Understanding Your Entrepreneurial Lifestyle Motivation

It’s no surprise that many starting entrepreneurs has their motivations rooted on shallow reasons such as looking forward to getting rich quickly or being able to work part-time or enjoying the freedom of not having someone breathing down their neck and ordering them what to do. But hard-core and successful entrepreneurs know that starting a business is not a walk in the park and does not always come with any of those abovementioned.

But for those business owners prompted with the right motivation and keeping more realistic expectations, their entrepreneurial lifestyle can be exactly the life they have always practically envisioned. A Wharton School of Business survey conducted on 11,000 MBA graduates in a span of several years revealed that people running their own businesses are much happier than those holding other professions—notwithstanding the income or profit they’re making.

So how do you qualify motivations and consider them right for yourself? There’s no doubt there’s an overwhelming number of self-assessment materials available online, but Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton’s What Motivates Me: Put Your Passions to Work offers a more interesting perspective. As workplace culture experts, Gostick and Chester Elton were successfully able to compile views and opinions from an astounding 850,000 correspondents.    

The book illustrated some fundamental personality types including thinkers and achievers and incorporated the specific appropriate motivators for happiness and business success to those types. Here below is a list that is largely focused on the entrepreneurial division of businesses:

• You are motivated to compete and win. You are almost always driven to win admiration, applause, customers, and of course money. Your determined and persistent nature helps you realize big things in new organizations. To produce the best output at work, you need incentives and recognition to be put in order.
• You are motivated by the thought that there is always a solution or a better way to resolve a problem. You are creative and love using your imagination. You are always eager to learn and enthusiastic about feeling that adrenalin rush every now and then. You are disappointed with bureaucracy and do not easily accept things just because they have always been there. You are highly considered as the embodiment of innovation in the organization.

• You are motivated to help others and be in tune with other people’s emotions. You are a passionate caregiver and deeply understand the problems of other people, determined to come up with solutions to make things easier for them. You believe that it is critical to balance work and family life and the importance of having fun at work. You are an asset when it comes to team building and a perfect for demanding customers.
• You are motivated when you are given the freedom to be in control of your actions and do things on your own. Achievers show their prowess by thriving on challenges, ambitious goals, and tight deadlines. That, even in problematic environments, you remain persistent and accomplish assigned tasks to set benchmarks and do them right on time. Workmates see you as action oriented, determined, and highly energetic.

• You are motivated with a purpose or cause to bring a change in the world. Innovators and builders are not afraid to express their views and opinions on critical issues and global concerns. You are able to establish loyal relationships, encourage growth in people, and succeed in team environments. Success for you is making a difference in the world.

Three Simple Changes That Will Help Grow Your Business

The modern-day business owner will need to have a full commitment to constantly assess his business practices and make the necessary changes if he wants to realize growth. You will need to plan out strategic calculations to encourage brand awareness, enhance customer service, and improve social engagement. The following are simple changes that you can evaluate and look into if you want to see your business grow.

Simplify How Your Business Is Done

Always aim to make every customer’s experience as simple and easy as you possibly can. One bad experience with your product or service will promptly send them off to your competition—and they are most likely never to come back. Remember how powerful word-of-mouth marketing is, with people being able to spread the word about your business—good and bad—to their family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances as easily and as fast as they can.

Evaluate your buying transaction from beginning to end, and make sure that every customer will understand the whole process without any difficulty. Make use of online surveys and other tactics to get to know what customers think about your products/services. This is one effective way of letting them know you really care about what they have to say. This is also a good strategy to evaluate your business process, fix those errors, and optimize your efficiency in areas that your customers were happy about.

Take Advantage of Social Media Platforms

Modern-day marketing has grown to be a socially interactive process with the development of various social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many others. Today’s customers enjoy the idea of having the means to be familiar with the companies that they are doing businesses with through various social media platforms. So if your business is not making use of this cheap advertising media, then you are definitely missing out on considerably huge revenues.

Keep in mind however that there are a lot to consider when it comes to using these social media networks. You must know how to have your followers engaged by having a regular update for them about your business, such as your newest promos or product launches. Get to know their interests and interact with them accordingly. When used appropriately, social media can help realize your business’s goals by making unique connections with customers, tapping large markets, and ultimately making customers feel that they are greatly valued.

Be Socially Responsible

Despite the unstoppable technological advancement in today’s business world, a large percentage of consumers still remain loyal to those businesses that are known for being socially responsible. When your business is visible and popularly known for giving back to the community, you are largely ensured of a good return of investment for this indirect advertising tactic.

Make your business environment friendly by making use of recycled materials for wrappers or receipts. Make partners with other organizations that are likewise advocating awareness for serious global or community issues. Organize charity work or sponsor outreach programs or serve meals at shelters—the options are endless and more often than not they will help customers know your business more and elicit trust.

Helping your business reach its full potential is made easier if you regularly make assessments so you know what changes are needed to be implemented. Keeping your business process simple, taking advantage of social media networks, and being socially responsible always helps keep your business on the right positive track.

StateAndFederalBids fully understands how critical it is get an excellent grasp of the government procurement process so you never miss out on your share of the business. Check out how they can greatly help your growing business as well.

The Stages of Small Business Growth

Your favorite pizza place and the popular Indian corner bistro may not quite look the same, but studies and research have shown that both actually go through exactly the same stages of business growth. They may be physically different, use different marketing strategies, and have different management systems, but they will be bombarded with common problems and issues at relatively similar phases of their growth.

Getting a good understanding of the stages of small business growth and the inevitable challenges, trials, and problems that go with running it is helpful if you want to be able to fairly evaluate your business’s growth pattern and help you figure out what your next steps should be.

1. The Start-Up. This is when you move on from just having an idea to actually doing the business, and this will take a lot of your time, stamina, perseverance, and a good list of first-time customers. It should go without saying that you will need cash or an initial capital investment here. While you will be supervising some help or staff that you have, you practically do everything in this stage. Your primary goal at this point is to exist. 
   
   At this point, you will need to have a clear marketing plan as to how you can identify, attract, and sell to your customers so that they remain loyal and stick to using your products or availing of your services.

2. The Survival. If you have proven the market that you indeed have a product or service that customers have a use for and will pay for that, then you have moved on to the next stage of your business growth: survival. This is tantamount to saying that you need to make enough money to finance growth.
   
   Many small businesses rarely get off this stage. While other business owners may just be content with getting marginal returns for all their investments, there are those that are simply unable to come up with enough financial resources to cover additional costs such as the development of new products or the employment of more people who can help provide more services for the business. This is where you really have to think whether you are capable of running the business; if you think you cannot, then you need to hire one who can.

3. The Success.  This is the point when the business is considered economically healthy. Here, the company is more or less generating profits that can ensure its success. However, it is at this point where you as the owner should look closely on the business’s organizational development, delegation of the management, financial stability, and the like and determine which needs more attention, modifications, etc., and make sure to give it immediate response.
   
   

   

   
   You may also opt to work on new business ideas that you want to incorporate with the current organization or choose to just enjoy the benefits of success or venture into other interests or hobbies. Additional financial resources will also be necessary if you intend to expand the business more.

4. The Takeoff. If you decide to expand, financing and delegation will be your main concerns. It will take a competent and expert management system to be able to handle growth and the every-changing business environment. Note that with the evolving business climate in the market, change is inevitable—and your business’s inability to cope and adjust to it can sometimes be overwhelming.
   
   As a major point in the pattern of business growth, it is in this stage when you have to decide whether you plan to sell your company for a remarkable profit or be a big business name. To do this, it is critical that you know your own strengths and weaknesses, your positive attributes, and your limitations so you can figure out if you really have what it takes to go further and expand.

5. The Maturity. One major challenge that you will have to face head on when managing a mature business is taking hold of your enormous financial resources, and at this point you may already have a whole department handling just this. Finally, you will have to be as flexible and agile as you can to be able to quickly adapt with the ever-changing environment of a competitive market.

StateAndFederalBids is home to the most comprehensive collection of all levels of government bidding opportunities—state, local, and federal—offered at the market's easiest and most affordable subscription service packages.

Women in Business: Getting Startup Funds (Even with Bad Credit)

Good news: Funding for women planning to start up a small business is readily available.

Bad news: It’s not that easy to get.

Most of these funding sources for women business owners come in the form of loans, and this can be very tough to avail of especially for those with a bad credit standing. Fortunately however there are still ways through which women can avail of these resources even with their bad credit. And one effective way is by being able to prove that you have what it takes to run the business.

The Peer-to-Peer Lending System

The peer-to-peer lending system is ideal for those women who only need a small amount of money (less than $10,000) to get started with the business. The process requires you to talk about your business and your qualifications to manage and run it. Prospective investors will look into your story, check its credibility, and decide on how much percentage of the money will they offer for a loan. Here, having a low credit means higher risk, so your interest rate will be higher as well.

Soliciting help from family and friends can be formally done through peer-to-peer lending. Here, they can lend you some funds that you can use to start up your business while they earn interest from the transaction, which will all be done under an intermediary online site.

The Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors

Venture capitalists and angel investors are those individuals or organizations that are ready to give you the financial capital that you need to start up your business, but they will need to have some control over a portion of your company and its profits. This system is ideal for those looking for a significantly large amount of money like around $100,000 to $1 million.

These individuals or organizations would not be bothered about your personal credit rating. Rather, they would examine your business plan, your capacity to run the business, your experience as well as those of your staff and personnel. Normally, these capitalists will look for those business ventures in the technology industry where the potential for enormous profits are high.

Business Grants and Loans for Women

Many nonprofit organizations grant help to women who would like to start up a business. The competition is stiff, and the grants are normally designated for disadvantaged women or those coming from low-income regions. You may increase your chances of winning a grant if you can hire the services of a professional grant writer for this.

Trying to get a loan with a low credit score can prove to be a daunting task. If you approach a lending company that offer SBA loans, which are normally backed by the government, then you have higher chances of getting an approval. But your best chance would be to get in touch with organizations that really specialize in helping women fund up their businesses and will not bother lending some funds despite your low credit. 

StateAndFederalBids is the one-stop solution for all those start-up businesses seeking to be part of and grow in the government bidding market. We help you find the right opportunities that your business needs.

Being a Small Business Entrepreneur: Are You Up for the Challenge?

Regardless how lucrative it may sound, starting a business is definitely not a walk in the park. It takes a lot of meticulous planning, emotional and financial preparation, and a full commitment to devote as much of your time and effort to eventually realize your goals. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that only half of new businesses survive five years after conceptualization, while only 35% stay afloat after ten years or more.

The Gallup Small Business Index/Wells Fargo surveyed owners of small businesses on how they fared in their journey toward small business entrepreneurship, and here are their opinions and advice for those who are aspiring to get into small business entrepreneurship.

• One of the first few concrete goals that every new business owner must accomplish is creating a solid business plan. As a foundation of your endeavor, your business plan should be the product of a good research about your market, the industry, your clients, your competitors, and every important aspect of the business.

• It’s no surprise that one of the biggest challenges of starting a business is the need to come up with the initial investment, which is almost always likely to be a large sum of money. The survey showed that the most popular source of funds used when opening businesses come from personal savings. Other sources include loans and credits and some help from families and friends.
• If there’s a business plan, it follows that you also need to come up with a financial plan that will help you look clearly and examine your startup costs.  Get help from a professional financial advisor on reviewing your financial documents to ensure that you are really financially capable with this undertaking and get it through for the first few years.

• If you’re looking at getting a credit or a loan, take the time to really understand what your business has to come up with and what it needs to do to qualify and be in a safe position for a secured financing plan.
• While many small business owners have the tendency to underestimate the time and effort that they need to commit to launch a new business, they should be made aware of how amazingly rewarding it is to own a small business. It is therefore critical for one to first identify his reasons for starting the businesses and to determine the opportunities it can bring.

• Know that starting a business does not guarantee immediate profit, so it is very important to make sure that one has the right reserved resources to cover the initial resources. New business owners are generally advised to be able to come up with enough working capital to cover all costs and expenses for at least a year.

Obviously, starting a small business can be a daunting task with the many challenges one has to face, but it’s a well-known fact that it could be equally rewarding in the long run. So before taking those first steps, make sure to have the right plans on hand. Give it all the time and effort you can, and you’re sure to find reap your own rewards as well.


The market's leading provider of state, local, and federal government bids, StateAndFederalBids provides business intelligence solutions that enable clients to strongly compete in the government contracting industry.

How to Come Up with the Best Price for Your Government Bid

Coming up with the best price for the product or service that you want to offer to the government means creating a balance in trying to generate profit for your business while still making a competitive bid. And when it comes to deciding on how to price your bid on the government contracting business, there is no question that you should be more knowledgeable on this than other people would be.

Take note that with the great variety of businesses out there and an equally vast number of pricing methods, the smartest thing to do would be to remain as competitive as you can in your target market. Determining the right price for your bid means having to consider the following factors:

• The Price History of a Product (or Service). Obtain the price history of the item or product from the buying government agency. You can ask help from the Point of Contact noted in the contract or from the Procurement Technical Assistance Center. You may also get in touch with the contracting officer who can provide you with previous contract numbers so you can check the figures on those documents. Be sure however that you’re looking at the same contract statements so you get a more accurate price comparison.
• Bidding Costs and Expenses. While other contracting opportunities are simple and inexpensive, other larger contracts can be more arduous and time-consuming—and therefore more costly. Here, it helps to follow the rule of thumb: an estimated cost of putting together a government bid can run around 3% to 4% from a proposed contract’s value. Also, be sure to have your business ready to handle this cost.
• Quality and Certification Requirements. Be aware of all the necessary licenses, certifications, and acknowledgments and know if acquiring them would mean paying more so you will eliminate any surprise expenses all the way.
• Other Special Requirements. Be sure to get all the requirements that the buyer needs. Do not bank on just a percentage of the cost of the item to cover for additional requirements like packaging, transporting, etc., as they can sometimes be more costly than you think, and can eat it up on your supposedly profit.
• Overheads and Profit. Remember that while you always have the free reign on inputting as much profit as you like, you have to win the contract first before you can finally enjoy that profit you have in mind—and the government contract bidding process is one tough and competitive arena. Take note too that while having your price cover all your overhead costs appear simple and basic, there’s still this pricing factor that many small businesses still cannot seem to get right: if you cannot come up with the right cost information, then you’d have difficulty making the right decisions for your business, correctly bid on a contract, and be ultimately competitive.

StateAndFederalBids gives you visibility into government partner activities and contract awards as well as a comprehensive archive of past procurement activities complete with buyer behavior, pricing, and other relevant variables enabling you to market and grow your business's government opportunities.

Why StateAndFederalBids?

Over the years StateAndFederalBids has earned its name as the industry leader having consistently kept its track record of holding one of the largest and the most updated database on government bidding opportunities for its enormous clientele base, its prompt and efficient customer support service, and its unparalleled market intelligence solutions.

The Widest and Most Updated Coverage

Having an extensive experience in the government bidding market tracking and categorizing bids and establishing direct relationships with all relevant government agencies across the country, StateAndFederalBids ensures their clients of unlimited access to the market’s most exhaustive sources on everything “government bidding.”  

StateAndFederalBids’ revolutionary source database guarantees the regular and prompt tracking of all levels of public government participants, which includes the federal government, states, regions, cities, municipalities, counties, school districts, universities, police and fire departments, hospitals, water and public utilities, correctional facilities, just to name a few. 

The Expert Team and Scalable System

StateAndFederalBids has the initiative in coming up with a unique variation of methods and strategies to establish our benchmark of having the most comprehensive coverage in terms of monitoring bids on a regular basis such as an easy-to-navigate and user-friendly search interface technology, concrete relationships with government entities, and a professional team of expert industry researchers.  

Every day the StateAndFederalBids’ team systematically organizes, categorizes, and strategically streamlines every bid inputted in the system to ensure that it reaches every business that matches it in terms of the business’ specifications on keyword, geography, and industry. These email notifications are instantly sent out to the respective businesses that need to simply click on the bids they’re interested in and start working on the packages right away.

The Best-Priced and Flexible Subscription Services

StateAndFederalBids offers a large selection of subscription options that your business can choose from. At StateAndFederalBids, government bidding opportunities are accessible through three account types. Our free bids account is the best way to test-drive our service before you can actually decide on upgrading. The free-for-30-days account alone provides access to daily email alerts; options to set your location, category, and keyword preferences; view of federal government bidding opportunities; and an option to email a federal bid to a contact/friend.

For a minimal monthly rate, the federal only account will give you unlimited access to federal bids, lets you receive daily email notifications, and lets you email the bids to friends and contacts. And at a very affordable rate, the paid bids account offers full access to all federal government bidding opportunities as well as all state and local government bids. Yearly subscriptions also come in great discount prices, while our regular monthly rates are at rock-bottom prices—so far the market’s best.

Our excellent team of researchers at StateAndFederalBids guarantees our clients that they get nothing less than the most updated listing of government bidding opportunities through our customized email notifications straight into their inbox and smartphones. 

Making Your Business Stand Out

Modern-day businesses are perennially bombarded with limitless choices and faced with the challenges of cutthroat competition—and the government contracting industry is no exception. With the federal contracting competition getting intense day in and day out, having a deep understanding of the government procurement process as a whole is a critical must for government contractors.   

Experts advise that to better position one’s business for success, it needs to have a good assessment of the federal government’s priorities. To gain that competitive edge, you need to do your homework and be smarter than the business next door.

1. Get to know your customer. It should go without saying that knowing one’s client is tantamount to establishing a good foundation for a business relationship. Research on their previous awards, the common denominator among their frequently hired contractors, their motivating factors, etc. This always helps you compose proposals that are well-adjusted to the idiosyncrasies specific to your customer.
2. Know the benefits of knowing the rules. Many small businesses take for granted the significance of knowing the laws that concern them, which actually gives them a lot of advantages. It is critical that you understand the regulations covering small businesses including set-asides, quotas, subcontracting goals, and many more.
3. Take the risk of being different. Do not be afraid to have the initiative of coming up with unique ideas for your small business and be different from your competitors. Be bold enough to go out of your “safe zone.” Put extra effort on research and development or create one-of-a-kind designs and strategies with your team.
4. Team up with other small businesses. Remember that large businesses have the same goals as the smaller ones. The same opportunities given to billion-dollar businesses are now widely open to small businesses as well. Instead of teaming up with competitors, establish a complementary relationship with them and orchestrate mutual success.
5. Grow with technology. Legislative changes for small businesses are due to take effect in 2015. The HUBZone program (Historically Underutilized Business Zones) has never stopped evolving since its creation. And modern-day businesses continue to witness the rise of mobile apps that provide limitless opportunities for small businesses. Contractors should invest on their internet marketing strategies, considering the huge influence that the social media and other online tools have on the market—sellers and buyers alike.

  

StateAndFederalBids offers clients unmatched visibility into government contracts and unlimited access to all the government opportunity listing at the national level at the market's best-priced subscription services.

Small Business: Strategic Management 101

Small businesses normally have two initial goals—they can either stay small but increase their profits or aim to grow into a bigger one. One has to commit a lot of time and exert tremendous effort in establishing a strategic plan to get to the goal that you have initially set, but the realization of the strategy will largely depend on how it is implemented. Properly managing the following elements of strategic planning should greatly help you and your business get to your goal points.

• Take a good look of your competition, market, the industry, and the economic state of the business in the local level. Study the patterns and trends in the market and how they have changed over the last few years and make estimations on how they would be faring in the next few years.
• Make an assessment of your target clientele base: what they want and how you can possibly deliver these needs. Then study every aspect of your business including how it is managed, whether it is operating efficiently, and how it can better meet the customer expectations.
• Know where your business initially stands and where you want it to be. Technically referred to as positioning, this element of strategic planning will help you specifically set the directions that you need to take for your business such that if you’re into selling ladies’ apparel and want to increase your profits but still remain within the small-scale business level, you will have to align all your activities with increasing your sales or expanding the business coverage. Or if you want to grow and become a large business, you’ll have to look into expanding your clientele base to not just deliver within the neighborhood but also outside the region and perhaps maybe on the national level. Here, it is important that you know exactly where you want to take your company, and aligning all the elements of your business will take that directional objective.
• Learn the importance of documenting your strategic plan. Put in boldface your goal, then enumerate the standards that you have set towards the achievement of that goal. Here, you will also need to write in detail the costs and expenses that come with every activity or event that you have listed under your plan, such as hiring additional staff, buying new equipment, upgrading your service providers, and so on. Your list will serve as your touchstone and reference material, which you can easily use in reviewing the progress of the implementation part of your plan.
• Personally ensure that your strategic plan is realized by taking careful steps to have them accurately carried out. It is critical to regularly have everybody on board updated with all the goings-on of the enterprise particularly the key personnel. Meetings and conferences are vital to keep the communication line open, and communication always plays a major role in the success of a strategic plan.

 

Government Contracting Secrets Straight from the Pros

Every year the procurement scorecard from the Small Business Administration shows a consistent growth in the number of small businesses receiving prime government contracts. In the first three quarters of 2013, nearly $70 of U.S. government contracts were available. StateAndFederalBids alone has tens of thousands of live and active bids regularly updated and hundreds of thousands of archived bidding opportunities in their database—all of these are supposedly within your business’s easy reach.

Learn the secrets of the government contracting market from the experts themselves:

• Take the baby steps with subcontracting. Experts advise businesses to always start small and easing into government contracts with subcontracting. Large companies with a General Services Administration Schedule contract are always required by law to have a portion of their work subcontracted to small businesses. The GSA and SBA websites have a full discussion on these opportunities.
• Meet all requirements consistently. Experts suggest that small business owners should be meticulous about reviewing every single requirement of the government agency and every detail of their proposal. The slightest oversight (even in the formatting) can cost a business the chance of winning a contract. With the bidding evaluators receiving hundreds of proposals for every solicitation, it is important that he finds the most significant information and figures in your bid without any unnecessary difficulty.
• Have an adequate and organized internal system. Experts always emphasize the need for an adequate internal system complete with an excellent accounting system and clear regulations and processes—as the lack of which can actually decrease a business’s chance of winning a government contract. Any business looking to secure a government contract needs to be well equipped to accurately gather, allocate, distribute, and document all costs, expenses, etc.
• Be open-minded about the business and learn from your mistakes. There is no use whining or complaining when you don’t get to win as many contracts as you wish or simply getting awarded one contract for that matter. Immediately evaluate your proposal and inquire from the contracting officer and other authorities on what you did wrong and what the winning contractor did right so that the next time you’re up to bid for some other contracts, you’ll know exactly what to do and be finally successful at it.

Our excellent team of researchers at StateAndFederalBids ensures you that we give you nothing less than the freshest and newest listing of government bidding opportunities every day with our customized notification emails straight in your inbox and smartphones.

Government Contracting: Tips, Recommendations, and More

It should go without saying that it is critical that you really know the product you are delivering or the service you are rendering and that you completely understand the procedures when you are in the government contracting business. It is also vital to keep the following in mind:

• When starting in the government contracting industry, the smartest first thing to do is to register on the Small Business Administration’s PRO-Net database and join the network of the OSDBU or the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.
• The government conducts business through contracting officers. Only these authorized agents have the power to bind the government, unless formally advised otherwise. But while they have been given such reign in the business, they too have limits so you need to ensure that you are dealing with the right person with the right authority.
• Never deliver something different (regardless whether it’s better or bigger) that the one specified in the contract. Any deviation from the specifications listed may cause the government to reject the deliverables, which can be very costly for you and your business.
• Establish a strict schedule to follow for the production of your deliverables to ensure that you have everything under control—from procuring your materials to subcontracting to quality checking—and that delivery of the product or service is made on the specified time. If you feel like you will not be able to meet some schedule, immediately notify the administration office and wait for the recommendation or advice on what best to do next. Remember that your inability to deliver on time gives the agency the right to cancel the entire contract—again, a scenario that you will most likely be the most disadvantaged party.
• It is no secret that the government contracting business has long been used as a means to advance many different social, national, and economic objectives. As a contractor doing business with the government, you are required to act in accordance with the various labor laws such as Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, the Service Contract Act, and other similar laws that promote such objectives (of course, except for those contracts where these statutes are non-applicable.
• Familiarize yourself with the contract provisions detailing the integrity of the government contracting process, such as the clause on “gratuities,” the provisions on the “officials not to benefit,” the section on “anti-kickback,” and many more.
• It would work to your business’s advantage if you can learn to be e-commerce savvy if you intend to do business with the federal government. This is because some government agencies, such as the Department of Defense, will require electronic transaction of payments, among others.
• In the event that disputes between you and the contracting officer occur, federal contracts have provisions that enumerate the procedures to following in order to resolve disputes. If you think and feel that a contracting officer may have issued a decision that you are not in agreement with, you should be able to immediately make an appeal to the Board of Contracts Appeal or the decision will be considered final and irrefutable.

What Not to Do When Preparing Your Bid

You should be warned that looking to establish a name in the government contracting business is not a walk in the park. Preparing the bid proposal alone can prove to be very stressful especially for those businesses taking their first few steps. With so many requirements to be accomplished and a long list of people involved in the process, committing a few errors here and there should not be a surprise. So here are some reminders on what you should avoid when writing that very important proposal:

• Do not start writing your bid without doing your research first. How well do you know the agency awarding the contract? How well do you know your competitors? Is your business up to par to deliver the agency’s requirements? Understanding the market and the players in government contracting should be your initial step in this business endeavor.  
• Do not leave out any required information. It should go without saying that since you’re preparing a very important document, double-checking the entire proposal is a must. Being a newbie in the government contracting business should not be an excuse for you to omit information especially those blanks labeled “required.”
• Do not provide inaccurate price quotes or make major mistakes in your calculations. Remember that you will have to provide evidence of the prices you are claiming to go with your products or services so every single item (be it a delivery fee, a product cost, or a service charge, etc.) should be accurately quoted. Make sure to double-check all calculations involved in your proposal and all numbers are correctly inputted.
• Do not stray away from the regular bid package format or miss listing critical information in their proper place in the bid proposal. While it could be cumbersome to be answering every question or filling every blank in the bid forms, you would be doing the evaluators a big favor if you keep up with the norm and help them find all that they’re looking for in just the regular places in the bids.
• Do not miss the deadline. Because your bid proposal is your ticket to being able to participate in the lucrative business of government contracting, common sense should dictate that you set aside ample time for you to prepare and submit a well-prepared bid proposal. Your timeline for bid proposal preparation should always include extra time to accommodate those unexpected delays. Note that missing the submission deadline alone can be one big reason for the evaluator board or agency to disqualify you and reject your bid right away.

StateAndFederalBids keeps your business up to date with the latest in the government bidding market and equips you with intelligence solutions to ensure your growth in the industry.

Know the Common Myths in Government Bidding

Every day thousands of businesses take their chances in bidding and hopefully winning a contract from the biggest spender in the whole world: the government. It is important to note however that it is not enough that you know the basics of government bidding to become successful in the industry. Here are the most common myths about the market that you need to look into so as not to be misguided:

• Government contracting is only for big businesses. Companies big and small can vie for the thousands of government bids posted regularly. In fact, thanks to the Small Business Administration, the U.S. government provides full support for small businesses, minorities, and women-owned companies across the nation in taking part in the government contracting business. If you are looking into entering and expanding in the industry, get an account at StateAndFederalBids to get help.
• Government contracts only go to the lowest-priced bids.  While the price or the cost of the bid is weighed in choosing the contract winner, it only accounts for 40% of the criteria. The decision-making process is also largely influenced by other factors including the company’s contract history, the business’s post-sale service, etc.
• Government contracting involves a lot of paperwork. While it may be true
  that the regulations covering the government contracting business require a lot of documents to be submitted, it ensures that a fair process is observed by and for all the companies involved, making it a relatively small price to pay for the all benefits that come with it.
• Government agencies do not pay on time. While payment arrangements were a problem in the past, modern-day processes have now been set to ensure that contractors are promptly paid right after work is successfully completed.

StateAndFederalBids offers the government contracting market the largest database of local, state, and federal government bids, where companies across the country may search and find the right contracting opportunity that ideally suits their profiles and needs.

  

Marketing Research 101: Helpful Tips to Keep in Mind

When done properly, a market research will give a business an advantage as it will help determine new products or services that can bring in more profit. A market research also helps evaluate whether companies are able to meet their client’s needs and preferences on existing products and services. Small business owners owe it to marketing research that they are able to identify any critical business issues that they need to immediately address, any additional product or service that they should start providing, any tweaking of package designs that they need to implement, or any modifying of service methods that they need to undergo to better serve their clientele base.

Why Conduct a Market Research

An excellent market research will show your business who your customers are, where to find them, and when or how they will most likely buy your products or avail of your services. The results of your market research will serve as your foundation in creating an effective business marketing plan or an efficient gauge to evaluate the success of your existing plan. When done poorly, a marketing research can spell the downfall of your entire business.

Primary versus Secondary Research

A primary market research aims to gather information by way of analyzing the efficiency of the current business practices and the current financial status of the company. It is also aimed at getting to know about the competition and how they work as opposed to your business processes. Here, research can be done through surveys, interviews, questionnaires, etc.

The secondary research, on the other hand, is carried out to evaluate data that has already been published. The results of the secondary research can be used to determine your targeted demographics, recognize competitors, outline your business benchmarks, etc.—all of which are aimed at

Research Tips to Keep in Mind

While conducting secondary research can be very useful, relying solely on its results may put your business at a disadvantage. Do not miss out on other relevant factors that are relevant to business growth; make sure to do your primary research as well.

Do not limit your sources to those that you can find online. Using the common search engines for your market research will limit your information to those available to the general audience and may not be accurate for your business. For an in-depth research in your targeted customer line, you should use more specific resources such as your local small business center, the local library, etc.

Talk to real customers. Ask them what they need and what they expect from your products and services. Small business owners have the tendency to survey only the people they know—family, friends, colleagues—who aren’t necessarily the best subjects to interview.

StateAndFederalBids is your one-stop shop solution for all your market intelligence needs to learn and grow in the government contracting business.

Winning the Contract: How Ready Are You?

So you were awarded the contract. Do you know exactly what to do and where to go next? How ready are you to handle the next few steps and carry out the responsibility that you have in your hands?

First off, it is important to know the fact that the ball is now in your hands and that now is the right time to start to fulfill the requirements specified in the contract—it could be to put up a structure, render a service, of provide a product.

While it is impossible to come up with the complete list of tips and techniques to help you gear up for taking the responsibility of being the contract winner, here’s a comprehensive list of must-dos once you get that contract in your hands. And although one can say that the items should be obvious (and with common sense, should be readily understandable), many start-up companies and small businesses normally fail to get off the ground simply because they seem to take the obvious for granted and fail to do them.

• Make sure that you completely understand the contract. As tiresome as it can sometimes get with everybody reminding you about reading the contract, it is one big and critical thing to do so over and over again. Make sure that you understand in detail all the provisions indicated: the project requirements, the deadlines and delivery dates, the documentations requested, and other specifications.
• Take note of all the important contacts. Make sure to have a complete and clear record of the contact details of important people in the contract. Include their full names, addresses, contact numbers, and e-mail addresses. Have these details for the contracting officer, the administrative officer, the government inspector, etc. You should also find contacting the local Defense Contract Management Agency helpful especially if you’re working on a military contract.
• Work as specified by the contract. Do not work outside the provisions indicated in the contract. Any special instructions must specifically come from the procurement officer or the administrative contract officer. You will be held liable for any consequence or cost that may result from taking any action outside of those specified in the contract.
• Find immediate resolution for any problem or question that you may have with the contract. Immediately contact the designated officers for any queries and inconsistencies that you may find in the contract. Ensure that you have all lines of communication open and that you establish a professional relationship with your colleagues right away. Do not hesitate to request for assistance for anything that does not meet your understanding.
• Have every process and procedure well documented. While we live in this so-called paperless society, it is important to have all business transactions accurately and promptly documented. Make sure that your entire team understands their individual responsibilities and the time frame allotted for every relevant activity. This is to ensure that the entire project is accomplished smoothly and that all deliveries are carried out in complete compliance with the contract provisions.
• Establish a firm quality control process. Always check that your quality control process is at its best. Review your procedures every now and then and make sure they are accurately and properly carried out so every item or product delivered exactly meets the specified requirements. Make it a point that it is always updated to conform to the dynamic standards of today’s government contracting market.

StateAndFederalBids is the market leader of online sources for government bidding opportunity listing, research, and business intelligence. It boasts of of top-of-the-line features that help businesses filter government bidding opportunities to find the ones that perfectly suit their needs and specifications.

Big Mistakes to Avoid in Government Contracting

Doing business with the government through renewable and recurring term contracting has long been proven to be a viable approach in finding a stable and long-term means of generating income. But selecting, competing, and winning these term contracts is easier said than done—as the world of government contracting is a big paradox that needs to be carefully examined and understood.

While the government-contracting business can be a lucrative career for contractors on the hunt for that stable long-term income in the today's fickle economy, it can be a confusing labyrinth of rules and regulations coupled with prospects who may not even bother to reply to emails or voice messages. When done incorrectly, it can be a costly loss and cause a lot of frustration. But when done right, they can definitely provide a steady and long-term stream of profit.

State, local, and federal agencies are all moving toward the steady use of term contracts to ensure the efficiency of purchasing in order to minimize costs while at the same time establish stable and secure expenses. But many contractors often make critical decisions in haste for their lack of knowledge and information on the idiosyncrasies of the business. Steer away from ruining your set goals in the government-contracting business by avoiding the following common mistakes:

• Inability to perform proper market research. It should go without saying that conducting research is one of the first vital steps vendors should take if they want to get to know the agencies and other critical players in the market. This is an important strategy to understand their practices, regulations, preferences, and other relevant purchasing aspects that they can work on to ensure propositions are prepared and submitted accordingly.
• Inability to examine the competition closely. Conducting a competitive analysis is another critical aspect of the government-contracting business that should never be overlooked. The competitive analysis is a must-have instrument for vendors as it offers not only a good look into the agency’s pricing, delivery requirements, and other relevant regulations but also of the current serving contractor’s winning proposition and their potential to retain the contract when it is back up for renewal.

• Inability to create unique and top-notch propositions. Getting awarded for a contract does not always mean having the lowest price. Increasing your chances of winning an award means having a comprehensive understanding of the agency’s needs, presenting excellent credentials, including add-on services, and establishing trust and rapport with your client.
• Inability to establish different strategies and approaches. Vendors need to be flexible enough to plan, create, and implement various strategies and approaches that will help improve their probability of winning more contracts. They will also need to be well informed about an agency’s contracting specifications including their receptiveness to the competitors’ products, services, and marketing approaches.
• Inability to determine the right contract opportunity to pursue. While vendors should not be putting all their efforts and resources on a single project from one agency or shop around from a large number of government contracts and spread their chances thin, they should nonetheless be able to determine which opportunities and projects are not suitable for their business needs and which one are. Putting your business at a high risk by working hard on winning a project whose specifications aren’t compatible with your business credentials and qualifications can cost the company more and leave it with a big loss and a negative impact on its revenue in the end. 

StateAndFederalBids holds the world's largest database of almost 50,000 open government bids regularly updated by an excellent team of researchers, keeping you on top of the government-bidding game. 

Smart Tips for Female Small Business Owners

A foundation of the U.S. economy, women-owned firms and the number of female entrepreneurs continue to grow over the years. Women-owned businesses account for almost half of all privately held businesses, hire nearly 15 million workers, and generate almost $2 trillion in operational sales, as reported by the National Association for Women Business Owners—although more than 90% of these businesses have bellow-million-dollar earnings. 

In one of the surveys conducted, female business owners explained that wanting to be their own boss was one of their main reasons for starting a business. The list also included such factors as their enthusiasm with the experience of realizing one’s business goals and successfully overcoming the challenges that come with working for oneself, while keeping focused and maintaining a positive outlook ranked high on their roster of secrets and tips to success.

Below are some helpful management secrets every businesswoman should keep in mind:

1. Have a good understanding of the financial picture. You do not need to be a financial planner or an expert to be able to manage your firm’s money well. But financial knowledge really matters. Successful businesswomen know their way in handling balance sheets, understand their business cash flow, really run their firms by the numbers, and are focused on utilizing the financial picture in growing their business.
2. Set clear boundaries about work and home. Female entrepreneurs really enjoy their success when they are finally able to set a good balance between work and home. It takes a lot of discipline to be able to define the limits between work and leisure such that family and friends must know that when you are at work, you should only be reached for emergency purposes or that when you’re not at work, to be able to really have time to bond with the family or relax just for yourself.
3. Get help from contract workers.
   
   While many businesswomen are focused about growing and expanding their companies, many are hesitant and are afraid about tax costs, insurance expenses, and the economy in general. Hiring contract workers instead of getting full-time workers provides a long list of advantages, especially with a huge number of talented people being displaced by the bad market and on the hunt for work.   
4. Find an advisory and support group. Another vital factor that successful female entrepreneurs give credit to for their success is having a strong and reliable support network that can come from friends, family, and even business associates. Building up a network of professional contacts is also beneficial as they will provide good avenues for sharing business ideas, promoting the business, and meeting other small business owners. The American Business Women's Association and the National Association of Women Business Owners are just some of these organizations that are specifically aimed at helping women in the industry.
5. Keep up with innovation.
   
   Successful modern-day businesswomen never hesitate to make use of new tools that come with modernization and take advantage of the revolutionary social media to enhance their clientele base and reach out to other entrepreneurs in the industry. There are various software that deal with money management, leaderships skills enhancement, people skills training that can prove to be very useful in running the business. Also, networking can be a good way to meaningfully connect with other business owners.
6. Give yourself credit for your success. Even with the support group around it is equally important that you reward yourself not only when the business is flourishing but also even during the tougher times. This should motivate you into doing better and continue to pursue your business goals with a firmly positive outlook amidst all the challenges, changes, and competition in the industry.

Over the years, StateAndFederalBids has retained its edge over the competition as proven by its impeccable track record of successfully securing government bids, its prompt customer service and support, and its revolutionary market intelligence--unmatched anywhere in the market.