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Government Contracting with Your Small Business with LaQuan McCarley · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

• 0:00
  That networking piece is very important.
• 0:03
  You wanna make sure that you are going to industry days that are being, held by agencies
• 0:09
  you wanna go to the small business workshops.
• 0:12
  You wanna do, any type of webinars that are geared towards, outreach events for other your
• 0:17
  industry or small business.
• 0:19
  So you wanna continue network.
• 0:21
  You wanna talk to people.
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  You wanna talk to other government contractors who have who are already on this world because
• 0:28
  that connection is so our world is very small in the sense of understanding who we are and
• 0:33
  what we do, but making sure that you're visible.
• 0:36
  3, 2, 1, 0, ignition, liftoff, Ending small business failure.
• 0:47
  Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with the number one small business spurt, Melinda
• 0:53
  Emerson.
• 0:54
  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
• 0:59
  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
• 1:09
  Hi, everybody.
• 1:10
  Happy New Year.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady.
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  America's number one small business expert, and I'm so excited to welcome you to our very first
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  show of 2023.
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  Tonight's small biz chat podcast is gonna be an amazing show.
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  We're gonna be talking about how to get started with federal contracting.
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  Now if you're looking to grow your business through government contracts, you are certainly
• 1:36
  in the right place.
• 1:37
  It's complicated, and my expert's gonna break it down bite size.
• 1:41
  So if that's a new market you wanna pursue, you're gonna know how to get started with that.
• 1:45
  Now here on the small beach tech podcast, we talk about how to start and grow a successful
• 1:50
  small business from multiple angles This is advice you otherwise would have to pay for, but
• 1:56
  we make it available every month because we wanna make sure that you have the tools you
• 2:01
  need to take your business to the next level.
• 2:04
  Now the small biz chat podcast is a peer to peer mentoring show.
• 2:09
  And our mission is to end small business failure.
• 2:12
  Hopefully, you're watching us on my small bus lady Facebook fan page or on our YouTube
• 2:19
  channel.
• 2:20
  And by the way, if you like what you're listening to, please subscribe and share and
• 2:25
  leave a comment and tell us a topic that you'd like us to discuss.
• 2:29
  We're happy to do that for you.
• 2:32
  So with that, let me fully introduce my guests Today's guest is Laquan McCarley, and she's a
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  government contracting expert who provides consulting services to help small businesses
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  get started doing business with the federal government.
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  Her firm, verb consultants, Inc, provides business development, compliance, proposal
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  management, and certification services for businesses interested in doing business with
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  the federal government.
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  Through her 20 plus years of experience, she is familiar with the demand small business owner
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  space, and she's often referred to as a bridge to help her clients get through the hurdles of
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  business ownership and government contracting to reach their revenue goals.
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  Laquan.
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  Welcome to the small Bishop podcast.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  I'm glad to be here.
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  Alright.
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  So I gotta hear your back story.
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  How did you become the government contract whisperer?
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  Because I gotta tell you, I've been in business 23 years.
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  I was an 8 a company and we never once got a government contract.
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  And so it's hard to do business with the federal government.
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  So please enlighten us, how in the world you learned all this stuff?
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  Well, your story is not any different from a lot of other stories that you know, have gotten
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  to the government and then they just didn't do well.
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  They couldn't get any contracts or even get past the 1st stage of go.
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  So I eventually I actually started out wanting to be an attorney.
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  And in becoming in that process, I actually worked for a law firm and fell in love with
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  business because we did business acquisition, like licensing and compliance, and and I fell
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  in love with it.
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  And so I said, well, if I can help a business understand this process, you know, why not be
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  able to be involved more in the business community.
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  So, of course, my father who was a dreamer said, hey, since you know how to put a business
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  together and and start it, I want you to do mine.
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  And then I wanna challenge you to learn the federal space because I need to get federal
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  contracting.
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  And at first, I was a little bit skeptical, because I said, you know, it's very
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  complicated.
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  It's convoluted.
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  There's so many rules and regulations.
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  You know, it's gonna take a lot of time for me to understand it.
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  But fortunately, because of my background, I was able to pretty much understand the process.
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  There was still a lot of hurdles, a lot of research, a lot of asking questions.
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  The information was not as readily available as it is now.
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  We still have a long way to go for a lot of our small businesses to be able to access a lot of
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  the information other companies may be able to have.
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  So I've I made it my mission, in helping my father to say, hey.
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  I need to understand and learn this.
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  So if it's complicated, for me, and I can understand it and and break it down.
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  I can help other people.
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  And that's what I started to do.
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  I started helping other companies who were either new to the federal marketplace or either
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  was a part of it already, but really still could not get any traction.
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  To understand it, break it down, and be able to give them real and actual actions in order to
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  make their goals.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  So let's let's start with how you break it down.
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  I mean, how do you become?
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  I mean, how do you become a contractor to the federal government?
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  So the first prerequisite is also is always to just start your business.
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  Right?
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  You need to register in the state that you plan on doing business.
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  In.
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  Right?
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  You need to get your federal identification number from the IRS.
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  You need to have a business bank account.
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  So those prerequisite structure still apply in becoming a government contractor.
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  Now once you do that, then the key thing to do is to go to www.naics.com.
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  What is that?
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  That is the North American industry classification them, and that's where you find
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  your codes to what you do.
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  So that system will help you in that process to understand it as an industry.
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  If you do training, you put your keyword in, and it will give you all the colors related to
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  training.
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  So pick your primary service first.
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  And then if there's other services that are in addition to that, select those as well.
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  Because when you move over to the next system to register as a federal contractor, you will
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  need those codes as a part of that process along with all of your other prerequisites.
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  Right?
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  So you're now moving to the system called sam.gov.
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  Right, to register your business, it's gonna ask you a lot of questions.
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  It's gonna it's gonna ask you to pull all documentation that you probably haven't pulled
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  out in a while.
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  And it's also gonna challenge you to understand some of the compliance issues that they're
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  gonna ask you to be responsible for.
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  And then in that process, once you finish your registration, that system is gonna talk to
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  everything behind it to make sure you're your your company is still in good standing to make
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  sure that you do have a federal ID number, and to make sure that you're matching within your
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  governmental system.
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  And then you'll get your approval letter.
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  And then in that approval letter, it will give you the next steps that you need to take as a
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  new government contractor.
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  Alright.
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  Well, let's keep going down the right line.
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  Okay.
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  So now I'm I'm registered.
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  I'm registered in Sam.
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  I got my letter.
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  How do I find contracts?
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  Like, how do I find opportunities?
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  I mean, do do does the government have a one ads?
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  You know, like, how do I find what the government buys and who I should be trying to
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  talk to to sell my services.
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  Perfect.
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  So, for new government contractors, appoint you to Sam.gov.
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  You're going back to the same platform that you registered in as they have open and active
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  solicitation opportunities listed there.
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  You can search through your next call, which you've already obtained before applying to
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  become a federal contractor, or you can search through keywords.
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  So this will give you some opportunities that are out there for you that may match what you
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  do.
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  So be careful in reading what the requirements are.
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  Understand those key dates that you need to be aware of in order to meet the deadline in order
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  to apply, right, and and and present your proposal.
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  And there's a second one that I wanna give all of your listeners.
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  It's one called SBA, small business administration, subnet, s u b n e t.
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  Right?
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  Google SBA subnet, click on the actual link to that website And it is that come in and they
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  have a requirement to meet for subcontracting goals.
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  Right?
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  So as a new contractor, you may be able to meet some of those subcontracting opportunities with
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  larger companies so you can build your reputation and past performance within the
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  government.
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  Okay.
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  That's a lot of stuff, Laquon.
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  Now listen.
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  Doesn't somebody need to know me before I start working on responding to an RFP.
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  So networking is important.
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  Right?
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  So it's gonna go hand in hand in parallel.
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  So on When you become a new contractor, of course, you're you're new to the game.
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  You know, your business may be very young.
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  You can be 2 if you're 2 years or younger, people may not know what you do and who you do
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  it for or what type of, reputation that you have.
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  So, of course, the work is much harder.
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  Right, because you have to make sure that you have more visibility.
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  If you're 2 years or more, you may have done some work, with some other companies outside of
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  the government or maybe done something small with the state.
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  And then that way, you have built a little bit of past performance, but that networking piece
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  is very important.
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  You wanna make sure that you are going to industry days that are being, held by agencies.
• 10:22
  You wanna go to the small business workshops.
• 10:25
  You wanna do, any type of webinars that are geared towards, outreach events for other your
• 10:31
  industry or small business.
• 10:33
  So you wanna continually network.
• 10:35
  You wanna talk to people.
• 10:37
  You wanna talk to other government contractors who have who are already on this role because
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  that connection is so our world is very small in the sense of understanding who we are and
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  what we do, but making sure that you're visible.
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  So when it comes to targeting agencies, how do you, like, What is a simple strategy for how to
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  figure out, you know, whether or not your services are a fit to a particular agency?
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  So it's research, and and it could get complicated with the research.
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  But the government does have, another resource, which is usasspending.gov.
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  Which gives everything about an agency, how they spend, how much they spend, their
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  divisions.
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  And it takes a little bit of mining on your part as a government contractor to begin
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  looking at that website to understand what agency bets fit you.
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  Right?
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  So You can also do a Google search as to what agency provides a certain service or will
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  procure a a certain service to kinda narrow that down.
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  As a new beginner.
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  So then that way you can start doing more research on the agency itself.
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  You can actually reach out to their small business office to see what areas or what
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  people you need to talk to in regards to what you provide and if that agency really is a fit
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  for you.
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  So it takes a lot of research.
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  I won't lie.
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  You know, it's this is it's not an easy job, but once you start doing more of the research,
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  talking to more people, networking, you'll find that you'll find certain certain areas of the
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  government that you truly fit in.
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  Now, should I start out as a brand new federal contractor like going out 5 agencies, or does
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  it make more sense to focus on maybe, like, 1 or 2?
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  So I tell people between 2 to 3 is is generally manageable.
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  Right?
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  So if you are in an industry for an IT, cyber security, a help desk, you definitely wanna
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  know who's spending the most money, right, for for what you're doing with less competition.
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  You don't wanna get in the pool of people that are there are 1000 and 1000 of contractors
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  because it's a new contractor.
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  It's hard to be seen in that pool.
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  You wanna go to an agency that has a smaller pool of people but you may have more of a
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  niche.
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  Like, you may have a a edge or an industry, jump ahead from someone else.
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  So you wanna make that you're different in what you're providing to the government that you
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  actually show that difference and that it can be showcased, with that agency.
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  So between 2 to 3, to begin with, just to kinda make sure that you're doing your due diligence
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  and research and understanding what is being required of you as a contractor.
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  Now when it comes to all this research and and and business development, There are lots of
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  agencies out here or or companies, if you will, that will help you with this or that offer to
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  help you get certified and stuff like that.
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  What kinds of things do you need to be thinking about if you think you wanna hire or sort of,
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  like, outsource your government, business development services?
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  So that's a very good question.
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  And and one of the things I would tell people is to make sure that you look at, the company
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  in itself and and if they have relationships.
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  Right?
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  How do they go about going about opportunities?
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  Are they just looking at opportunities once they come out on this are they actually chasing
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  after what's called requests for informations, forecast opportunities, talking to government
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  officials, asking them what are they in search for.
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  So it's all about making sure you understand their company's strategy and how it aligns with
• 14:24
  your goals.
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  Right?
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  So if you're looking to scale your company to a certain dollar value, then that company should
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  be able to to be able to, coach you and counsel you into the steps that need to happen.
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  Right?
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  So even in the certification process, if you qualify for certifications in the industry and
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  areas agencies wanna see, you want that company to be able to advise you on that.
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  So if there's an agency that loves 8 a companies or that loves hubzone companies, or
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  they're struggling to do, women owned, small business, interest, procurements.
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  Then your company that you're dealing with will have a little bit of insight for that because
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  we've been reading the strategy plans.
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  We kind of understand what the government is looking for.
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  Some of their pain points, if they're meeting their goals.
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  Right?
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  Each agency has a goal percentage that they must meet in the business industry Whether it's
• 15:22
  certification, whether it's small business, whether it's large business, but they have
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  percentage goals.
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  So we wanna hold them accountable.
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  So get a company that holds them accountable for you to be seen and used in their in their
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  procurement cycle.
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  Great.
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  Well, listen, I have really been enjoying learning about all things federal contracting.
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  Laquan, let's jump into it.
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  What is the best time to look for a government contract.
• 15:49
  So this is a 2 part question.
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  So the first part is there's always active solicitations within the system.
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  Matter of fact, there's over 2,000,000 that's usually in the government procurement system at
• 16:01
  any time and at any stage.
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  The second part is is industry specific.
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  So if you have a certain niche area, the government works just like a business cycle
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  work.
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  There are some seasons where you are gonna do very well and other seasons where there's some
• 16:17
  downtime.
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  Right?
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  So for instance, if you're in the mental health space, and then you service the agency services
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  schools.
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  We're gonna talk about that or other institutions that services children.
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  They may be looking to procure prior to the school start year.
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  So you wanna make sure that you're looking for opportunities within the government First And
• 16:37
  Second Quarter because that's when they'll be really looking for those services.
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  If you're in an industry, for an example, like construction, IT, janitorial, things that are
• 16:47
  recurring and needed all the time, you're gonna find opportunities that are being rolled out
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  all the time.
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  It's a matter of whether your capability and your business type meets or match that
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  particular opportunity.
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  So can you explain to us what are the sort of, like, 4 different types of federal contracts.
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  Absolutely.
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  So we have what's called a fixed price, cost estimation, time and material and infinite
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  delivery, infinite quantity, which is known as IDIQs.
• 17:20
  Right?
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  So to go back to the fixed price, it it is self explanatory in its ex in its title is that
• 17:27
  whatever you tell the government that you can provide that for.
• 17:31
  So if it's a $100, if it's gonna cost the government a $100 a month for your product or
• 17:36
  service and you are awarded that contract, you cannot bill.
• 17:40
  More than a $100 a month for that service or product.
• 17:43
  Okay?
• 17:44
  Unless you have some level of an escalation calls clause within your contract, that gives
• 17:49
  you room for, particular situations.
• 17:53
  You are locked in to the fixed price in which you have bid it on that contract.
• 17:58
  For cost reimbursable.
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  So this is a little bit flexible.
• 18:02
  This is the government saying, hey.
• 18:03
  We know that it cost us a $100.
• 18:06
  But every now and then under this particular contract, we have this issue that we may need
• 18:11
  to do a little bit of an expansion.
• 18:13
  Right?
• 18:13
  So if that service is requested, what they'll do is they'll put a cost reimbursable piece,
• 18:18
  within your pricing structure to say you are not to exceed this amount of money.
• 18:22
  It could be $5000.
• 18:24
  It could be a $100,000.
• 18:26
  But generally, that budget is set by the government that's included within your bidding
• 18:30
  price.
• 18:31
  So when your contract is awarded and you're going through the process of providing your
• 18:35
  product or service and the situation comes up that there is a a a not as necessarily a
• 18:41
  separate issue, but it's it has to be related to what you're doing.
• 18:45
  Like, we're having an event, and we need more material.
• 18:49
  Right?
• 18:49
  You're still providing the day to day service, but this event is gonna cost us an additional,
• 18:55
  amount for the additional materials necessary.
• 18:58
  Then you would have to get preapproved by your contracting officer in order to have that, cost
• 19:05
  reimbursement done.
• 19:07
  Because when you go to invoice and guess what?
• 19:10
  Once you get that invoice over and it says, here's my fixed price, and I've spent 200 more
• 19:15
  dollars in cost reimbursable.
• 19:17
  If they don't see a written approval from your CEO officer, your invoice is rejected.
• 19:21
  So that's one of the major keys in knowing about cost reimbursables.
• 19:25
  Preapproval is important, and writing is important.
• 19:28
  So that way, you your invoice will always get paid.
• 19:31
  The other thing is time and materials.
• 19:34
  So time and materials is pretty much just hours, the labor hours, versus the quantity of
• 19:39
  materials being used you've you're telling the government I'm gonna you know, the government
• 19:44
  that you only need 30 hours for this contract of labor service, along with our quantity of
• 19:50
  materials at the set price that you've already provided to us.
• 19:54
  So you have to stay within that framework.
• 19:57
  So that's time and materials, and it can have a combination of some other, portions of that
• 20:01
  contract.
• 20:02
  So make sure that you're reading the contract very closely to make sure that your invoicing
• 20:08
  is in line with the service and products that you provide.
• 20:11
  So with the IDIQs in infinite delivery and infinite quantity, so this contract type, is is
• 20:21
  for the government who does not understand or have not really, narrowed down how much or how
• 20:30
  long.
• 20:31
  Right?
• 20:31
  So there may be a service that's required, but they fully don't have anything behind it to
• 20:35
  say.
• 20:36
  I only need this amount for this for this long.
• 20:40
  So they'll create this contract where they will have contractors to pre bid, like, I mean,
• 20:45
  excuse me, not pre bid, pre vet.
• 20:47
  Under this particular contract vehicle, right, for the particular service.
• 20:52
  Once they are selected as pre vetted contractors under this IDI queue.
• 20:57
  Now you're waiting for a task order.
• 21:00
  That task order is the request for the actual service.
• 21:03
  So for example, if I'm in the janitorial world and I need, this particular building cleaned,
• 21:11
  only for, an event or for some type of special conference is only gonna be for a certain
• 21:16
  period of time.
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  That is what's put in that task order.
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  And then with that task order, the contracting officer has the ability to say I'm gonna give
• 21:25
  it to one particular contractor, or I can actually make them compete.
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  But only within the actual IDIQ framework that you have to already be pre vetted.
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  You can't go outside of that IDIQ.
• 21:39
  And and task it out.
• 21:41
  Once they're awarded to whoever is within that group, the net task order is signed off by both
• 21:47
  the vendor and the government agency, right, to lock you guys in and to generate a purchase
• 21:53
  order because you wanna make sure that the money is allocated to that specific task order.
• 21:59
  Now with IDIQs, there are people who have been on the and got no work.
• 22:04
  Right?
• 22:05
  And then there are people who have gotten a lot of work, but it all depends on the demand.
• 22:10
  And if the government doesn't understand or know the demand or have with the demand.
• 22:15
  This is a vehicle that they will use in order to build that level of history as to whether or
• 22:20
  not it's a viable for go to a different type of solicitation process.
• 22:24
  Alright.
• 22:25
  So you've just made my whole head hurt.
• 22:27
  Sorry.
• 22:29
  It's okay.
• 22:31
  It's alright.
• 22:31
  People need to know this information.
• 22:33
  So now what kind of compliance comes along with government contracting?
• 22:37
  Cause they don't just give you a contract.
• 22:39
  They they're like they're gonna give you kind of scary contracts.
• 22:42
  Right?
• 22:42
  So tell me about some of the compliance things that go along and there's concise of a ways you
• 22:46
  can tell me.
• 22:48
  What kinds of compliance issues there are?
• 22:51
  Alright.
• 22:51
  So, again, complicated.
• 22:54
  Right?
• 22:54
  The government is not a simple 10 step process.
• 22:58
  So in the compliance world, your contract with the government is extremely important for you
• 23:04
  to read and know and sometimes have an attorney involved.
• 23:08
  Right?
• 23:09
  They give you a a a large snapshot of what it's gonna look like through the solicitation
• 23:13
  process.
• 23:14
  Once you get awarded, then they actually solidify all of that information, give it over
• 23:20
  to you for review to make sure you understand what your responsibility is.
• 23:24
  And most times you're reporting requirements.
• 23:27
  So some of those requirements could be equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, It
• 23:33
  could be biodegradable reports.
• 23:36
  It could be, anything that involves a a certified payroll, if if that's the type of
• 23:42
  contract under that they'd have to verify that you're paying your employees under the
• 23:46
  particular act that that, contract has deemed to be important for that particular contract.
• 23:53
  So make sure that you're reading, reading, asks a lot of questions.
• 23:58
  If you don't understand, If you see anything in that contract that wasn't a part of your
• 24:04
  process and the solicitation, then you definitely wanna make sure that you ask those
• 24:09
  questions because you don't wanna sign up for something that never got bitted on.
• 24:13
  Right?
• 24:14
  Because that happens too.
• 24:15
  And it could be an error on the government's part in preparing the contract.
• 24:19
  But make sure that you have someone that's involved with you that can actually help you
• 24:23
  through that process so you know what you're signing up for because you are responsible for
• 24:28
  the fulfillment of that contract.
• 24:31
  Alright.
• 24:31
  Well, you have given us so, so much information.
• 24:34
  Last question, What is the best business advice anyone has ever given you?
• 24:39
  Don't take no foreign answer.
• 24:43
  No is and no should be your propelling force to your yes.
• 24:47
  Always look for people who have the ability to say yes.
• 24:51
  So when you come to these hurdles within the government and within your business, right,
• 24:55
  this is all a part of of being in business.
• 24:58
  That you you chased the yes and understand.
• 25:00
  Right?
• 25:01
  So don't take no for an answer.
• 25:03
  You know, keep doing your research.
• 25:05
  Learn as much as you can reach out of people who can help you, people like my company,
• 25:10
  myself, you know, people who wanna see you win, right, and wanna see you grow to the place
• 25:15
  where you wanna go.
• 25:16
  Alright.
• 25:17
  Well, you heard it here folks, Laquan McCarley, for verve Consultants, Inc.
• 25:24
  She is the lady in the know when it comes to federal contracting.
• 25:28
  Laquan, thank you so much.
• 25:30
  So I wanna thank my guests for being here today.
• 25:32
  We have had an amazing show.
• 25:34
  If you're interested in government contracting, check out Laquan's website,
• 25:39
  verbconsultantsinc.com, And thank you all for joining me for this episode of the small biz
• 25:46
  chat podcast.
• 25:47
  If you are ready to start your dream business in 2023, I have a solution for you.
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• 26:51
  I'm Melinda Emerson's small business lady.
• 26:53
  America's number one small business expert, and I will leave you with the last thought, you
• 26:58
  never lose any business.
• 27:00
  Either you win or you learn.
• 27:01
  God bless everybody.
• 27:05
  Thanks for listening to the small biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 27:10
  Subscribe to this podcast, wherever you listen to podcast, and join us next Wednesday for more
• 27:15
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• 27:18
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• 27:22
  website succeed as your own boss dot com.
• 27:26
  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.