Can the small business office help you?

by Dale Davidson

I've spoken with a few government small business offices over the years.

They're a mixed bag.

The office I talked to yesterday was pretty helpful.

https://www.dcsa.mil/Contact-Us/Office-of-Small-Business-Programs/

I reached out to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency's Office of Small Business Programs (DCSA OSBP) and set up a call with the POC there.

She explained to me what the office does and offered to help in a few ways.

Basically, she:

  • Offered to collect my company's information and put it in her small biz data base (probably a spreadsheet)
  • Send me the acquisition forecast (basically a list of services/products DCSA wants to acquire in the next year)
  • Explained how she engages with DCSA's contracting officers and makes sure to pair up small business with the right opportunity
  • Offered to put her small biz vendors in touch with the right DCSA government SMEs who would be managing the work
  • Answered questions about what contract vehicles they use, plans to grow her small business outreach effort, etc

Now, I don't know if this will lead to an opportunity in the near future, but it was good to meet her and get a sense of what she is trying to do.

My strategy now is to stay in touch with her with the goal of getting intros to the government folks who will actually be doing the acquisition and managing the contract work.

There are a lot of duds working in the government who go out of their way to be unhelpful, so it's refreshing when you encounter someone who is actually enthusiastic about their job and helps you.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.

Back to Newsletter