shows that you’re committed to it.” 

4. Always keep pushing. 

Even after winning two contracts, James Lee still wants to pursue more contracts. He doesn’t want to stay stagnant and is even pursuing new opportunities in the I.T. industry. 

“I always got to constantly keep moving… because I want to make sure that I’m showing my kids that no matter what they’re doing you always never give up on anything and always keep pushing.”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more how James Lee turned his daughter’s idea into a laundromat business that won government contracts while being in the military, 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!

05: How an Active Soldier Turned an Idea into 2 Sources Sought – James Lee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJtdbSfnCwc

 

Learn From These Millennials in Government Contracting

Posted on by Eric Coffie

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

 

TechFlow Mission Support LLC Awarded $$128.9M contract for base operation support services at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland

Posted on by Eric Coffie

TechFlow Mission Support LLC, doing business as EMI Services, Idaho Falls, Idaho, is awarded a maximum value of $128,970,744 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for base operation support services at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland; Webster Field, St. Inigoes, Maryland; Solomons Annex, Solomons, Maryland; and Point Lookout, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Work will be performed in St. Mary’s County, Maryland (92%); and Calvert County, Maryland (8%), and is expected to be complete by March 2029. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,269,831 for recurring work will be obligated under the initial task order at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The base operation support services to be performed include general information; management and administration; airfield facilities; and facilities support, including facility management, facility investment, integrated solid waste management, swimming pool services, special event support, utility management, wastewater management, water services, and environmental services. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with seven proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N62470-21-D-0002).

Techflow Mission Support, LLC, doing business as EMI Services, provides aircraft maintenance and support services. The Company offers facilities maintenance, logistics, information technology, aircraft refueling and fuels storage, base operation support, and engineering services. EMI Services serves customers in the State of Idaho. (www.bloomberg.com)

Hardwood Products Co. Awarded $110M contract as a commercial contract for industrial base expansion of U.S. domestic production capacity for medical foam tip swabs

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Hardwood Products Co., LP, Guilford, Maine, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $110,085,000 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract as a commercial contract for the industrial base expansion of U.S. domestic production capacity for medical foam tip swabs. This contract is for the procurement of equipment and machinery to enable the expanded production of foam tip nasal swabs. Work will initially be performed in Pittsfield, Maine, and is expected to be completed by October 2021. Fiscal 2021 other procurement funds in the amount of $34,220,000 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8730-21-C-0019).

Hardwood Products Company LP, doing business as Puritan Medical Products LLC, manufactures medical products. The Company offers swabs and other single-use products for the healthcare, diagnostic, forensic, critical environment, food safety, and drug manufacturing industries. (www.bloomberg.com)

Patricia Bonilla: Building a World-Class Construction Firm on Faith

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Learn how to build a world-class construction firm through faith with Patricia Bonilla!

BACKGROUND

Growing up in Dominican Republic and being the eldest, Patricia Bonilla learned to be competitive. She joined different extracurricular activities such as swimming and ballet, and also helped her father with his business during summer or in her free time. 

Meanwhile, after working in the City of Fort Lauderdale as the Head of Construction Division, she decided to build Lunacon Construction Group, a Miami-based company providing different construction services, in 2007.

Currently, Lunacon has a bonding capacity of $15M single and $50 aggregate, as well as catering more than 300 clients worldwide in their five office locations, in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico.

Apart from that, Bonilla has also been recognized as the 2014 SBA State of Florida Minority-Owned Small Business Person of the Year and in the Good to Great and ABC’s in Excellence, among others. 

“I’m very competitive. I don’t think I’ve measured myself by somebody else’s actions. I think I compete with myself. I would say I’m probably a crazy visionary. I see things and I want to get them done.”

LUNACON CONSTRUCTION GROUP

When Patricia Bonilla quit her job, a handful of people, including her brother, thought that she was crazy and that she’s not ready. However, she did what she had to do. 

“And you know what? It’s just the belief inside was stronger than any of those. The belief in what was possible was stronger than the fear that was trying, was being, that people was trying (to impose on me).” 

And because they’re mainly a start-up, she had to invest her time and money in marketing and networking, even though her partner was doubting the results of these activities. She just put everything into faith and waited for something to come. 

“I was proactive in the sense that I was traveling everywhere I could possibly go, to learn about it, to expose the company, brand the company with the federal government.”

Then, when she’s on the verge of giving up, a blessing comes in. Someone she had worked before called her for a  $23 million job.

“If we believe something is coming, what we need to be doing is not retreating from the direction we think we’re going to go, but to prepare for the floodgate to be able to receive what’s coming.”

However, building and managing Lunacon was not that easy. The only thing that helped her is being true with her words and that people believed in Lunacon’s story of a company that started in a garage. 

“And I believe people can see the transparency of the words. Sometimes, I think they can see through to the soul. So again, that doesn’t mean that we have not made a lot of mistakes. I have. And I’ve learned a lot.”

ADVICE FOR BUSINESS OWNERS 

1. Believe in yourself. 

Regardless if you are native to this country or not, you can do what Patricia Bonilla did. The only thing that you need is to believe in yourself and everything that you want to happen will happen. 

“If you were willing to work and work hard, because I think you have to work, go through the process, and be honest to the process, you can get to wherever you want to be. Everyone, including those that don’t look like you, will give you a chance if you have that desire. But just believe that you can do it. That’s the only job we have. Believe it!”

2. Learn to network yourself.

If you are not willing to take time and effort in communicating with other people in your industry, they will never know about you and your capabilities. 

Besides, even when you don’t get a contract, this is a way for you to build relationships and be with people who understand what you do. 

“Every time I go or support any of these institutions, I end up receiving a lot from the people I meet there. It’s a gathering for networking and I cannot tell you enough about networking. Even if you don’t get a contract when you go to a networking, you tend to meet people that are amazing. You know, some of them become really good friends of yours. You may not engage into a transactional relationship, but the gains are far beyond.”

3. Prove your capabilities. 

There might be a small number of women who build businesses but that doesn’t mean that men are at fault. It’s just that we need to catch up and be a motivation to other women. 

“Nobody’s responsible for your growth, but yourself.”

5. Hire diverse talents.

Not because you’re a Cuban-owned small business, then you will only hire employees that are Cuban. The same also goes with a company whose employees are all white. 

You should consider that talent is something that is not specific for one race, it comes from everywhere. And that’s the reason why big corporations hire diverse talent.

“You are preventing yourself from understanding other points of view, from bringing innovation from another side of the world that you might, you might be, what are you missing by not having a company that is diverse and includes all.”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn how to build a world-class construction firm through faith with Patricia Bonilla, 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!

021: Patricia Bonilla – Building a world-class Construction firm on Faith

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/021-2/

Building a world class Construction firm on Faith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9rCFHvV76Y&list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH&index=3

Elliott Branch: Retired Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Acquisition and Procurement

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Learn to master these things to gain success in the federal marketplace with retired Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Acquisition and Procurement, Elliot Branch!

BACKGROUND

After over 30 years of service, Elliot B. Branch retired as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Acquisition and Procurement. 

During his service, his responsibilities included being the principal civilian advisor to the Navy Acquisition Executive for procurement matters, governing the operation of the agency’s worldwide and multi-billion dollar acquisition system, and being the community leader of the agency’s contracting workforce. 

Mr. Branch is also a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the National Contract Management Association, as well as the recipient of the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Management Excellence Medal, among others. 

Currently, he is a managing member of KJM Consulting wherein he provides acquisition advice and training. 

FEDERAL CONTRACTING CHANGES

1. Small Business Programs

“I believe that the numbers demonstrated that we were sending more dollars to small businesses, but we were sending them to fewer small businesses.”

When Branch started working with the Navy, the government had basically three small business programs; then, as the years went by, a handful of business programs were established.

Although these programs are especially helpful for its target small businesses, these also confuse both contractors and contracting officials. 

“As you can see we’ve moved from about three pretty well defined programs that didn’t really overlap very much. To this plethora of preference and set aside programs which overlap, can overlap quite a bit. There is a level of confusion for both acquisition personnel as well as the people who sell to them.”

2. Technology

In the ‘70s, desk calculators were cutting edge; but now, we have different platforms, softwares, and applications. 

What these changes did is it helped us democratize our government’s works, but this also negated the small things that small businesses used to sell.

“Think about now. What you have is this explosion, this information technology explosion, which has done a couple of things. One, it has really kind of, if you will, it democratized work as I like to say. It’s eliminated some of the clerical specialties we had, stenographers, typists, the typing pool, that whole thing. But the other thing that it has allowed us to do is to aggregate information.”

The other thing that it did is it helped us understand the government’s demand and how different industries supply it. However, this also became a challenge for small businesses. 

“Those guys that were sitting outside the gate, selling toner or selling the one-off PC or the one-off software package, no longer have that business. They again have to go approach the big primes in some of these fields to be able to sell into these markets because the introduction of technology has essentially changed the nature of some of the markets that they use to sell into in government.”

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

1. Understand what you’re getting into. 

Doing business with the government is different from being in the private industry because it requires some degree of discretion and a handful of rules and regulations. 

Hence, you strongly need to understand how the federated model works, or else you’ll just waste your time talking to the wrong people. 

“If you’re going to go into this business, you need to understand what business you’re going into because the government does things differently. Because it is the government and frankly the taxpayer expects them to do things differently. Because it’s about integrity. It’s about transparency. It’s about opportunity for everybody to participate.”

2. Define your value proposition. 

You might have good ideas but you need to understand that it should have a value proposition towards a target market. 

For instance, the tool that you want to provide to Community X might really be needed in Community Y because community Y does function A and Community X does function B. So, Community X is not going to use your tool, but Community Y will.” 

“I would argue if you really want to make a sale, if you really want to establish a relationship, the first thing you need to do is you need to really walk in with what I’ll call a ‘listening heart.’ You know, hear the person who needs something and listen to their pain points in the problem that they’re trying to solve.” 

3. Your resumes are important. 

The government wants to see the resumes and the experiences of your employees because they buy the inputs, instead of measuring the output of a project.

With this, they look at those resumes, check your past performance, organizational structure, and history, and assess how you manage those people in your management plan.

“What I do is I tend to buy the inputs and this is why you see a lot of solicitations structured with levels of effort and the number of hours we want to buy and labor categories. And then I would want to see strong resumes because that’s what gives me the high degree of confidence that you can deliver.”

4. You have to network.

You need to get yourself out there and go to industry days, trade shows, conferences, and any event that the government is present, especially if you have some unique proposition.

You can start with a white paper that doesn’t expose your entire idea and start having conversations with these folks to get you to a place where they can help shape a requirement so that you can at least bid against others. 

“I think the key is, how do you get to the folks who made the kinds of decisions to broaden the specifications, to consider unique and innovative proposals. And that’s, I think, where the networking comes in.”

5. These business programs are just footholds. 

You should keep in mind that these small business programs are not forever applicable to your business. So, you need to learn how to take advantage of its perks while you are still at it. 

“You can rely on these preference programs. They are a good foothold or a good toehold. But if you really want to grow, you’ve got to have a strategy that will launch you in terms of growth, steeply enough that you kind of overcome the, if you will, the inertia that’s pushing you back to be this small business. Because as soon as you get out of those protected programs, that base work, you are depending on disappears.”

THE NATION NEEDS YOU!

Way back in the ‘90s when the Berlin Wall fell down and the Soviet Union imploded, the U.S. were involved in a fairly quiet but intense submarine conflict with the Russians.

However, instead of investing in submarine combat system technology, we shifted into using IT to convert our submarine softwares. And this is where, you, small businesses played a major role.

“My advice is if you have capability, don’t give up because the nation needs you. It’s just as simple as that. You know, come in every day. Learn, you know, from your successes and failures every day; how to get a little bit better at maneuvering in the government space. Talk to people who are in that space. You’d be surprised how helpful they’re willing to be both government and industry because everybody’s looking for new sources. And be a mentor to the next guy who wants to get in the space because, fundamentally, we’re all in this together.”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more on Elliot Branch’s advice in mastering success in the federal marketplace, 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!

020: Elliott Branch – Former Director of Contracts Naval Sea Systems Command and SES Member

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/020-2/

This LEGEND has 20+ YEARS in Government Procurement!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQP39DhlEEA&list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH&index=4

Corliss “Mama U” Udoema: Inspiring CEO shares Advice on Business and Faith!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Gain timeless wisdom in running your business and your life with Corliss “Mama U” Udoema’s Advice on Business and Faith!

BACKGROUND

Corliss “Mama U” Udoema served for over 20 years in the US Marine Corps, as an Assistant Officer in Charge for the Facility Supports Contracts, and as a Supervisory Procurement Analyst in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, respectively. 

Then, in 2006, she founded Contract Solutions, Inc. (CSI), a professional staffing and management support services company providing acquisition support, training solutions, human resources, and technology solutions.

She is also the President and founder of Agape Love in Action, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to helping people in need. 

With all of these, her motto in delivering excellence is a reflection on why she is an acclaimed businesswoman and CSI is part of the Inc. 5000 list for the last consecutive 3 years, and the 2019 USDA Small Business Contractor of the Year, among others. 

THE SUCCESS CONTRACT SOLUTIONS, INC. 

1. Starting the Business. 

Mama U was not really interested in starting a business but when asked by a friend to do it while doing some contract administration with her, she then founded CSI. 

Meanwhile, she also took a position as a Senior Acquisition Consultant at another company, however, after the company lost a contract, she decided to really focus on her business. 

With this, she decided to be part of the 8a program, after being told that the government would only call them back if they are part of a GSA schedule or any other business development program.

“So that’s what I did. And they would ask for something. Then I would, you know, give it to them immediately. Even if I had to get somebody to walk it through, you know, in another town, another state, I would do that.”

2. The Secrets for their Growth. 

In order to really achieve business growth, she hired excellent individuals who have the necessary expertise in various fields needed for their services. 

“A lot of times we want to know the answers, but there’s so many times when you’re running a business, you’re not going to always know the answers. So here’s what I tried to do. I tried to know what I know as opposed to what I don’t know… I tried to find someone that does know. So, you know, the different little things and that’s one of them. And the other one is, you know, to surround yourself with champions.”

Moreover, she makes sure that she works effectively as a rooftop manager who sees all the angles in order to gain the trust of her employees. 

“It’s not easy because when people don’t see what you see, sometimes they won’t… they won’t trust you enough to follow.”

Most importantly, what makes CSI an outstanding company is how Mama U and her team steps up in really achieving their motto. 

“Do it with excellence. You know, no slides was allowed. Do it with excellence. Do it with excellence. And people (will) come back.”

ADVICE FOR BUSINESS OWNERS

1. Have a strong foundation.

When you are starting out as a business owner, you need to have a strong foundation that can handle your growth and success. 

For instance, this might be getting the right information about the marketplace from Small Business Technical Centers, or networking with other businesses. 

“One tiny, you see one little step, that’s the key in business… You just can’t start off, you know, at the top, you know, and make a plan to grow it but don’t have it. It’s like me, if I tried to put 60 people on the foundation of what I had when I first started, it would, what? It would crumble. It would not be strong enough. So, you have to make sure that you, as you build out your foundation, that is strong enough to support what you’re going to put on top of it.” 

2. Plan the end in mind.

Whether you are on your way to success or you are starting out, you need to have a roadmap to help you focus on what you planned to do. This is why you need to have a business plan.

“When you think about critical path with respect to the business, the first thing to me is a good business plan. You’re beginning with the end in mind, right? Some people say, ‘Oh, well, I’ll just, you know, wing it.’ Well, you know what? That’s probably what you’re going to end up with, a chicken wing.”

3. Do not get into a better-than-nothing relationship.

In employing team members and dealing with clients, you should be with someone that is really interested in what you offer and, in return, you should treat them right. 

For instance, you should hire someone that is interested in your $50 pay for an hour because when you hire someone who really wants $70, then that person might stay in your company but is looking for another company who provides better pay and benefits. 

This also goes with your clients. They might give you an opportunity but just once because they will look for another company the next time. 

“When you get those things in sync, you’ll have good retention. Your clients will be happy because they won’t have to follow the bouncing ball all over again. You know, time… and you do excellent.”

4. Deliver excellence. 

Regardless if you offer products or services, it should be delivered with excellence because if not, it will strongly affect your company. 

This also goes with hiring employees. You strongly need to have people who believe in your vision because if they didn’t, then it would be hard for them to achieve your goals and do their tasks with excellence. 

“I realized that if I work 24 hours a day, as hard as I could… that the best that I could do was average. And I said, ‘I don’t do average as that.’ But once I got the platinum card, then I came back and I started to contract there with her. So, you don’t, I know you’re not a person that does average, I know you’re not.”

5. Just be patient. 

The three P’s that you need are prayer, planning, patience. You might find it easy to pray and plan things, but patience is where most people get into problems.

“You started, you have a pot of dirt, you have that seed, you have that business seed, right? And you know, it takes time. And when people come and look, they don’t see anything, right? But you know, you have a seed in the ground and it takes time. You don’t just put the seed in the ground and then, you know, and the pot and in two days later, boom, you’re big. So it truly is a step by step process.”

RESOURCES

If you want to listen to Mama U’s wisdom in running your business, 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!

022: Corliss “Mama U” Udoema – The most inspiring CEO great grandmother of all time talks business, faith and timeless wisdom

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/podcast/022-2/

GREAT GRANDMA CEO drops all the Wisdom!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut4sdy6C2ds&list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH&index=5

Holiday Reflection and Goal Setting towards Success!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Achieve your vision in life with this holiday reflection and goal setting towards success!

HOLIDAY REFLECTION

We always hear this saying, “Whatever gets measured gets done,” and it only means that if you’re not measuring your activities on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis, then, it’s very difficult to know if you’re moving or making progress or not.

With this in mind, I always look back to see if I was productive, did I accomplish the things I set out to accomplish, and if not, what happened.

To give you an idea, I first started doing this activity in 2016. I listed my goals which were to do 50 videos and 100 podcasts, gain 50,000 views and 5,000 person email list, and create a free course.

Currently, I exceeded the 50 videos, I never did a podcast, I’ve done well over the 50,000 views, I didn’t get to the 5,000 person email list, but I did create my free course.

Apart from that, there are some other things that happened that were not part of my initial goals. I’ve got national organizations talking to me and I’ve developed relationships with companies that are going to take me into contract with arenas that I’ve not been familiar with. 

“By just writing down the goals and having them at the top of your mind and going through that exercise, you know you’re going to hit some of those goals. You may not hit others, but there’s some things that are going to happen that you may not be able to see that may take you in some directions that are even beyond what you thought you’d be at and where you’d be or go.”

GOAL SETTING

In setting my goals, I have these 100 life goals and this 21-goal category. 

For my 100 life goals, I just put everything that I want to do. These are a wide range of things, like visiting India, visiting China, going to the ESPYs, and other things to kind of start checking off the boxes.

Then, for my 21-goal category, I wrote down three goals per section and the areas that I focused on were relationship, business and career, health and fitness goals, personal goals, contribution and legacy, and then financial goals. 

To give an example, under my contribution and legacy, I wrote down things like to help 100,000 of small businesses achieve dramatic growth results, impact the lives of millions of people so they can pay it forward for the next generation, and ensure financial freedom for the next five generations.

VISION STATEMENT

Then, to keep me on track with my goal, I have this 12-month vision statement.

Through this tracker, I ask these questions below:

What’s important to me? What are my core values? What are the things that are not easy for me? What are some of those core values that help me push through some of those hard tasks? What are my five big goals for the year? What are the five most compelling reasons to hit these goals and elevate my life? What are the key behaviors I must develop?

Apart from that, you also need to take note of the things you need to sacrifice in order to achieve those goals. For me, I’m willing to give up nights and weekends, all vacation plans, every Saturday and Sunday, and return for the money that I desire.

SUCCESS REASONS

Now that you have your goals and your vision statement, you also need to list down all of your reasons why you want to achieve those goals. 

“You can write down your goals. You can write down your vision statement, all that stuff…. You can have plenty of intelligence, talent, and good work ethic, but if you don’t have enough reasons, then you won’t do the activity.” 

Consider that these reasons, your reasons, these are like magnets that will pull you closer towards your goals. 

“For me, I knew I wanted to help my son. I knew I wanted to help my niece. I have a goal to pay off my parents’ house. And so those kinds of things are what pulled me through those tough times when people were yelling at me, screaming at me, when people treated me poorly, or I didn’t feel like I was being treated fairly.”

So, what are the reasons behind some of those goals? Write those down and don’t forget to look at it from time to time. 

RESOURCES

With this in mind, if you want to be part of a community who wants to succeed in life in terms of doing business with the government, then join us here at GovCon Giants.

Just visit our website and other social media platforms or check the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

To learn more about the topic above, you can also check these resources below:

How to Set Goals in Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLqx9IjOXTs&t=154s

Holiday reflection and Goal Setting – Govcon Training Day 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu2q-cBvTTw&feature=youtu.be

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Holiday-reflection-and-Goal-Setting-Govcon-Training-Day-10.pdf

We are more alike than we are different

Posted on by Eric Coffie

I don’t have any specialized talent or skills. I don’t have a super memory. I am not connected to the Washington beltway or sponsored by one percenters. I am just like you and I’m here to tell you why we are more alike than we are different. 

I ONCE HAD A 9-5 JOB

It wasn’t a long time ago that I had a nice cushy job and always had the security of a steady paycheck. However, when the market took a dump, my private sector projects tanked my business and I was forced to take a position in Miami-Dade County as a Construction Manager 3.

In that job, my days were pretty easy. Each morning, I would dress up ‘business casual” and head to the office on the Express bus, transfer to the train piled with 9-5’ers, and get off at the exit at my building.

My office was on the 11th floor and after a few morning pleasantries, I was back on the elevator down to the cafeteria for some pastries and pastelitos.

The morning cafecito crowds were a usual mix of the same characters. The smokers, people who drag in late, the homeless, early birds returning from a walk after clocking in, delivery drivers, visitors and county staff from other facilities. It was a good mix of morning humor and a way to pass the early morning hours, assuming you had no 9 a.m. meetings.

Then, I was back upstairs to welcome everyone that I had not greeted in the 1st set of rounds. Our team occupied 25% of the floor, so there were another 75% of people at desks who I didn’t interact with throughout the day. Truth be told, I got more local news in the first two hours of the day than Channel 7.

After returning to my desk and responding to the barrage of emails, the assistant director usually would come in with a new found agenda that we were now forced to adhere to based on upper management meetings.

So, off we go in the county car to a county facility to address a complaint or, in this case, a change that a tenant wants in one of our over 100 facilities. These meetings can take between 15 mins to 1 hour, but there is still a 2-hour traffic back and forth.

After a late morning meeting, we track back to the office in preparation for lunch where we spend countless times discussing what to order, where to go, and with whom.

A usual meeting or conference call in the early afternoon, a few more emails, and the day is over.

If any of that story sounds familiar to you, then I wish you the best because I decided to end it. 

BUT THEN, I QUIT

I remember the day I came back to the office and announced that I QUIT. Many people told me to never come back as it would only be a lifetime sentence of unfulfilled hopes and shattered dreams. 

So many people admitted that they felt trapped in that job too. They once had aspirations and dreams like starting a restaurant, a day care, bakery, and a cleaning business.

However, they didn’t pursue these because they weren’t sure and they love the security of living from check to check. The job that once brought them security and comfort now becomes the chains that held them back from ever pursuing those ambitions.

Some (like me) came to the county after failed attempts at business, a layoff in the private sector, and others referred by family and friends, and they simply never worked anywhere else. All of them knew that the minimal responsibility position was not transferable to “real world” jobs.

“In the private sector, you must deliver; in the county, you just have to show up and get through the day.”

NOW, EXPLORE YOUR INNER GIANT!

Now picture me, Eric Coffie, in that same 9-5 job all over again. What if I had stayed in the county and left my dreams rot away in my mind? Would you ever know me? Would you know about Govcon Giants and learn from our wide-array of valuable content?

I don’t think so. You would never come to know my name or that of thousands of other entrepreneurs out there in the world if we all had chosen to stay at our jobs.

Though I have to admit, many people do enjoy the routine and consistency of a steady paycheck, but for the rest of us with high hopes for the future, this was not the place. 

So, if you think you are the next inventor, creator, and entrepreneur, explore your INNER GIANT!

Abandon the false comfort of check and take the first step towards realizing your FULL potential!

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE RESOURCES!

With this in mind, if you want to know how to transform your life and realize your full potential, then check the resources below. 

If you also want to learn how to do business with the government through government contracts, then join us here at GovCon Giants.

Just visit our website and other social media platforms or check the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

10 Steps to Life Transformation – Eric Coffie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeu0bRx71cc&t=1111s

5 Step Formula for Overnight Success – Govcon Training Day 4 – Eric Coffie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMMWh5dSbgU&t=737s

Evolve or Die! Savor Life versus Make Impact

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQbA8nesh8s&t=2161s

How to Set Goals in Life – Eric Coffie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLqx9IjOXTs&t=167s

Govcon Giants Podcast Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-jBNNcc98vTBvNhFYfUTeH0k-Vx2VBH

Motivation Playlist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-jBNNcc98vrZd7y7Jp78iyFpJhcrO-R