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Archive for month: July, 2015

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Interested in Doing Business In Cuba? Join SBA’s Conference Call on July 29

July 27, 2015/in /by

by Sheryl Birsky, SJ&A

Many of our Small Business clients have expressed interest in how to enter new markets, and recently how to initiate business in Cuba due to the emerging US-Cuba relations. In January, the Departments of Commerce and Treasury amended their regulations to increase travel, trade, and the free flow of information to and from Cuba. In April, President Obama met with Cuban President Raul Castro.  And, after a review, Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism was rescinded. This month, embassies in Washington and Havana re-opened.

The President’s decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and ease some commercial and travel restrictions area significant steps toward increased economic opportunity –especially for American small businesses. Challenges still remain, including the trade embargo, but the President has acknowledged the U.S. will continue to press the Cuban government on areas of concern.

SBA Administrator Contreras-Sweet and colleagues from the State Department, Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are hosting a conference call to discuss recent rule changes on Cuba. Find out how these recent changes can present opportunities for your business:

Date: July 29, 2015

Time: 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET

Register: http://ems.intellor.com/?p=205438&do=register&t=71

 

To discuss ways in which SJ&A can assist you in reaching new markets to expand in your current one, contact Sid Jaffe at Sid@sidjaffe.com or phone him at (703) 855-3160.

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The Five C’s of Proposal Preparation (First in a Series of Articles)

July 27, 2015/in /by

by JP Richard, SJ&A

To develop and present a winning proposal, you must be organized. The best way to organize is to establish a pattern of operations and follow it. Eventually, the pattern becomes a habit – a series of rote actions universally understood in your organization as the way to proceed.  Just think of how easy it would then become to prepare one winning proposal after another in this environment.

Organizing is best done on the basis of a set of principles. Let’s frame these principles as the Five C’s of Proposal Preparation. These are:  Compliance, Capabilities, Con Ops, Competition and Compelling. In the next few issues of this newsletter, we will explore what each of these C’s mean to you and to the reviewers of your proposal.

Let’s start with Compliance. Compliance must be addressed in three ways. First, your proposal must comply with Section L of the RFP, Proposal Requirements, which sets forth the specific content and format desired by the Government. This section identifies everything from the size and kind of typeface, to the items they are expecting to see addressed. There are no exceptions for non-compliance—any deviation may result in the exclusion of your proposal for consideration.

Next, we must comply with every want and need expressed in that RFP satisfactorily and in the process, convince the readers that our approach is the best solution. It’s not enough to say that we will do “it”, but we must show how and why our approach is the best, and, it must be presented in the order and format requested in the RFP.  Evaluators use a checklist to ensure compliance when reviewing proposals—therefore, your response must not only meet the needs, but respond to them where they expect to find them.  Do not make them struggle to evaluate your proposal.

That’s why organizing the proposal response to exactly mirror the outline of the RFP is so important. This ensures that your response hits every requirement, and that the reviewers are aware that you have hit all of the requirements because they found them in the right order. The best way to ensure that you have met the first “C,” is to prepare a “Shred” of the RFP – including an Outline and a Compliance Matrix, identifying what is required for every section.  Read every word of the RFP, including Appendices—often, there are requirements where you don’t expect to find them.

Compliance also means you give them what they want—even though you might think they need something altogether different. Respond to their requirements, not to your ideal concept of how it should be done. But that is the subject for another article; in our next issue we will talk about Capabilities.

If you would like to discuss ways in which we can support your proposal needs, contact JP by e-mail at jp@sidjaffe.com or call him at 703-568-6417.

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Probability of Growth—A Valuation Enhancement Tool

July 27, 2015/in /by

by Sid Jaffe, SJ&A

As parts of an annual operating plan and/or a longer term strategic plan, there are key metrics to be agreed upon by your management group. These include identifying factors such as revenue, margin and net profit that are used by virtually all businesses. From these, tactical actions are developed for the team to best assure attainment of the established goals. In a deeper dive, businesses individually have additional components for success that vary based on the organization’s market, position, exit strategies, acquisition goals, employee base, products, services and a myriad of other considerations.

Businesses should develop an individualized Probability of Growth Calculator. The tool enables owners and management to examine corporate results based on the firm’s most critical needs. It also establishes key metrics and aids in pin-pointing trends. Ultimately, what is created is a determination of the Probability of Growth and Valuation Enhancement of the company.

SJ&A has developed a consultative approach to this process that can be implemented without specialized software and scaled for firms or divisions of any size. Once implemented, the tool is used continually by management without additional outside support. To schedule time to meet and discuss this approach for your business, contact Sid Jaffe at sid@sidjaffe.com or phone him at (703) 855-3160.

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Focus on Opportunity Capture—A Case of Drinking Bathwater

July 27, 2015/in /by

by Bill Hamilton, SJ&A

In good opportunity capture, there are no guesses or “I think” answers to questions. In a perfect world, questions are answered by “I know that because…” However, even experienced Capture staff can get complacent in assessing key information.

Let’s look at a common scenario. Once upon a time, a contract systems integrator wanted to build a communications system for a Federal Agency. The integrator knew the client very well and had excellent contacts throughout the organization. The agency wanted a new communications system that could accomplish many additional tasks to replace a system currently in use. There was a contractor already in place running the old system, but the integrator did not see that as a problem. All the technical indications pointed to a desire for a new state-of-the-industry system.

The integrator teamed with an established communications equipment company well known to the agency. The communications company agreed that the state-of-the-industry solution sounded like a winner and a solution for the new system was developed. The contractor in place was believed to be in favor or modifying the old system.   As the pre-solicitation events continued, indications pointed to the state-of-the-industry solution as the one that the agency would prefer. The integrator was looking forward to submitting a winning proposal.

Just before the agency released the RFP, an employee happened to be talking to a contact in the agency who told him that the old system was really a good one and only needed to be modified to handle the additional tasks. If that were done, the agency could save a lot of money because current network center operations could still be used. The integrator considered this piece of information but decided that the other contacts had emphasized state-of-the-industry and they intended to offer that solution.

The contractor in place won; the agency decided to modify the old system and not pursue a new one. Our integrator lost the business because they had failed to consider and verify the intelligence they now had. The integrator believed they knew the client better than the client did. The integrator could have saved the win with “I know because..” capture verification but did not use it.

Want to explore business intelligence in more detail, contact Bill at (703) 405-8912 or e-mail him at bill@sidjaffe.com.

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