“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Start-ups, entrepreneurs and new small businesses regularly seek information regarding small business grants. There are many misconceptions about the nature of such instruments, who qualifies for them and what constitutes a small business grant. Other than the special circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic, there is generally no such thing as “Free” small business government grant money. In many instances individuals seeking grants should

By Ken Larson Every U.S. citizen from the individual voter to the politician must view our country’s recent, recurring, war-making motives as factors when considering future defense and financial security decision-making. ________________________________________________________________________________ Our near term future as a country involves weighty decisions regarding fiscal and national security. There are trade offs during federal government war-making decisions and inc

The less you own, the less you have to take care of. The less you own, the less you have to replace. The less you own, the less money you need to earn. The less you own, the more time you have for other things (and people). The less you own, the less things you need to protect. It’s not always easy to want less, but we are capable of doing it. It starts with appreciating what we already have. While we’re thinking about what we don’t have, we’re forgetting about what we do hav

“MILITARY.COM” –By Lida Citroen “Growing your career in the private sector is all about weighing the pros and cons of every opportunity you’ll encounter. There are some ways to anticipate and understand risk and how it can serve you.” ______________________________________________________________________________ “You raised your hand. You served your country. You made the decision to separate. You initiated your civilian career. While each of those big decisions carried risk,

“DEFENSE OPINION” By NANCY LANGER “Procurement consolidation limits opportunities for smaller players to shore up America’s military industrial base as the world pivots to newer, cheaper forms of asymmetric warfare. It is time to use contract dollars to fuel the creativity and productivity of America’s small business contractors.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “Whenever I was in a tight spot in a war zone I always thought, “

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Comparing small business federal government contracting to selling commercial products and services may be useful for those who are considering melding commercial and federal government business or starting an enterprise involving both venues”. _________________________________________________________________________________ “WHAT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING IS – AND IS NOT Small business federal government contracting is not rocket science – t

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Sculpting a government contracting business opportunity to the point where it becomes a small business set aside procurement.” _______________________________________________________________________________ “Marketing is one of the greatest challenges for the small business federal government contractor. We have previously discussed the federal government marketing process at the following articles: Insights to Succeed Small Business Government Co

“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” – By Nick Coppings “How developing your teams human-IQ can transform customer relationships and secure your revenue pipeline. Organizations with high recompete win rates understand that relationship quality is the best leading indicator of winning.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “We lost HOW MUCH?” The chief growth officer’s voice echoed through the boardroom. Another “sure thing” recompete lost. Not

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “A contingent hire agreement is one way to approach an experienced employee with the prospect of joining your firm at a later time when the business base is there to permit professional advancement. In many instances under such an agreement the prospective employee agrees to contribute time and effort on a proposal for a new contract and is assured on paper by your company of a position on the project when it is awarded to your firm.” ____________

“GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE” By Edward Graham, Managing Editor, Nextgov/FCW‘ “Benefits Enterprise Platform a new Digital GI Bill System and the agency’s large-scale Electronic Health Record Modernization Project have been plagued by cost overruns, delays and oversight issues.” “Efforts to modernize a Department of Veterans Affairs system that supports the processing of veterans’ benefits claims have been hampered by “insufficient oversight and weak program management,” according to

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“U.S. VETERANS MAGAZINE” By USVM “Increasingly, employers, policymakers and community organizations recognize the economic and professional potential of military spouses. That growing awareness has helped expand training, funding and business support designed specifically for entrepreneurs who build careers alongside military life.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “For many military spouses, building a traditional career path

“THE PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT” By Don Bell “For decades, Republicans and Democrats have greenlit a massive surveillance apparatus. What happens when this powerful tool is in the hands of the wrong person?” __________________________________________________________________________________ “You are being watched. From Automated License Plate Readers on your street, to the mail at your local post office, to facial recognition technology at your nearby airport; from your s

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “It may seem like a “Chicken and Egg” process – but every business working in the classified venue has to go through the gates discussed in this article and maintain a vigilant program of compliance with associated regulations.“ _______________________________________________________________________________ “While exploring the federal government marketplace the small business will encounter programs and potential contracts that involve security cl

“DEFENSE ONE” By Peter W. Singer “The math of current battlefields remains literally orders of magnitude beyond what our budget plans to spend, our industry plans to build, our acquisitions system is able to contract, and thus what our military will deploy.” ________________________________________________________________________________ “At the lowest point of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln characterized the core factor between victory and defeat as finding a general who un

Small businesses see this type bundling or consolidation as preventing them from receiving contract awards, effectively shutting them out of the market. Jennifer Jones explains the tiered system of approvals required by the FAR to represent small business interests. From the “DEFENSE ACQUISITION UNIVERSITY” Article, ‘Contracting Concepts: Bundling and Consolidation’ By Jennifer Jones, Professor of Contract Management in the DAU South Region ___________________________________

“SMALLTOFEDS” By Ken Larson “Unsolicited proposal opportunities generally arise as a result of observing or cultivating a requirement that the company could uniquely fulfill, but for which the government has yet to issue a formal solicitation” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Most enterprises in government contracting encounter the possibility of submitting an unsolicited proposal. These opportunities are normally large enoug

By Tony and Friends On Rose Colored Glasses We recommend, due to the age of this 18 year old piece, that you use the link below and click on the image twice to enlarge. Let Tony, a winner of the “Thinking Blogger Award”, know what you think about “How war can be made FINANCIALLY profitable for the taxpayer. ________________________________________________________________________________ There is a prevalence of warfare in the current era. The U.S. tax payer finances military.

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SBA “The U.S. government is the world’s largest customer. It buys all types of products and services — in both large and small quantities — and it’s required by law to consider buying from small businesses. Learn about government contracting assistance programs to help small businesses sell products and services to federal agencies.” _________________________________________________________________________________ “Contracting assistance program benefits The SBA provides seve