Tactical Insight, LLC

My posts are usually inspired by real life — by attending events, talking to experts, doing market research, and participating in capture and proposal efforts with clients. This is no exception. What started as a slide in my “So You Want to be a Federal Contractor” class that I teach at a Small Business Development Center evolved into a manifesto of good and bad ideas. Certainly, as a small business, you can’t expect to have all the answers right out of the gate – and ther

I talk to a many small businesses who aspire to sell their services and products to federal agencies. And when I explain to them that a “small business” under their NAICS Code is any business that makes $25M a year or less, they say, “25 MILLION?!” and they deflate a little. How can a truly small business compete with a $25-Mil company? or even a $5-Mil company? Another day, another conversation – this time with a small government contractor who is afraid of hitting the smal

Dear prospective government vendors: When in the presence of buyers, you should at a minimum know the “federal” structure of the U.S. federal, state, and local governments. Especially in a seminar setting when you raise your hand and the whole class is listening. It’s ok not to know a procedure, or have a question about micro-purchase thresholds. But do yourself a favor and learn the difference between federal and state governments, understand the differences between execut

So the Obama administration came in, guns blazing, contractors = bad, in-sourcing is good. And every contractor ran scared to hide under his/her desk, lest they be noticed and in-sourced. And, in the early days of idealism and grand-standing, a real push for in-sourcing did cost jobs and contracts. However, the fears of in-sourcing becoming a trend seem to be largely unfounded, for a couple of reasons: 1. Government is Slow. If you need a toilet fixed, you don’t open a plum

I’ve talked to a number of new government contractors who think that getting a status symbol will somehow make the phone ring off the hook, contracts will start dropping from the sky, and the likes of Lockheed Martin will be beating a path to their door. Well, hate to disappoint you — but adding an acronym to your business card will not stand in place of good old networking, relationship building, doing your homework to understand what the government is buying, and bolsting y