It’s no secret that working with the government can prove to be somewhat tricky. Things don’t usually move as quickly as we’d like them to! And while the government is an excellent customer to have, there’s always going to be a large amount of red tape you have to go through to get a job done. You must be willing to be in it for the long haul.

Because government jobs are funded with tax dollars, there are a lot of checks and balances to make sure everything is done correctly. The people in charge of making those decisions are going to cover their backs to make sure they don’t get in trouble. The regulations that determine those decisions are immense and it simply takes time to sort through all of them. The result can be a negative effect on the timing of a project. You may be ready to go on your end, but spend months waiting on the “go ahead†from the government.

I’m currently experiencing “the wait†when it comes to a security initiative. I’ve started developing a brand new division in my company, which is focused on security, video surveillance monitoring and communications, basically all wrapped up in the use of sensors. There are millions of sensors already in use today and I’ve seen projections that show billions by the end of 2015. But this type of growth is only reflected on the commercial side, the private sector. Unfortunately, government just can’t keep up with this growth because it’s new and the regulations don’t cover it yet. At some point, you’ve got a decision to make about your next step.

I’m not the type of person to let a hold up stop me from moving forward. I decided that I would continue to develop my business plan within the commercial marketplace so that I could create some past performance and have that to leverage when the federal government is ready to move forward with the job. I’ve had my initial plan set in place for awhile, but now I have to revise it to show a longer trajectory.

Now let me be clear in saying that I’m not trying to paint a terrible picture of the hardworking contracting officers that do exist in government. Just the other day I emailed an officer about a project in Miami at one of the VA centers. I submitted the question and within an hour, I had a response! I was shocked. So there are diligent, hard working people working to try to get things done as quickly as possible. A lot of the time, the regulations just take it out of their hands.

When you’re working with the government in any capacity, expect some hang ups. Plan for them. And after you’ve developed a plan, be prepared to revise it again and again. Don’t give up just because it takes a little longer than you expected. Maybe you can follow my lead and try out your services on the private, commercial side so that you can perfect your skills and be ready when the government comes calling. It’s worth it in the end. If you have questions about navigating our federal government or want to touch base for any reason, you can add a comment below or contact me, Joe “VetBizMan” Perez, directly..

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