Tag: how to

Build A Professional Capability Statement For Pennies On The Dollar!

Posted on by Linette Genao

As a beginner in federal contracting, one of the first steps you will have to take is creating a capability statement.

What is a capability statement? Essentially, it is a cross between a brochure and a resume.

As with most things, you can either do this on your own or hire someone to do it for you. If you are highly skilled in graphic design and have the time, go ahead and do it yourself. But if you are not or do not have the time, there are other ways to get a fantastic capability statement without spending more than you need to. One way, is with guru.com.

Guru.com is a freelance website. Here, you post your project and they then send it to their network of freelancers. In return, guru.com sends you prices and proposals to accomplish that said task. This process saves you time and allows you to have a rockstar capability statement at a low price.

 

HOW TO BUILD A PROFESSIONAL CAPABILTY STATEMENT WITH GURU.COM

  1. Sign up, create an account and confirm your e-mail.
  2. On your dashboard select “Post a Job.”
  3. Enter your title: “Capabilities Statement.”
  4. In the details section explain what you would like done.
  5. Google “Capabilities Statements” and download the ones you like.
    • Attach them to your job posting this way everyone is on the same page of what you are looking for. Then, you can select personalization options like fonts, colors, graphics, etc. to fit your company.
  6. Under “Keywords” type “Graphic Design.”
  7. Select “Worldwide” under “Location” for this specific task.
  8. Under Pricing select “Fixed Price” and go with your higher option.
    • $200-$350 is a good range to have a wider range of people.
  9. Select “Maximum” under “Exposure.”
  10. Select Your Deadline – 30 days from now is good.

 

In addition, you do NOT need to select, nor pay to feature your post for this task. After you are done with these 10 steps, you are on your way to having a professional and personalized capability statement.

Time to get to posting!

To see these steps in action and learn more, visit our YouTube Channel and watch the video below.

All About the 8a Business Development Program

Posted on by Eric Coffie

The 8a Business Development Program is a government program which aims to even the playing field for businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The program offers a myriad of assistance to entities that have 51% control by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. It is a vehicle that aids such disadvantaged entrepreneurs to gain access to the economic mainstream in American society, mostly when it comes to the aspect of government contracts. Government contracts can be quite elusive and frustrating; hence, such programs exist to give the aspiring entrepreneurs the solid footing they require to navigate the waves of the contract business.

Going by the name, the program aims at providing business development support to upcoming businesses in various fields such as Training, Financial assistance, Mentoring, Surety bonding, Procurement assistance, Business counselling, and provision of other technical and management support. Before we delve into the deep, let’s look into some of the perceived benefits of the program.

Benefits of 8(a) Business Development Program

Taking part in this program comes with some benefits such as:

Receiving sole-sourced contracts for business capped to $4 million for goods and services. For a manufacturing business, the business contracts get capped to $6.5 million. While the program equips businesses in both institutional and competitive know-how, it encourages them to involve themselves in competitive acquisitions.

Businesses registered with the 8a program can team up and bid on government contracts. By combining forces, companies can perform or service huge contracts through overcoming contract bundling- the effects alluded to combining two or more contracts.

It’s also worth noting that contracting officers have their quota to meet for their set-aside bonus. Whether a business opportunity has a declared set-aside or not, your business will still enjoy a competitive advantage since the government is mandated to set aside at least $25 billion towards small and disadvantaged businesses. As such, it gives the contracting officers the chance to work on your entity aimed at hitting their quota.

By business entities registering for the program, they can get exposure from other seasoned business entities when it comes to learning the ropes. The program achieves this through the Mentor Protege Program.

Since the program certification lasts up to nine years, your business has the potential of earning up to $100 million or five times the SBA (Small Business Administration) limit. Most business entities hit this target during that period.

 

Requirements For The 8a Program

The first step is usually associated with potential candidates checking out their Small Business Administration‘s (SBA) size standards. It doesn’t matter the nature of your business, there is always a North American Industry Classification Standard (NAICS) code associated with your business. Your SBA will determine the size of your entity by your workforce or your annual revenues. For instance, if your firm deals in manufacturing machine tools accessories or machine cutting tools, its NAICS code will be 333515. For the entity’s consideration as a small business, it must have less than five hundred employees.

The next requirement centers on the business owner. According to the stipulated rules of the 8a Program, the entity applying for the program has to be 51% owned by people who are socially and economically disadvantaged. Further to this, they have to take part in the daily operation and planning of the business. The question stands. What does it mean to be economically and socially disadvantaged?

Simply put it means;

Individuals who have experienced or been a subject of either ethnic, cultural, or racial prejudice within the American society due to them identifying or subscribing to particular groups without regarding their individual qualities. Further, their social disadvantages must emanate from factors beyond their control.

Such groups of people under this category would include; African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asia Pacific Americans, Native Americans, Sub-continent Asian Americans, and any other group of individuals classified by the SBA from time to time.

Under the social disadvantage bracket, we have; the physically handicapped, gender affiliations, Being a long term residence in a placed ascribed as being isolated from the mainstream American society, and any quality that makes one a target for discrimination or prejudice that is beyond one’s control.

The second stage highlights the economic disadvantage part which states that;

Socially disadvantaged individuals whose ability to take part in a free enterprise system hasn’t been successful due to lack of credit opportunities or diminished financial capabilities in comparison to others who are in the same line of business or who aren’t disadvantaged socially.

To qualify for the program, one has to meet the government programs socio-economic requirements as mentioned above. Other factors that are taken into account to be eligible for the program has to do with personal income, net worth and one’s value in personal assets as outlined below:

  1. Have a personal net worth of $250,000 or below
  2. Have an adjustable three-year gross income of $250, 000 or less
  3. The owner’s assets should be $4,000,000 or lower.

 

Requirements for Registration

Before registration, each entity or firm needs to take an online assessment evaluation to gauge its suitability for the course. The first segment of the course explains the program in detail, which culminates in a self-assessment eligibility test. The test comprises of simple yes and no answers aimed at evaluating the degree to which one’s entity meets the stipulated requirements of the 8a program. In the eventuality that your firm doesn’t match the stated requirements, you’ll get directed to the SBA resource tasked to aid you at that time.

The application process typically gets done electronically. If, however, you would like to do it on paper, you are required to get in touch with your local SBA District’s office to obtain the necessary application papers.

 

Conclusion

It is imperative for local firms or businesses that view themselves as economically and socially disadvantaged to register for such development programs to take advantage of federal allocations. Despite the registration process being hard, the benefits remain to be quite immense and would boost one’s business to the next level keeping in mind that such allocations will always be forthcoming.

10 STEPS to Life Transformation!

Posted on by Eric Coffie

Gain some perspective and don’t be too dependent towards anything. Use these 10 steps to transform your life right now!

HOW DOES THE TAX REFORM AFFECT YOU?

The new US Tax Reform Bill is just one of the government actions that will affect you, whether you felt it or not. 

So, what should you do? Gain perspective. It’s a two-way streak. Don’t be so close-minded that you lose sight of the opportunity to educate yourself.

Consider this quote from the speech of Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was at the Old Galilee Baptist Church in Shreveport.

“Privilege groups never give up their privileges without strong resistance. They have hardened thoughts. They are not defending what they think is morally right, they are defending what is economically profitable.”

So, to get into action, we have outlined these 10 steps that you should follow in order to not be left in the cold!

TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE WITH THESE 10 STEPS!

1. Learn a new skill.

A friend of mine transitioned from doing electrical and A/C work to digging holes for a living. Another guy went from construction to selling dirt. 

It may be something unreal, but you can’t mess this up because they are essentially earning more than their previous jobs.

The first guy is basically earning $30 per minute because that’s how fast his machine works, meanwhile the other one is taking the free dirt where he can make money out of it. 

2. Incorporate yourself.

If you are a normal employee, the tax is deducted from your salary first before you receive it, however, if you are a 1099 worker, you can benefit greatly from incorporating into a business.

Take advantage of tax write-offs because as a business, you only pay taxes afterwards.

3. Do your research.

Find out what opportunities fit you. Join an organization. Explore how to gain profit from your hobby. 

4. Get in the game.

You can’t just watch from the sideline. In order to be one of the successful people in the marketplace, you have to stop watching and start participating. Remember, life rewards doers, not admirers.

5. Reduce your expenses.

If you look at Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, they started off in garages and using things that they have in spite of inefficiencies, so why is it that we believe we’ve got to go stay and live in some sort of luxury?

Well, you don’t have to live frugally all your life, you just need to do this during your growth and development phase because in this way, you can use your money to invest in yourselves and your businesses.

Consider this quote from Mark Cuban. 

“It doesn’t matter how you live. It doesn’t matter what car you drive. It doesn’t matter what kind of clothes you wear. The more you stress over bills, the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. The cheaper you can live, the greater your options.” 

6. Get lucky.

You have to take at-bats in order to hit a home run. So, try and fail; rinse and repeat. Remember, in business, you only have to be lucky once.

“You’ve got to try. You’ve got to fail. You’ve got to do it again. You’ve got to get up. You got to pick up in order to get lucky… I need you guys to get out there and start swinging.”

7. Read.

Find a topic of interest and read everything about it. Just read, even if it’s less than 10 books. This way, you’ll gain perspective about that topic and you will slowly become an expert at it. 

Remember, the rest of the world is feeding their mind and stomach with junk food, feed your mind with learning and start expanding your mental faculty.

8. Write.

James Altucher recommends that you should start writing 10 ideas per day to start utilizing your idea muscle. This way, you make your ideas tangible and easy to analyze. An easy exercise to start is writing about the 10 places you want to visit.

9. Practice. 

Practice maintaining good habits. Millionaires, billionaires, athletes, and top performers are very disciplined. They exercise extreme control of their daily routines.

With this, start with little habits, like morning exercise and build upon that.

“I’m pretty sure it’s the same for all of you. If you exercise, then you’re likely to eat healthy. If you eat healthy, then you feel better, you have more energy, so it just kind of builds on itself. So, start off by doing those daily routines and disciplines and practice good habits.”

10. Guard your time. 

Time is treated as a commodity, but it is really a perishable asset because it is the only thing that we can’t replace.

Someone actually told me that I was egotistical for setting my phone on ‘Do not disturb’ mode until 9 am, but that’s what helped me become a serial entrepreneur. I make people respect my time.

“If I allow all that stuff, those notifications, to constantly come to me, there’s no way that I could sit back and work on new ideas, new concepts, and be able to deliver value and continually bring you guys these types of messages, so guard your time with your life.”

LEARN FROM THIS STORY

Now, we’ll talk about the story of Moses escaping Egypt on the way to the Promise Land.

This story references three groups of people and how they handle the situation. With this, we will compare them to everything that we are facing today: the challenge of choosing entrepreneurship versus the false comfort and the security of a job.

The first group wanted to go back to Egypt because they heard there were ‘giants’ in the land. This group reminds of those people who stepped out there and realized it wouldn’t be easy, so you decided to run back– they quit even before starting. 

“Though you suffer greatly at your job, the fear of hurt, uncertainty, potential suffering perpetuates much greater than the opportunity to win.”

Then, the second group also wanted freedom, but didn’t want to go through the sacrifices of what it takes to leave. They wanted someone else to do it for them, so they just hung around in the wilderness. 

This group is similar to people who have already formed their corporation, but just sit idle. They don’t want to do the next essential steps like calling the decision-makers because they are afraid, so they do other things as a distraction from doing these important tasks.

Lastly, the third group are those that said ‘yes’ even though there are ‘giants’ in the land because they believe that they can defeat them and make it to the other side. 

This group is the people who will most likely succeed because in spite of fear, they still persist. These people are those who are afraid, but continue to pursue and persevere. And you can be one of these people too!

“My goal is to show you how myself, ‘once a shepherd boy’ who grew up in poverty-stricken Goulds, Florida defeated the ‘giants’ and made it to the other side. Not only did I make it, but I am also reaching back to lend a helping hand to those who want to join me. But as good as my heart wants to be, time is my enemy. I cannot shoot your bows. I cannot run with your feet…  But if you have a willingness to suffer and sacrifice mixed with determined struggle, then you can gain your ultimate freedom. I can assure you that fighting this battle is no more difficult than the current fight for survival that you are already in.”

RESOURCES

If you want to gain more perspective on how to transform your life, then be sure to click the resources down below or visit the GovCon Giant website and social media platforms or 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=138s

Govcon Tips

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/blog/govcon-tips/

Success Profiles

https://govcongiants1.wpengine.com/blog/success-profiles/

Small Business Tips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXNLfpNOmgg&list=PL6-jBNNcc98s8Wokfs6Gg03bCuthc8bkk

Where do I start?

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-jBNNcc98vgItLSmWLW2nZfNv9gOFeJ