We typically write articles that focus on pavement evaluation and ride quality of the aircraft that operate on those pavements. However, from time to time, we would like to write about other ideas, practices and experiences APR has benefited from (or suffered from) by being a small business. Our hope is that someone may read the article and save them some time or provide them with an idea that helps them. We realized early on that help and advice can come from many different sources. We hope this article is one of those sources that can help you.

One crutial requirement for any business, large or small, is the ability to see opportunities.  You must be aware of projects in your field so that you can bid on and, hoperfully, win.  However, as a small business it can be difficult to find the right leads to those opportunities in a timely manner.  Legacy government contractors such as Northop Grumman, Boeing, KBR, and other large corporations may have lobbyists to find the projects and posess the extra man-power needed to write the proposals.  Their methods are sound and they waste very little resources on proposals that are not likely to win.  With large companies, often times each type of proposal has a process, a boiler-plate, and a team.  The team members can quickly gather pertinent technical information from the appropriate people and produce the final document as requried by the RFP instructions. 

Contrast that with the efforts of a very small business. Thousands of small businesses all over the country have capabilities that line up well with RFP’s put out from federal, state, and local government agencies, but they often miss the opportunities. There is no lobbyist there to influence the decision makers and the person or people looking for RFPs are often given many responsibilities in the area of marketing and doing the actual work of the business. Even when an RFP is found, the instructions are overwhelming to a small group of people that are busy carrying out the work of the day-to-day business.

But take heart, we live in the information age, so the playing field can be somewhat leveled if the small business knows where to look. You cannot waste valuable time and resources scouring the entire internet for opportunities, simply because of the vast amount of information available. You must direct your internet time to the most valuable places for information.

Finding the Opportunities
First, take advantage of the Google Alerts system. You give Google some key words pertaining to your specialty, and Google will alert you with and email when anyone posts and article containing those words. This can help you, at the very least, see movement toward an RFP- like headlights in the distance. Often times, those articles may contain key information as to who to contact and the timing of certain projects.

Next, use the website FedBizOpps. This is the federal government’s website for listing RFPs. It is searchable, and pretty easy to use for a government website. Get to know it and come up with a regular schedule for searching it.

Of course, you also need to regularly visit websites of companies and government agencies that are most pertinent to your business. For example, if you want to do a lot of business with the state of Ohio, then you need to visit their procurement page and get to their business opportunities.

Now, step away from the computer. Think about the organizations influencing your field. They may not be the one putting out the RFP, but they probably know who is. Treat those influencers like customers- build those relationships. After all, business is about relationships, even with something as cold as a government RFP. If you can make friends with the right people in your field, you don’t need a lobbyist. If a future RFP is in your area of expertise, your influencer friend is sure to let you know.

How to Respond
Once you finally find the right RFP’s, how you respond is even more important. I’ve often compared a RFP response to getting those “free” GI Joe dog tags in the mail when I was a kid. The note card had to be filled out precisely according to the instructions or you didn’t get any dog tags. Your carefully inscribed note card would go right in the trash with even one mistake. Government RFPs are the same way- they are just infinitely more complicated. Here are a couple of tips that have helped us get our responses onto the short list.

• Carefully read the instructions before doing any work.
  
• Re-read the instructions, and make sure you have a handle on the dates, the formatting, and the requirements.
  
• Always have an up-to-date resume for each key employee in your business- and make sure they are all in the same format, fitting on one page each.
  
• Double check, using the peer review process, that you have answered each part of the RFP as thoroughly as is required.  Missing out on even one part with a partial answer will cost you valuable points against your competitors.
  
• Pay someone that doesn’t necessarily have your technical expertise to read the RFP and the response.  Have that person make sure you have answered the mail with appropriate formatting.
  
• Print and bind your proposal according to the instructions.  Have someone at your local print shop help you if needed.  You want a clean, nice-looking final print for everyone that will receive a copy.
  
• Set your deadline a week before the actual deadline.  Get your proposal in by your deadline using a quality, trackable courier service.  Once your document has been signed for, send the RFP custodian an email and make sure they have in hand.  If not, you still have time to re-print, bind, and ship new copies or figure out where your original shipment went.