www.wipp.org
What has been your biggest challenge in achieving success in the federal market as a woman-owned small business?
Access to set-aside contracts is one of the biggest challenges facing woman-owned small businesses. In 2012, the Obama administration created the 8(m) program that allows federal agencies to set aside contracts specifically for WOSBs. It was rolled out in February 2012 and in April 2013 government agencies were trained on the program. Yet, today the program has yet to be fully activated. There is no push to use it yet. Although there has been some education about it, most contracting officers don’t understand it. And the biggest challenge for me is to go in front of these contracting officers, explain the program and motivate them to use it. As of now with no dollar amount tied to it, it is much easier for them to use a traditional contract mechanism to get the RFP on the street. With better federal legislation, this set-aside program would further enable agencies to recognize that there are a lot of woman-owned businesses that can deliver quality products and/or services. Woman-owned businesses just need that chance. Sometimes when they are competing against larger more turnkey operations it is hard to get that first customer to trust a small business, so I think any legislation that is implemented towards that will be very advantageous for all women-owned business owners.
As a side note, during the WIPP annual meeting this past summer, I was able to be in the U.S. Senate hearing on this same program trying to get it moved into legislation. We need to push programs like this forward.
What competencies do you believe are critical to your success?
Strong project management skills, excellent communication and being innovative are key factors and core competencies in our success. The reason we are successful is because our customers are hiring us for an expertise they don’t think they have. We have to bring value on day one. That’s the reason I hire engineers – civil and industrial engineers. We understand the technical aspects of work. Whether it is putting a well in the ground for clean water or if it’s doing environmental sampling or vertical construction, we
understand what is needed.
Because we have that
competency for the
execution of the work,
our skill set with the
project management
side really adds value.
It also is critical for us to
bring innovative solutions
to our customers. Our customers
are looking for personnel who
understand their strategic initiatives, understand the mission of the organization and can go in and really bring value. We must understand the mission of the customer in order to identify pain points relative to that and look at our collective skill sets and competencies at Management Solutions to help our customers achieve their mission, alleviate any pain points and offer solutions.
Give us your top THREE tips for success in federal contracting.
1.
2.
3. Finally, bridge your service or product to their pain point. If you go into a company that already does the same service you do, it will be hard for them to see the value in hiring you. But if you can understand what their pain point is and bring a solution to help them towards reaching that mission you will be of value to them.