The last couple of posts I’ve been talking a lot about the upward swing that we’re seeing in government contracting and pre-solicitation notices. It’s very exciting for all of us who are pursuing that work, but I’ve cautioned you to really prioritize your submissions, especially if you are just starting out in the business. Each of us has a different way of running our company, but I’ve learned a lot over the past couple of years about what works for me and what definitely does not. It’s important that each of us hone in on our process and pursue these contracts in a calculated, efficient method.

If you see a project that is solicited and advertised that looks easy, pays well and has a base year with multiple year options, you might want to expect a shark tank of competitors. Frankly, if it looks that easy, then there are a lot of people who can do it. When I think this may be true, I validate it by attending the site visit or pre-proposal conference. In my experience, there are usually thirty or forty companies that show up for jobs like that. More than likely, I’m not going to bid it.

If I go to site and I see only three or four companies represented, that means there is probably something in the project that stinks; it’s a dog. For some reason, there’s something in there that’s hard. And I love those. Those are the type of jobs that I focus my efforts on because they eliminate a lot of the competition. I’d much rather place my money on my idea of performing this challenging project than a generic one that anyone can do. If I can get the right subcontractor to team up with and really hunker down and give the government exactly what they want, it’s been my experience that the government will pay. They might not pay the absolute premium, as we have a finite number of tax dollars, but the odds you’ll get the job are so much higher with these harder projects, so it’s worth a shot.

Each of us are going to have different things we look for when we go to a pre-bid. Beyond how many companies are represented, I tend to look for exactly who these people are. Especially if it’s a local project, we tend to see a lot of the same characters. They go no matter what. These guys tend to bid on everything and I’ve noticed that their win ratio isn’t that high. They also have a reputation for protesting the jobs they don’t get. So, I don’t like bidding against them. If I happen to be fortunate enough to win this contract, against the thirty or forty companies there, odds are that I’m going to be protested. I don’t have time for that. I’m concerned with creating revenue and building my business, so when I see that company at the pre-bid, it’s usually a sign that I’m not supposed to be bidding.

You’ve got to figure out what you are looking for and what works best for your company. Use your past experience and win-loss ratio to determine what is profitable and makes the most sense for you to pursue. Sometimes you have to try what doesn’t work first to figure out what does. I’m here to chat about my past experience if you have any questions or would like to pick my brain. You can contact me, Joe “VetBizMan†Perez, directly. Good luck out there.

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