Tag: govcon marketplace

Miguel Sanchez: Embracing Inexperience and Taking One Step at a Time

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Get inspiration on how Miguez Sanchez embraced inexperience, but still took one step at a time towards his success in the govcon marketplace!

BACKGROUND

Miguel Sanchez is a military veteran from the U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Division in Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. 

After fighting for the country, he then started going to night college in 2013 while working for a company. 

Meanwhile, his internship at a company in Wall Street introduced him to the govcon marketplace. He then pursued different industries until he decided to follow the consulting route in the IT space. 

“It wasn’t a matter of quitting. To me, it was a matter of pivoting.”

Currently, he is the Key Principal at SGC GROUP, a company he established to provide consulting and business development services to government contracting clients. 

LEARNING ABOUT GOVCON

Sanchez first learned about state and local government contracting when he’s doing an internship at a service-disabled veteran-owned investment bank at Wall Street. 

As the business development person, he traveled and did business with different Fortune 500 companies while also doing state and local contracts. 

However, Sanchez also knows that ownership is extremely important and he wanted his future to align, so he decided to learn about govcon— from having an SDVOSB certification to joining GovCon Giants. 

LOOKING FOR CLIENTS AND WINNING CONTRACTS

In looking for a client to provide his consulting expertise, Sanchez started looking within the areas nearest to the DC area.

Then, to fully specify the companies he wanted to do business with, he looked for clients that have some kind of leverage among others, including having certifications.

After his research, he found a handful of companies and started picking up the phone. His plan was to call at least 25 companies a day. Sanchez didn’t even get to 10 when he got his first client. 

The first opportunity that they looked after was a market research that the client already responded to. He just made a simple follow-up and after almost a year talking to the government buyer, they were awarded the IT contract worth 800 grand. 

“The conversation went on for almost a year of just talking to the client. That’s another thing. You have to understand the arena that you’re playing in. You know, with the governing space, it’s not like short and sweet. It’s not from one day to another.”

Although in the IT space that contract seems small, Sanchez understood that it’s a good starting point with him and his client. 

He was thankful when he found that they won and currently, he decided to go full time with the client, with the promise to also continue to be part of GovCon Giants. 

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Know what you need to say. 

Before calling his prospects, Sanchez prepared himself first. He made a little script that highlights the things he needed to say. 

He even researched about the buyers that may buy the services that the prospects have and the opportunities that the prospect might like. 

“Sometimes, you get one shot, you know. These people are getting voicemails and calls left and right every single day, so if they give you a minute of their time, you better know what you, you know, you’re gonna say.” 

Be reactive and proactive. 

Be prepared for everything. Consider that, in this govcon marketplace, opportunities may come knocking, but that only happens when you do the work. 

“I think that it’s important for people to understand that in this business, you need to be reactive, right, but you also need to be proactive. You need to be both, right?”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about how Miguez Sanchez embraced inexperience, but still took one step at a time towards his success in the govcon 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!

Learning and Overcoming Setbacks – Miguel and Maria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2OR6VTZRic

Alex Omeke: Cab Driver’s Son Won His First Contract!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Learn more about Alex Omeke, the son of a cab driver who won his first government contract!

BACKGROUND

Alex Omeke grew up in a family that owned a cab company outside of Houston, Texas. 

Growing up, Omeke learned the importance of customer service because of this business where they answer phone calls from customers 24/7.

Even until graduating and with his previous and current jobs, customer service is still a top priority.

Currently, he is the Site Lead or the Task Order Project Manager at the NorthTide Group.

“We grew up where people did depend on us at any time because you know, you never know what somebody needs. So, bottom line is customer service was serious.”

GETTING HIS FIRST CONTRACT

While working on a job abroad as a Project Manager, a conversation with another employee prompted Omeke to make a path of his own. 

Although the first few years have not been easy, he was able to enhance more of his capabilities in terms of information technology and build more of his brand. 

Then, because of COVID-19, he thought of going to Unison Global to look for easy wins and found a contract looking for technicians in order to maintain a software. 

While looking at the contracts, he also contacted people who have 20 or 30 years of experience who will help him fulfill the contract. 

Afterwards, he got the quote and sent the proposal and it took only 21 days before he received the news that he won the contract. 

“It’s crazy, but I saw it, and I learned that I finally gave into the fact that you get what you want and just say, ‘You know what? It’s true,’ because we just don’t, sometimes we just don’t aim high enough. I’m a site manager, right? I want to be excited. Here I am.”

Currently, they are still performing the job and he is even working early in the morning just to make sure that everything’s in sync. 

“Now, I can’t stop. That’s the problem because it’s 2 a.m. in the morning, I wake up, just trying to… make sure everything’s in sync, so, I don’t care, I’m excited. I wake up with energy. I wake up with joy and just, I can go all day with this.”

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESS

1. Have the basic foundation.

You need to have the basic foundation about government contracting if you want to dive into the govcon marketplace. 

Just have the basic foundation. You don’t have to learn everything because you will learn more about it when you actually start doing the work. 

So, hurry up in getting the basic information, learn the process, and start working. 

“Just like building any tree, that foundation has to be solid, but once you have that, just take it and run with it and you touch on it like you can’t have that fear.”

2. Make a difference.

The world needs new people with new ideas that could help our modern problems. So, start working with your idea right now and make a difference towards the life of these people. 

“When you work, when you take these contracts, you need to understand how real of a difference you’re making.”

3. Live your dream.

Instead of sitting around thinking, “Oh, I wish I had this,” or “What if I would have done that?” Why not do the job instead?

Remember, you only have one life, so live your dream right now and do the necessary things that will help you achieve what you want with your life. 

“Just hurry up. Learn and get in there because this thing’s not gonna wait for you. We get older.”

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more how Alex Omeke won his first government contract, 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!

03: Cab Driver’s Son won his First Contract! – Alex Omeke

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

 

Mastermind Monday: Why are you scared to be in the arena?

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Don’t be afraid to build a relationship and bid on government contracts!

BE THE MAN IN THE ARENA

Do you know what ITA stands for? Well, this stands for In the Arena based off of Theodore Roosevelt’s quote which is called The Man in the Arena:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

The reason why we highlighted this quote is because we want to encourage all of you to get in the arena. Talk to people in your space. Talk to our podcast guests and if you’re similar to them, build a relationship with them.

However, the problem is people are trying to do everything alone. They’re an island by themselves.

They are sitting at home on their computer trying to price jobs, but have no one to overlook their mistakes and do things that are a must for bidding and overall govcon activities. 

Just take our very own Maria Martinez for example. She is a kindergarten teacher who has no govcon background, but when she dive into the arena and started building relationships with others, she succeeded and won multiple contracts. 

“She did not let people say, the cynics, tell her that she couldn’t do it. She tried. What happened when she tried? She succeeded… So again, in the arena. The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena.”

So, what are you going to do now? Well, you need to do the activities. And with this, we have some advice below. 

ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

1. Learn from people. 

When you jump into the marketplace without learning the basics, it is very easy to get in trouble. 

However, you can avoid this if you are studying from people who are living and breathing all of this stuff every day. 

We actually did have a student that won a contract but his price is 20,000 lower than the production cost. This is a huge problem. Good thing he was able to talk to the manufacturer about this, but what if he wasn’t?

“Learn from people. Listen, learn, learn, learn, first.”

2. Do your market research. 

The government buys everything. The thing is they don’t always buy it the same way that you’re thinking. 

For instance, if you have a specific niche service and you looked it up on FBO but nothing comes up, that service might have been bundled with other services. 

The key is to know where to do your market research and not just rely on things posted on beta.sam.

So, what you’ll do is look based on your NAICS or PSC code and go to USASpending, FPDS, or to similar platforms that showcase past procurement data.

3. Just do the activities.

You need to start doing your govcon activities. This means not just bidding but doing your business development. 

As said above, Maria Martinez didn’t just get lucky, she does the activities. So, what you need to do is to start reaching out to people and building relationships with them. 

4. Be a subcontractor.

In this marketplace, we always do this all the time that if we cannot win a contract as a prime, we’re contacting the prime to be their subcontractor.

The way we do this is we just call them up and tell them that we looked at the project that they won and that we’re all aware of the scope of work that it entails, and with that, we can execute a piece of that work.

8. Stick with the experts.

Stick with the people in your industry that are doing this every day. You can learn from them through our podcasts, but we highly recommend that you build a relationship with them as it is much better. 

RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about how to build a relationship and bid on government contracts, then check our full video below. 

You can also visit the GovCon Giant website or the new GovCon Edu where you learn everything about government contracting!

Why are you scared when bidding government contracts?

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