Govcon Giants

Government contract insurance and bonding requirements can shut small businesses out before they even bid. In this live coaching session, Eric Coffie and the GovCon Giants community break down a real FAA solicitation that demanded $25 million in liability coverage, why that number exists, and exactly how a small contractor can push back on requirements that don't match the scope of the work. - How...

Winning government contracts starts with intelligence, not more data, and in this role-reversal episode host Eric Coffie sits in the guest seat while GovCon creator Chelsea interviews him about how he actually navigates the market. Eric breaks down how he got into federal contracting out of pure desperation after the 2008 real estate crash, how a fraudulent lawsuit wiped out roughly half a million...

If you want to know how to get a GSA schedule, this episode explains why the government is consolidating nearly all of its buying onto GSA and why getting on a schedule now gives small businesses first access. Host Eric Coffie breaks down, from a former government end-user's seat, how agencies built their own vehicles like NASA SEWP and DLA TLS, why GSA is now taking control of them, and how upcom...

How to charge as a consultant is the question every new federal contracting advisor asks, and in this bootcamp session Zach Golden breaks down the retainer plus success fee model he uses to get paid on wins. He walks through when he switches to hourly because industry margins are too thin, how he takes a percentage of gross on a $200K proposal even when he only brings the opportunity, and why his...

The biggest SBA 8a program benefit is the one nobody quantifies: a negotiated sole-source contract that let this owner earn double to nearly triple the profit he saw in the competitive private market. Host Eric Coffie walks through the five SBA small business programs, then digs into why 8(a) stands alone as a nine-year business development program where a contracting officer can negotiate a contr...

Your CMMC self-assessment score can be negative and still leave you eligible to pursue Department of Defense contracts, and this episode explains exactly why. Host Eric Coffie walks small business owners through PIEE, the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment, and its core systems including SPRS, the Supplier Performance Risk System, and WAWF for invoicing.  He breaks down the tiered CMMC...

Colin Nchako shows, live and unscripted, exactly how he spots partnership opportunities inside real sources sought notices — and how to use member pairings to build past performance even when you're just starting out. He walks through a real solicitation in real time, catches a missed 508 compliance requirement with help from the group, and shares the true story of nearly missing a submission dead...

Eric Coffie walks a small business owner through a real Schedule of Values for a fire suppression construction contract — showing exactly how to break work into billable phases so you get paid periodically instead of waiting until the project is complete. He covers how to divide work by trade, what to include in each line item (materials, installation, design), how percentage-complete billing actu...

If you want to know how to win government contracts now that the overhauled FAR says the government only has to inform you, not assist you, this episode is the targeting playbook for it.  Former Air Force contracting officer Kevin Jans, who spent 16 years on the government side and now runs Skyway Acquisition, breaks down how he narrowed 212,000 contracting people down to the 135 who actually buy...

Shaping a government statement of work through sources sought is the single most overlooked way small businesses win federal contracts before they are ever competed, and in this episode a former government buyer breaks down exactly how it works. Ryan Atencio spent years on the inside developing statements of work as the end user, and he walks through how to feed the customer minimum requirements,...

GovCon consulting starts with one skill most people skip: finding the opportunity before you ever find the client. In this episode, consultant Zach Golden walks through a real day in the life, showing exactly how he sources federal opportunities, uses sources sought notices to open doors, and turns a single environmental remediation bid into a new teaming relationship. If you want to consult in go...

New government contractors keep asking the wrong question about money, and it's quietly stalling their business before it starts. In this Federal Help Center Q&A, Eric Coffie breaks down why reinvestment (not taking profit home) is the only realistic move in your early contract volume, how to delegate with virtual assistants when cash is tight, and why the "starving period" is longer than almost a...

Understanding the rules of federal small business programs is the difference between winning contracts and losing them to a protest, and in this episode David Rambhajan breaks down exactly how he used the FAR, the VAR, and the SDVOSB set-aside rules to protect a multi-million dollar Army Corps award. He shares the mentor-protege and like-kind subcontracting strategies that let veteran-owned and se...

Limitations on subcontracting and work share rules decide whether your 8(a), SDVOSB, or woman-owned small business can actually win the government contracts you have access to. In this episode, Ryan Atencio breaks down why Tribal 8(a)s can pull $100 million non-protestable DOD sole source awards while a regular set-aside caps out around $4.5 million, and he lays out the exact 50/50 labor split mos...

Your SBA profile inside SAM.gov and the Dynamic Small Business Search is the first thing federal agencies pull up about you, and Randie Ward explains how contracting officers instantly tell a novice from a pro by how it's completed. This episode of the Federal Help Center podcast with Randie Ward walks through the exact profile mistakes that hide small businesses from agencies, from the capability...

If you want to win government contracts with no experience, a former government-side contracting officer's rep explains why the door you think is closed is only regulated, and how a small business gets through it. Remi Bankole spent years inside federal contracting as a COR and contracting specialist, a US Army reservist since 2001, pushing out solicitations and vetting the vendors who won. He bre...

Government contract pricing strategy is the difference between winning a federal bid and quietly losing money on it, and in this episode Eric Coffie breaks down the exact G&A and profit numbers he uses to scale from small contracts to $50 million projects. If you've ever wondered how to price a sole source deal, how to structure margins on bid work, or why some competitors win with numbers that lo...

What actually happens when a federal contract gets cancelled midstream, and how a government contracting consultant turned a $300,000 NEH contract cancellation into a paid settlement, is the center of this episode. A consultant walks through the real operational side of running a GovCon consulting practice: the CRM systems that keep client opportunities from falling through the cracks, how a Linke...

Teaming with tribal companies is how a small local contractor can bid federal work far bigger than it could ever win alone, and Eric Coffie walks through exactly how he did it. He recounts partnering with a tribe to bid three $250 million IDIQs, why a $90 million ceiling does not automatically disqualify you, and how the real gate is the bonding and task-order requirements, not the headline dollar...

A joint venture government contract can survive a protest if the owner understands exactly how their ownership split and mentor-protégé status hold up under federal rules. David Rambhajan walks through the real difference between a teaming agreement, a subcontract, and a joint venture, then tells the story of a $6 million New Orleans project that got protested because a competitor challenged his e...

An 8a company can keep earning from a GWAC or IDIQ they got into before graduation for the entire life of that vehicle, even after their 8(a) certification ends. Eric Coffie breaks down how 538 companies stayed active on the STARS II GWAC after graduating out of the 8(a) program, how one of his own $5 million contracts came from a MAC vehicle he was never actually on by getting brought in as a sub...

Government contracting overhead management is where most small business contractors silently lose profit, and West Edwards breaks down the exact above-the-line and below-the-line system he uses to protect margins and keep his doors open at any revenue level. West is a roofing and loan services contractor who has watched a $100 million company collapse in three weeks because the owner never control...

Aaron Bare breaks down how to scale a small business from one revenue level to the next without working any harder, and it starts with the model, not the hours. Bare has sold 12 companies and coached founders from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 leadership, and he walks through the exact shift he ran with a client: cutting a package from 12,500 a month down to a 5,000 price point, then sell...

Small federal contractors who refuse to cut their bid price and instead build bonding capacity through the federal mentor protege program can grow from $3 million to $25 million without sacrificing profit margins. David Rambhajan shares how he capped his personal indemnification at $250,000 inside a mentor-protege agreement with a $1.5 billion company, protected his bonding and retained earnings,...

Federal agencies post new solicitations for work that falls under existing small business contract vehicles because contracting officers often do not know those vehicles are available, and 50 percent of government jobs are still going to one or no bidders. Eric Coffie walks through the exact conversation a contractor can have with a contracting officer to redirect a new solicitation onto an existi...