“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Mark Amtower and Lou Kerestesy
“GovCon disruption has begun, and it is fast and furious. You might not have a say in how it goes, but you can say how your business responds.”
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“GovCon disruption has begun, and it is fast and furious. You might not have a say in how it goes, but you can say how your business responds.
Recent executive orders and early actions affected many in the GovCon community and put many more on alert. Furloughs, return-to-work orders, terminations, and stop work orders immediately impacted some.
Program reviews, job reclassifications and other actions raise questions about impacts to come: What will happen? For how long? Will it affect me? How, and how badly? Do I act now, or wait? If I act now, what do I do? How do I know?
We have more questions than answers but eventually that will change. Answers will come and at some point a new normal will arrive. We don’t know what that will look like. We can’t know how different government will be, or what that will do to your business.
This is especially true of small companies whose book of business is government contracts, and who might not have deep pockets with spare cash to survive losing a key contract.
If there’s to be a GovCon world on the other side of this disruption – and there will be, in some way, shape, and form – your challenge is to be there, ready to work in it. Your job is to keep the doors open long enough to figure out answers to the questions you have today. To survive and perhaps thrive. It’s been known to happen.
If the question is how to transition, it helps to focus on some basics. You no doubt have your own list, but here are a few we think about from our experience:
Strengthen your financial position
Stay close to customers and pivot to their changing needs
Stay close to partners and understand what impacts them
Communicate more to build confidence and trust with customers, partners, and employees.
Keep your finger on the pulse of the agencies you work with and monitor any and all changes to mission-related activities. Determine where you fit and who you need to connect with.
When we face the “what do I do” question, we have two broad answers: Do something or do nothing.
Don’t do nothing because it leaves you at the mercy of market forces.
Do something. Do things to stay resilient, stay connected, and steadily turn unknowns into information and answers you can act on.
This is especially important to the executives at smaller contractors, those relying on government contracts to keep the lights on and who may not have deep pockets with spare cash.”
Mark Amtower is the founding partner of Amtower & Company, a federal marketing advisory firm.
Lou Kerestesy is the owner of Louis Coaching and Consulting.
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