If I Build It - Will You Come?
I have been rolling the idea of an e-Book around my noggin for a while. The working title is "Proposal Writing for Big Littles."
Here's the elevator pitch: Big small businesses (say within 60-80% of the NAICS size limit for "small" business status) have the potential for breaking through to the next level with the right contract. Winning that contract will require a lot of expertise they have yet to acquire. So the e-Book would present tools and techniques, tips and strategies that "big smalls" should employ in their quest for the 'big' contract win.
I have been a small business owner and a proposal consultant for any number of projects. Some were from large businesses with multi-millon dollar B&P budgets and some were on a shoestring for truly small businesses. I have written and presented material for the National Contract Management Association (National Education Seminar "Developing Winning Proposals - Proposal Preparation Techniques and Tips") as well as several articles on Linked In and other publications on the proposal writing topic. I have written winning proposals as a consultant or employee for numerous businesses - large and small. A partial list of those proposals is here.
The large businesses have an advantage with respect to how deep their pockets are and the resources they can afford to allot to the effort. But often the small businesses have superior solutions or technologies to offer. Giving them a fair chance to succeed on a level playing field is a pretty narrow niche - but one where I have excelled.
So my thought is: "should I write a 'How-to" guide in plain English with lots of examples and specifics?" If I do, my approach will include go/no-go decisions, proposal budgets, solution definition and planning, cost development, and actual proposal writing (process) advice. The principle target is a contract opportunity in the 5 to10 Million range being bid by a company with maybe 200 employees.
The guide will focus on establishing a proposal process that can be used on current and future projects. I advocate a process that combines industry and management best practices to produce winning proposals. I also advocate creating an executable project plan concurrent with the proposal because one should be careful of what they ask for - they just may get it.
So .. to my fellow Linked In members - Is there a need for this or are existing guides sufficient?
The Oprah of Federal Contracting at Solvability, Inc. Founder of GovConSummit, a virtual accelerator network for small businesses in federal contracting, especially veteran entrepreneurs who hire veterans.
5 年Don Shannon PMP, CPCM, NCMA Fellow - did you ever write that book? What you call “the big littles” is what I started calling Stage 4 - Acceleration. They have to be ready to either blast out of small biz to get to stage 6 Mid Tier prime or hover long term in stage 5 Performance. 1 = Startup 2 = Traction 3 = Growth 4 = Accelaration 5 = Performance 6 = Mid Tier (privately held) 7 = Large Primes (publicly held) Game is different at every level Would love to collaborate!
Senior Business Operations Specialist
7 年Update number 2. I recently completed a 10-month assignment with a 'breakout' company which I alluded to in my first update. There were a number of lessons learned here and also a number of revisits to previously learned lessons. That's often the problem with projects of this nature - and I suppose life in general - as you can tell people that they need to do (or not do) something but until they experience it for themselves the lesson never takes. So now that the big project is behind me I'll start writing bits and pieces for the book. From time-to-time I'll post updates here to tease it's progress. Please stay tuned ....
Senior Business Operations Specialist
8 年So - consistent with client confidentiality - I can say I am working with a client who is pretty much a "poster child" for this book. What will be interesting is the feedback and "lessons learned" from the experience. I can already say that many of the techniques I have previously posted on are proving correct. One big lesson learned that I'll expound on in the book is the need for Infrastructure in support of the transition effort.
Director of Contracts at Softtek Government Solutions
8 年I would love to “tap” into the experiences and insights of an esteemed colleague… You will find me in-line to obtain a copy…