A pre-solicitation notice is basically an announcement of a new project that will be starting soon. It contains a very basic primer to whet the appetite and garner interest. With the recent uptick in government contracts, every once in a while we tend to see a pre-solicitation notice that we are interested in, but don’t know exactly how we will end up getting it accomplished.

About four months ago, a pre-solicitation notice for a logistics type project here in San Antonio was released. The project had been performed at Lackland Air Force Base, which is within the Joint Base San Antonio (including Fort Sam Houston, Randolph Air Force Base, and Lackland Air Force Base). What caught my eye about this pre-solicitation notice was that it was set aside for a service-disabled veteran.

There is somebody that I would like to team up with who has past experience with this kind of project. I reached out to this incumbent contractor to see if they were interested, and they immediately expressed their excitement. Recently, I sent them a teaming agreement so we can solidify our relationship. It basically says that we will both agree to work exclusively with each

other. That way, we can make a statement saying that if we choose to go after this project, we will do so as a team.

When we reached out to this organization, they said that they were inundated with calls form people all over the country. Spanning all the way from Vermont, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, companies had expressed interest in partnering with them. I told them that I was located here in the same area, and I had been a member of the local business community for many years. Once I told them who I was, they had enough motivation to seek out more information about me and what I do.

They had to do their due diligence to find out if I was really being truthful. They would do so by looking me up to see that we really were a local company with a strong reputation. Once they learned that what I said was accurate, it probably gave us a leg up over the companies that were based in other states. Of course, the final decision will be made once we see the actual solicitation. Maybe it will be too risky, or the requirements could say something that we don’t like. Remember, it has taken more than four months for this project to materialize.

I think the lesson to be learned here is, when you find a project that you might be able to perform based on your past experience, there is probably another organization out there to team up with. Either one of you might not have been able to meet the requirements to take on the project alone, but by working together you can both take advantage of each other’s strengths.

Once you see a pre-solicitation notice that is compelling to you, reach out to the folks that can become valuable teammates. Give them a call, because you have nothing to lose. What’s the worst thing that could happen? They might end up rejecting you, but that isn’t a big deal. A telephone call that lasts a few minutes might end with a no, but it might also end with a new teammate that helps you to reach your goals.

If you have any questions about pre-solicitation notices, contact me, Joe “VetBizMan†Perez, directly so we can talk more.

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