Change and Business Growth – Five Steps To Success

There is an old expression that says change is one of the three unavoidable facts of life – the others are death and taxes. Change is both essential to business success and one of the most frightening things a business owner can face; market conditions fluctuate, profits rise and fall, employee turnover… All of these and many more are all an integral part of doing business in today’s world.

Building your business is hard work, and once you have the ball rolling in one direction it can be very difficult to change the course. Doing something differently can be a terrifying prospect, but the best business owners have to stay flexible in order to succeed! Resisting change and trying to stick to the old ways can lead to trouble and worse. Companies that don’t change stagnate, miss growth opportunities, and, even worse, die out.

You’ve seen this time and again. Successful businesses generally have a core area that works well for them, but regularly fiddle with what they do, tweaking and improving constantly to see what works the best for them. Take a look at McDonald’s, for example; a franchise operation that works as a standard cookie-cutter template or mold. They’ve had the same basic setup, offerings, and operations for decades, but try out new things all the time – products, promotions, marketing, everything. Not all of these changes work or are kept, but every once in a while the company finds that perfect new item that makes all the difference and then brings in millions of dollars.

Constant reinvention, innovation, and acceptance of change are what keeps companies like McDonald’s at the forefront of their market. Smaller companies can and should learn from this and be willing to take a leap into a new venture or try out a new way of thinking or doing business! Taking a leap can pay off with huge rewards, as long as you make sure of a few things and follow five steps in a fairly straightforward plan.

1) Plan Your Approach

Before you start any major change or new business venture, have a plan of attack. Know what you want to do, why you want to do it, and do your homework! Don’t go into anything without a good, strong feel for what your strategy is going to be.

2) Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

You have to be realistic. If this new venture or change is going to swamp your business, don’t do it! Keep the proportions manageable – if the resources required to do this are more than you can afford to allocate (and possibly risk losing) then it is a simple decision. Be sure to have a backup plan!

3) Don’t Be Afraid

Having steps 1 and 2 taken care of can make this easier. Fear is one of the most detrimental things to any business, and can dramatically reduce a business owner’s ability to proceed and prosper in a new venture. You have a good plan, and know that it is something you can handle – what is there left to be afraid of?

4) Take The Plunge

As a business owner, by now you have already done this many times. You’ll have to do so many more before your time as a business owner draws to a close. Have your leaps in the past paid off? Obviously, you’re still here! Remember these times and try to do it again.

5) Wait, Evaluate, Measure, And Decide

Now that you’ve had some time working in the new venture, you should evaluate your progress. You don’t want to simply close your eyes and hope; pay attention to what’s going on, tweak what needs to be changed, and keep a fluid plan of attack. Adjust your actions according to the development of what you are doing – if something isn’t working, fix it! Determine whether or not your venture is paying off, or simply burning resources, and decide if you should celebrate and keep it, or accept a loss and move on to the next big idea.

Change should be part of every business owner’s plan. Take a look at how you do business – do you anticipate the need for new ideas, products, markets, or methods? If not, carefully consider your approach; not being prepared can be disastrous.

However, if you are willing to consider expanding your business into new markets, give Gateway to Government a call! We can help you with all five steps and introduce you to a lucrative new business arena.

Rockin' Robin - The Rise of Social Media in Business Marketing

Have you heard of tweeting? Twittering? Tweeps? All of these and many more are terms that have been added to the internet lingo by Twitter, one of a burgeoning group of free social media service websites now being used by more than six million people around the world. The basic principle is simple – network with other ‘Tweeps’ (users of Twitter) and express what you want to say in 140 characters or less – but the effects are proving to be far more wide-ranging than one would expect.

Twitter has recently become very well known due to a few key events: some of the first eyewitness reports of the U.S. Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River were from Twitter, prominent politicians have been seen using it during meetings, speeches, and conferences, and Twitter was heavily utilized during the most recent presidential campaign. Courtesy of this micro-blogging service, news is being spread even more rapidly.

People from all walks of life are now using Twitter every day. Entrepreneurs, news anchors, bands, politicians, artists, business owners, students … All of these and many more are utilizing tweeting (posting on the Twitter website) as a networking and information tool. Charitable organizations are using it - today there is a push for Share our Strength, an organization aiming to reduce child hunger. They are trying to raise $12,000 in 12 hours using Twitter alone - currently they are five hours in and they have almost reached they goal.

An increasing number of big corporations are using Twitter now as well – HP, Microsoft, American Express, and Dell are just a few. In fact, when a coworker recently tweeted about our recent post involving UPS’s ‘no left-turn’ innovation, she was contacted by a UPS employee whose job it is to monitor UPS appearing in social media!

In the three years since its creation, Twitter has become one of the go-to places for entrepreneurs and business owners to learn about, network, and market their businesses. Social media and marketing experts are cropping up all over the place with ways to help streamline this process. People co-promote with each other and people who give good advice, are entertaining, or have some other valuable service are generally recommended to more and more people.

I just started using Twitter about a month or so ago after having heard more and more about it. I currently have about 500 followers, from a wide range of groups – many are total strangers, some are friends or family, others are business contacts. It is easy to get lost in what Twitter offers; an endless stream of interesting stories, blurbs, and thoughts from hundreds of people can be difficult to get away from. Generally, I’ve found it best to simply play the fly on the wall and jump in with a comment if I hear something interesting, or to ask a question of my followers and the ‘twitterverse’ as they come up.

While Twitter and similar social media are becoming increasingly good ways to make business connections, you have to be careful to avoid some basic pitfalls. The hard sell is incredibly unpopular on the site and will lose your credibility faster than virtually anything else. Twitter is meant to be used in a more organic fashion – by building a reputation with other users, they will be driven to use your products or services over time. Another thing to avoid is considering the number of followers you have as a popularity contest; rather than quantity, try to go for the quality of the people you interact with and make better content.

All in all, Twitter is becoming a fairly powerful tool for marketing, networking, and business development. Websites are easy to promote, especially if they have good content. There are numerous external applications that make it even easier to use (for example, one program allows you to search for key phrases in recent tweets – you can find out who is talking about small business government contracting, for example, and start a discussion!) and these can help reduce the time spent on it each day.

Don’t get overwhelmed – Twitter isn’t something that has to be used 24/7! This dynamic word-of-mouth advertising format has made marketing even easier to do, as long as you monitor what you are doing. Just remember that to get anything from it, you will have to give time, effort, and a little bit of yourself, just as you would in any other format.

If you’d like, you can always find Gateway to Government representatives on Twitter. My name is JIstvan and let me know when you get on! LauraGuthrie, my aforementioned coworker, is also worth following - she is a social media expert!

Hassles with Uncle Sam

This morning I woke up and was excited to do my job. I know, that's an odd statement, but I was. Today is a good day to be a government contractor. The Obama stimulus package is unleashing hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy in the coming months and years, and now is a great time to get started. However, businesses that want to become government contractors need to be aware of the risks and difficulties involved.

We are often asked what ‘hassles’ are involved in government contracting. Many business owners have never tried to do work with the government before and so don’t truly understand what is involved. What benefits are there to using a program like ours? What $70,000 are people talking about?

Our goal is to help small business owners become government contractors without all the hassle of actually having to be one. There are quite a few difficulties that can make it impossible for many small business owners to be able to reasonably do it on their own (hence only about 2% of small businesses DO!). There is the lengthy waiting process – certification can take quite a while, and then it will likely be months before you get a contract. Just doing the paperwork and qualifying for the certifications can take more time than a lot of business owners have.

Add to this the cost of training and hiring someone (like me!) full-time to handle the contracts and you are starting to look at a serious investment. Training courses and materials can and do run as high as $15,000 – no paltry sum for anyone. Many small businesses simply can’t afford to float the cost – months of preparation, overhead, and paychecks before a single contracting dollar comes in. Your business would have to learn what to bid on, how bidding works, who to talk to, how to process payments… The list goes on.

Gateway to Government has done this already. We already have the certifications, the course material, and the experience to get your small business contracts and recognized within the community. We don’t look at just Federal government contracts either – Gateway to Government is registered and looks at contract opportunities within larger contractors as well (such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc.) so that all available opportunities are scoured. In fact, some of these names are usually the ones associated most with government contracting and most in the public eye.

Photo illustration by J.P. Trostle

As a small business aide, we know that the government wants to focus on businesses like yours for the next several years to help stimulate the economy. Statements by President Obama and many others in the administration have said time and again that small businesses are the future of government contracting.

Gateway to Government cares about the small businesses that come to us. Each of our partners wants to grow and expand their business – and it is both our job and our desire to help with that. You are all a part of the Gateway to Government family and if you need help on a contract, we’ll be here, eager to help.

Stimulus Plan Benefits Small Businesses

USA Today's expert, Steven Strauss, announced on February 16, 2009 that the Stimulus Plan will be helping out the Small Business sector more than most Americans thought. He actually had a"call to arms" for businesses to become contractors as soon as possible so they could benefit from the money being pumped in the state and local economies. He even outlined how much money is going where...

• $16 billion for construction and renovation of schools
• $2.4 billion for "family friendly" military construction projects — family housing, childcare facilities, etc.
• $500 million to secure dams, bridges, and tunnels
• $4.6 billion for water and hydro power projects

As he states in his article, it's not just construction businesses that can partake at the government trough; look at:—

High Tech

• $9 billion to increase access to broadband, especially in rural communities
• $ 5 billion to computerize health records

Transportation

• $8.4 billion for investments in public transportation
• $160 million for investments in maritime transportation
• $160 million for investments in maritime transportation
• $160 million for investments in maritime transportation
• $160 million for investments in maritime transportation
• $1.3 billion for investments in air transportation
• $1.1 billion for investments in rail transportation
• $160 million for investments in maritime transportation
• $830 million for repair and restoration of roads on park, forest, tribal, and other public lands

Housing

• $2 billion for redevelopment of foreclosed homes
• $2 billion for affordable housing

Green Technology

• $6.4 billion for environmental cleanup
• $6 billion for sewer, and drinking water systems
• $40 billion to for development of clean, efficient, "American" energy
• $6 billion for repair of federal buildings using green technology
• $613 million for energy efficiency upgrades and construction of alternative energy projects, including wind and solar

Now, as many as you already know, Gateway to Government can help your business take full advantage of this opportunity. Steve is right; there has never been a better time than now to join federal contracting. However, getting these certifications, the right connections, and all the other bits of red tape involved with contracting can take a lot of time. One of the many benefits of working with Gateway is that we take the hassle out of bidding. We can help your business get contracts NOW instead of later. Why wait? Gateway can offer your business a solution that will increase your profits. Don't hesitate; contact us TODAY to get your fair share of the stimulus plan.

Independent Thinking

I remember in grade school the teachers always encouraged independent thought. They wanted you to ask questions, think critically of the material, and try to find and solve any problems. Except poetry. I swear, no matter how often I tried to interpret Frost, Dickinson, or any other great American poet I was always wrong. Eventually I gave up; I followed the same ol’ format everyone else did and wrote horrible little poems involving stereotypical flowers.

Some days it felt like that.

College was different though. On the first day of English 101, my professor let us out within the first ten minutes of class… so that we could go somewhere on campus and just watch. Ah, yes, talk about well-spent education dollars! However, as a freshman, it was a great way to start college: sitting by one of the many fountains on campus, writing down what I saw, enjoying the sunny day. It was calming – until I had to turn in the assignment. I was afraid of what the Professor would say of my writing. Did I write about the right topic? Was my grammar correct? Did I misinterpret the meaning of the ripples in the fountain?

Luckily, I had one of the best professors my school had to offer. He encouraged actual independent thought and creativity. The everyday A-B A-B A-A rhyme style bothered him, as did anything remotely close to “a rose by any other name.” The whole semester consisted of breaking habits we had formed in grade school, such as trying to write to please the teacher instead of to please ourselves. Granted, he did want us to try to be appropriate and to follow the guidelines, but the more creative it was, the happier he became. He loved teaching his students that whatever they wrote could be art; they just needed to trust themselves.

He looks so snazzy in his suit.

I was thought of this professor the other day as I was browsing a news site and came across an article discussing Joe Lieberman and a new contracting committee. As some of you are aware, Senator Lieberman (I) is the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. On Friday, January 30, 2009, he created a sub-committee that will oversee federal contracting and named Senator Claire McCaskill (D) from Missouri as the chairwoman. He hopes that this committee will prevent governmental monetary waste and contracting fraud.

I can’t help but wonder what this mean for small business contractors. The DoD, DoJ or any other section of the federal government isn’t going to stop offering contracts to companies strictly because of this new committee. If anything, it will help prevent larger corporations from asking for excessive dollar amounts or adding extra clauses to contracts, which can give smaller businesses more of an opportunity. Senator Lieberman’s struggle to shift the thought processes on government contracting and replace them with something different and less corrupt by traditional thought made me think of my English professor. He wants someone new – your small business – to have the opportunity to display your product to the government, letting out your creativity, without the constraints traditionally associated with government contracting. Lieberman’s committee will not hinder the amount of contracts awarded; if anything, I think it will increase the amount small businesses receive.

Here's Hoping, Obama

Barack Obama has become a rock star with all the attention from the media. One of CNN.com hot topic links is “Obama’s First 100 Days.” CNN.com is even selling a shirt that says, “Obama raises a hand, lifts a nation. I just saw it on CNN.com 1.20.09.” CNN isn’t alone; Yahoo! News’s top story is Obama signing his first bill - the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - and MSNBC, aside from the eight articles on the stimulus plan, has a political cartoon slideshow where out of twenty cartoons eighteen are strictly Obama. He’s everywhere and he’s been everywhere since he decided to run for President. Over a year ago, one of my friends went to see him at a rally and was convinced he was going to be the face of change. I know many individuals believe that; there is more hope in this President than there has been in a while. (I can’t help but wonder how George W. Bush feels!)

But where is all this hope going to get us? Good intentions are grand, but they’re just that… intentions. Action is what this country needs; Obama’s first hundred days are directly related. The trend for using the first hundred days as a benchmark for the rest of a presidency began with Franklin D. Roosevelt. The media loves to compare FDR to Obama, stating that the economy has reached similar lows as the 1930's and that the nation needs a President to push legislation through Congress to help stimulate the economy.

I wouldn't want this waiting for me.

There’s no arguing against the need for change in this country and Obama’s $819 billion economic stimulus package will hopefully bring some. Originally, it was $825 billion. So, what was cut out? Expanding family planning, re-sodding the National Mall, and a proposed tax credit for businesses for each job they create or save. Most of the money will go to help expanding the education sector, health care, tax breaks for individuals and couples, and energy.

But what does this package mean for small businesses? According to MSNBC.com, the business breaks include “…allowing [businesses] to claim tax credits on past profits dating back five years instead of two. It also would offer bonus depreciation for businesses investing in new plants and equipment; double the amount small businesses can write off for capital investments and new equipment purchases; allow businesses to claim a tax credit for hiring youths and veterans.”

His plan correlates with a statement he made back in February 2008 when the American Small Business League publicly supported him. Obama’s comments on the subject in the days following help shed light on how much he will promote small business growth through the economic stimulus plan and other ways in both the public and federal sector. "…98 percent of all American companies have fewer than 100 employees. Over half of all Americans work for a small business. Small businesses are the backbone of our nation's economy and we must protect this great resource. It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."

Sounds great, right? One can only hope. FDR’s New Deal did boost the morale of the country and did create jobs, but as most of us know, it wasn’t the only thing that saved this country. A war economy helped the US recover. However, Ronald Reagan helped the US economy more than most people acknowledge. His trickle-down economic actions in the 80's helped the economy later - as late as the Clinton administration - flourish. Like most economic plans, and like this one will, it took time for it to work.

Yee of little Faith.

President Obama is trying. He is pushing legislation that he thinks will help the US economy over time, not overnight. All good things come in due time. If we rush fixing the economy, it's like putting duct tape over the leaky pipe in the bathroom. Eventually, it'll burst, and then it'll take even longer to fix. Obama isn't using duct tape; he's interviewing plumbers at the moment, hoping that what he chooses won't be a quick fix, but one that lasts for generations to come.

Treasure Hunt

This past December my friend "Alex" and I went to Georgia to visit some family. It was unseasonably warm, so we were anxious to go outside and did quite frequently. My friend's younger brother "John" was especially eager to go outside because he wanted to go geocaching. Now, before this I had never heard of the term. After several attempts searching misspelled variations of the word on Google, I found their homepage. According to www.geocaching.com, it is a high-tech treasure hunt, worldwide, often played by adventure seekers with GPS systems.

The first thing I think of when someone says "Treasure Hunt" is of pirates standing on some beach with an old map that has dotted lines and a giant X on it (to make it entertaining, imagine Johnny Depp). Never do I think of people dressed in jeans and a heavy coat clambering through the local park clutching a GPS unit (enter a picture of Hugh Jackman here).

Before Christmas, John had only been able to look up caches within about a two-mile radius of his house. He doesn't have his license yet, so the closer to the neighborhood the better. Once we got to Atlanta, though, John had Alex and I at his disposal to drive him around and find new caches. Although he couldn't afford a GPS unit, John would use Google maps; by typing in the coordinates that geocaching.com provided, he could zoom in to the maximum resolution to examine the area and get an idea of where the cache should be before heading off on his bicycle.

Luckily, Santa had been watching and had gotten him a GPS system. John was thrilled and started plugging in the coordinates for new caches farther away from the house. We would drive to the area parks and follow the unit to some spot in the woods and .. Nothing. The system beeped a lot, claimed we were on target, but when we followed its directions, it led us nowhere. Eventually, Alex used the built-in GPS on his phone to find the cache. John's unit was off by at least 30 meters every time. In the world of geocaching, that's a big no-no - thirty meters off covers a HUGE amount of ground, especially when you are hunting for something that can smaller than a film canister.

By the time we left Atlanta, I had gained a taste for it. On the long drive back to Virginia, we found a cache in each state to break up the monotony of the trip. It was exciting looking for a pill bottle, ammo box, film canister, or other type of container - each one is different - hidden in a unique location. With geocaching you never really know what exactly you're looking for. All you have is the coordinates and a brief description; it is up to you what you do with them.

Example of a cache. Unfortunately, not all are this big.

When I went back to work the following week, I couldn't help but see the parallels between geocaching and contracting with the government. We knew people had found the caches and completed contracts before, there is proof all around us, but we didn't know where to begin. Sometimes the tools we had didn't lead us to the correct area, leaving us way off the intended mark, feeling around and searching for something we couldn't identify. In time, we developed our 'geosense' - we got the hang of it, learning how to find bids and to contract successfully, but it took some trial and error. Gateway to the Government is a lot like geocaching.com. We let you know when new caches are hidden in your area of expertise, send you the coordinates, and act as guides, giving the tools to give you a higher success rate. Gateway is your GPS unit leading you to government contracting.

What? Me Worry?

Retirement - what a beautiful word. The first thing I think of is being able to wake up when I want, go where I want, and do what I want. Or, better yet, not getting out of bed at all. For me, though, it's far, far away. It's the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow that I haven't found yet.

I was talking to my father the other day about his retirement. He's 60, a baby boomer like so many in this country, and on his desk at work he has an electronic countdown - a clock ticking down the days and hours until he retires. He doesn't really need that though; he has the date memorized: May 23, 2009. Sounds great, right? Roughly a hundred some-odd days away from playing with his dogs, gardening all day, or finally focusing on his side business. Boy, was I wrong. He's actually thinking of staying until he's 63, maybe even longer. I thought he was crazy - why would he want to do that? I asked my mother about her retirement and she's going to stay until she's 65!

Why are these baby boomers opting to delay their retirement? The impression I always had was that once you were perfectly aged (not old mind you!), the government rewarded your efforts with Social Security, your IRA, or the 401(k) plan. After further research, I now know that the chance of younger generations supporting retirement via Social Security is slim to none. According to www.USNews.com, there are three main reasons why personal retirement funds are dwindling: failing stock market, decrease in home value, and few job prospects.

"Many baby boomers would like to scale back to part time, start a new business, or take an extended break from the workforce instead of retiring completely. But opportunities to try these creative forms of retirement could become scarcer. In 2006, 37 percent of employed men and 22 percent of employed women ages 65 to 69 worked for themselves, but the credit crunch could make it difficult for people to start and sustain small business."

Now, I have to argue against their logic. While jobs are becoming harder and harder to find for most college graduates, they aren't short. We're just picky about what we want to do with our lives. Everything has become digital, electronic, or involving computers. Our country has stopped manufacturing goods and contracted out to other countries for them. How often do we see "Made in the USA" stamped on things anymore? I know most of the things I buy come from China, Indonesia, or Thailand. Currently, China's economy is similar to how ours was in the 1920's and we are the ones in debt, unable to give our senior citizens the Social Security they've been promised.

A society that is not self-sustaining will over time inevitably lose ground in the global marketplace. If we stop buying cheaply and instead support the local businesses, we would keep the money within the country, stimulating the economy. It would decrease job loss, help people - even those without an engineering or other high-demand degree - get a better paying job based on their skills, and decrease the US debt.

Just because the life expectancy has increased to 78 doesn't mean we have to work until then. There is supposed to be something at the end of the rainbow, an incentive to keep working hard and pushing towards the end. Isn't that what this country is all about? Striving to be the best and to succeed so eventually you don't have to deal with a stressful job? To be your own boss?

It appears that most people, my parents included, will work longer than expected just to ensure everything works out. My father's logic is that since he's still healthy, why not keep working? It's not like he completely hates his job; he'd rather do something else, is all. Moreover, going to work keeps individuals healthier mentally and physically due to the daily social interactions. However, he has told me that once he decides to hang up his hat, he is going to upgrade his side business to full-time and do what he loves everyday. I think that's his pot of gold: working for himself while supplementing his nest egg.

Poker Night

This past Saturday night was a significant night for my roommate and I: it was our first time hosting poker night. The night before I left him alone for dinner and our apartment was how it always looked; by the time I got back, I thought I had walked onto a movie set. Our dining room table was in the middle of the living room with extra leaves already inserted, a second card table by the kitchen, hundreds of poker chips already placed in baggies, along with the house rules, explanations of the chip amounts, and hand explanations posted on each wall (we had several players just learning the game). I couldn't believe my eyes! He had even cleaned the kitchen in the process.

I couldn't help but comparing the novice poker players we had over with businesses having to take the same risks with government contracting. I know I had difficulty the first time I played. I didn't know what combination of cards were the best, I didn't know when to fold or place my bets, and I really couldn't tell if people were lying to me or not. When our contracting business first opened its doors, we had no idea how to read the contracts. In most, there were dozens of pages of instructions, and half the time we weren't sure which were worth bidding on. We also didn't have any contacts at the time and when we made friends in the industry, we weren't sure who we could trust. We've grown since then, having completed contracts and found trustworthy individuals within the contracting community and hope to help others grow as well through Gateway to the Government.

Now when I say the words 'poker night,' I'm sure the majority of people think of roughly the same thing: a night of boys sitting around a table, smoking cigars, placing bets, having a drink, and yakking about their jobs/girlfriend/whatever. Never does the phrase 'fiscal responsibility' pop up when mentioning poker. Neither does 'planning for the future.' I'm sure most people don't even find that the word responsible can be attributed to gambling at all.

One thing that I learned from my recent poker night, as I'm sure my friends did too, is that planning ahead makes everything better. My roommate had taken the precautionary steps: talked to everyone involved to find the best time to host, figured out what needed to be worked on, and set everything up ahead of time. Because of all of these steps, the night went very smoothly. No one was upset by the end of the night, nothing was broken or lost, several people had learned a new game, and there wasn't any confusion regarding who had won or why. I found out that my roommate had hosted many such friendly poker nights during his college days and knew exactly what needed to be done. Government contracting is the same way - having someone who has experience and knows what needs to be done can ensure that everything moves smoothly. Businesses can benefit from taking risks - just like a poker player - but until the player knows the rules, it can be a great way to gamble and lose, especially to the experienced players. A friendly contractor such as Gateway is willing to take the "gamble" out of contracting, allowing your business to use our winning cards.