Teaming and relationship building with others in your industry is crucial to your success. As the owner of Frontline Support Solutions, I am constantly traveling, making appointments, and shaking hands to find out what kind of opportunities might exist for my team. I like to say, we’re shaking trees to see what kind of fruit will fall out! Last year, we atrophied a bit because the government decided to shut off for awhile, but we’re still strong and want to continue to grow. The only way to do that is by meeting people to find out what needs they have and if we can fill them.

At the time of this blog post, I’m about to head over to Florida to do some networking, presenting and even a little bit of visiting with some old military pals. My first stop will be in Gainesville, as I’ve been invited to present at the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program on their opening day. After that, I’ll hopefully be visiting with some folks in Tampa at Special Operations Command or Central Command. I haven’t made those appointments yet, but I’m reaching out because I know both of these military groups have missions that I could possibly contribute to- maybe not now, but sometime in the future. I was actually stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, but it’s been awhile. I’m hoping that some of my security projects that I’ve mentioned in earlier posts might be of service there. But I won’t know that until I make the appointment and show my capabilities.

I’ll probably continue down further into Florida after that, toward Miami, to visit with a couple other federal agencies, like the Coast Guard, and take some time to visit with some old army buddies that live in the area. If I’m able to secure some meetings at these agencies, what I like to do is start capturing some data about them; what particular mission does that agency have and what are their long-term goals? I learn a little bit about their procurement requirements and plan to give them a capabilities brief. These are ten to twenty minute meetings tops, so they have to be quick and concise, yet clear enough to persuade that procurement professional that I have the ability to support their mission.

When it’s all said and done and I’m back in Texas after these meetings, I might not hear from the contracting officers or federal agencies for awhile. But every once in awhile, I’ll get an email saying, “Hey Mr. Perez, can your company do this job?†And I’ve told you before, I tell them to send me the hardiest, ugliest jobs they have. If they aren’t getting any bites and we can make some money on it, we’re going to go for it.  We may not get these kinds of emails right away, but taking time to meet agencies and show our stuff will prove useful whenever a job comes up and they think of my company to fulfill it.

I’m always open to meeting with anyone in my industry, especially other vetrepreneurs, because who knows? If you call me here in San Antonio from out of town about a local job that you need support on, that could be the beginning of an extremely fruitful relationship for both of us. You never know where things will lead, which is why you’ve got to get out there and meet like-minded people. You can contact me, Joe “VetBizMan†Perez, directly.  Shoot me an email and let’s get that conversation started.

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