Walter Cotton III  

(By: Walter Cotton III) 1/07/09                                                

If you have not been watching the Federal Contracting Forecast, let this be your early warning.  There is a category 5 SDVOSB Contracting Storm heading your way and you still have time to prepare for it!

Much like Hurricane Katrina, all of the conditions are optimal for the production for an environment-shifting event that will pass through our business community.  Yet the single most important questing that must be addressed, in advance of this wealth building Eye-Wall’s arrival, is are you ready to withstand its impact and take the maximum advantage of the benefit that results from its passing…

Simply stated; – Government Contracting will be one of the few business growth areas within our economy in the near-term – SDVOSBs have a material advantage in their ability to capture the new contracting growth that will result from SB Set-Aside requirements (i.e. projected to be more than $32.5 Billion), and capable SDVOSBs will be solid investment targets for investors that are seeking a dependable alternative to the volatile financial markets.

The current conditions that are contributing to this Storm’s strength include:

·         The emerging requirement to sustain Federal SB Spending results – while Agencies manage the demands of the June, 2007 change in the SB Certification Policy (search: RIN 3245–AF06)

·         The increasing Government Wide pressure to reduce the impact of Contract Bundling (see: http://www.va.gov/vetbiz/library/teaming.pdf)

·         The New Administration’s reprioritization of the SB’s importance to the Nation’s economic health & creation of the Chief Performance Officer position

·         The fact that SDVOSBs must be considered for all SB Set-Asides before a Set-Aside can be made to other SB groups (i.e. WOSB, MBE, SDB, VOSB, SB…etc.)

·         The elimination of Capital Gains Taxes on SB Investment

·         The plan to allow Venture Capital Companies to directly invest in SBs and allow those organizations to ‘still qualify’ for SB contracts (see: S. 3362/H.R. 5819/H.R. 3567), and so on.

This is truly going to be a Prefect Wealth Transferring Storm for the SDVOSBs that can deliver agile and scalable solutions that meet the needs of Today’s Mission.

So the $100 Million Dollar questions is how do you get prepared to maximize the benefit that you can acquire from this Storm.  The answer is simple; you must adjust your business model and implement a strategy that empowers it with value creating agility.

For the majority of SDVOSBs the optimum preparedness strategy requires the implementation of the ‘protest-proof’ Joint Venturing Business model.  Moreover, having a firm grasp on JV business model management will empower your organization with the ability to immediately qualify for and capture ‘any opportunity or requirement’ that hits your customer’s desk.

Now that you know what you need to do to prepare for the impending Storm, here is the cost effective answer to the ‘How You Get Her Done’ question.  1) Visit the JV-In-A-Box website and acquire the Joint Venturing tools that you will need for this mission (www.jv-inabox.com).  2) Become a participant in the SDVOSB Continuing Education Community of Practice known as the Patriot Report (www.blogtalkradio.com/SDVOSB).  3) Be willing to accept the fact that ‘Now’ is your time to realize your entrepreneurial dream.

The fact of the matter is simply this; The Prefect-Storm is already having a material impact on our community.  Agencies and Large Prime Contractors alike are scrambling to find quality SDVOSBs that own the agility necessary to support their needs.

This message is simply a call to action that empowers you with the knowledge necessary to take control of your contracting destiny.  At the end of the day – this is a power that has always been in your hands – and there is no better time than ‘NOW’ to start using it…

Mr. Cotton is widely recognized as on of the pioneers of SDVOSB Joint Venturing movement, and is called on by  Agencies, Large Prime Contractors and VSOs to provide training on effective implementation of SB JV strategies (i.e. SBA, DoD, Lockheed Martin, American Legion, TVC…etc.).