How a Professional Services Small Business Stands Out to Win Government Contracts

An interview with Hank Chase, CEO at Integrity Consulting Engineering and Security Solutions

Small businesses in the federal government contracting sector face a unique set of challenges. In order to compete with larger firms, which often have more resources readily available, they need to be able to punch above their weight, be strategic in identifying the right opportunities to pursue, and leverage their resources to work for them.

Getting Ahead of the Competition

Integrity Consulting Engineering and Security Solutions (ICESS) is one example of a small business standing out from the crowd by building a successful strategy in public sector sales.

ICESS is a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Verification and Evaluation certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). The company specializes in professional services related to Homeland Defense and Homeland Security, resiliency and preparedness. As a small business with a global reach, they face common challenges in the federal government contracting space – from limited resources to getting timely updates on new and emerging opportunities. “As a small firm with very limited capture resources,” said ICESS CEO Hank Chase, “we rely daily on GovWin IQ to support our business development and sales needs – this solution is like an extension of our small team.”

Small businesses like ICESS are under constant pressure to stand out from the crowd and compete against larger firms. How they get ahead of the competition is by leveraging the breadth of government market intelligence available, such as that found within the GovWin IQ platform. “From opportunity identification and forecasting, client and incumbent information, solicitation timing and other opportunity schedule details, teaming possibilities, and government spend history, GovWin IQ provides critical, accurate and timely information that is vital for our company’s success,” Chase said.

Small Businesses Must be Strategic to Win Government Contracts

It is important for all government contractors to understand how to master the art of gathering information before, during and after a contracting opportunity is “on the street” for competitive bid. And during this process many small businesses who aim to sell to the federal government encounter challenges on their path to getting ahead of government contracting opportunities.

Due to limited resources, small businesses need to be even more strategic than their larger counterparts in how they leverage their time, money and personnel. They are forced to act and plan more strategically in what government contracting opportunities they go after and what they don’t. This means they need to reduce risk in their bid and proposal budget when pursuing leads by determining where dollars are being budgeted for their best-fit projects. For ICESS, by identifying which opportunities are available for set-aside groups like 8(a) small businesses and veteran-owned small businesses, they are able to further target and fuel their business development pipeline and use the data-rich intelligence from GovWin IQ to pursue and win more federal government contracts.

All companies selling to the government as a small business have the opportunity to leverage a solution like GovWin to be an extension of their team and to best capitalize on their federal small business designations. For ICESS, with the help of GovWin IQ, they are on top of the numerous acquisition priorities and policies specifically put in place for 8(a) and SDVOSB programs, which helps to enable their success and ensure their ability to compete in the federal government market.