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Archive for month: December, 2014

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2015 Annual Business Check-Up

December 23, 2014/in /by

by Sid Jaffe

As we enter the new year, this is a good time to check the health of your company’s pipeline growth, business management, and valuation potential. Here are seven simple business questions that constitute a quick Business Check-Up. Each of the following is a “yes or no” question; your goal is seven yes responses.

  1. Are we driving increased valuation of the business and not simply “rising and falling with the tide?”
  2. Are each of our project managers and their staff executing an approved growth plan?
  3. Are we positioning ourselves to drive upcoming re-competes so that we not only win them, but win at a greater value to our client and to our company?
  4. Are we correcting our mistakes from the past and at the same time replicating the strategies and tactics that we have executed successfully?
  5. Are our top managers getting consistent and complete reports from their teams on progress so they can manage the business?
  6. Are we actively creating and reinforcing a positive image of our company internally and in the business community?
  7. Are we staffed with the corporate team that we need to continue to be successful?

Corporate leaders need to be confident about the tactics and activities the firm is engaged in—let this check-up be your call to arms! To discuss developing a tactical plan for enhanced valuation and pipeline growth, contact Sid at sid@sidjaffe.com or call him at 703-855-3160.

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Another Way to Ensure Proposal Compliance!

December 23, 2014/in /by

by Sheryl Birsky

Most proposal managers will develop a compliance checksheet at the start of a proposal to ensure that all RFP requirements are captured, including Sections C (Statement of Work), L (Proposal Preparation Instructions), and M (Evaluation Criteria). They may use a matrix format that lists the requirement and the corresponding section of the proposal; others may append their detailed proposal outline with pertinent RFP items. Here is another quick way to ensure compliance—particularly helpful for large, complex RFPs.

If you have the solicitation in Word format, use the Text to Table feature and turn the paragraphs into rows. Add a column to the left so that you have a place to indicate where in the proposal the item can be found. Next, do a search in the document for such key words as: Will, shall, Contractor, require, ensure, and must and highlight them in red. In this way, you can be sure that most (maybe not all) government requirements are identified.

Of course, doing a Word search, may or may not yield all of the requirements, but it is a good check. The only method to ensure that you have captured every requirement is to read the entire Solicitation word for word. SJ&A recommends doing all three types of compliance checks at different parts of the proposal preparation process: An annotated outline for use at proposal kick-off, a table/search like that discussed above to ensure compliance at first-draft review, and a completed compliance matrix for final red team review and inclusion in the proposal.

If you need proposal assistance, contact Sheryl at 202-785-5811 or e-mail her at Sheryl@sidjaffe.com.

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Positive Networking is a Key to Start-Up Success

December 23, 2014/in /by

by Bill Hamilton

In my work with small businesses, entrepreneurs frequently ask how a very early stage company with no past performance experience can rapidly build a good reputation. Provided below are several suggestions to begin establishing your business.

Talk to your friends. A person once said that the average number of attendees at a funeral is 200 people. If that is true, than you probably have a personal contact database of about 200 people. Begin by listing all of the people that have worked with you or who know you. Build a list as large as you can; 75-100 names as a good beginning.

Once you have that list, qualify every name until you reduce your high quality list to 25-35 people. Consider how well the person knows you, their business interests, how likely they might be to buy from you. Remember, these are people you know and who know you. Because they know you, they will be more inclined to listen to your plans and to help you get known and, certainly, they will take your calls Building this qualified list will, in effect, create your beginning market place

You now have a targeted list and can begin your active networking. As you meet with your contacts, ask for referrals of other people who might be interested in your plans and services. Your efforts will begin to grow a technically based network almost exponentially. Take advantage of social networks. I use LinkedIn but others may suit your needs as well. Network growth will not happen overnight but it will happen and your small business will be off and running sooner than you realize.

Business growth comes from people helping other people solve their problems. You are in business to solve problems. Networking creates and enhances business friendships. People want to work with friends, people they know, like, respect and trust. When friendships are created, business is sure to follow.

Would you like to discuss the art and science of networking or gain more information about building your network or using it? Contact me at (703) 405-8912 or e-mail bill@sidjaffe.com and let’s talk.

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