I don’t consider myself a government marketing expert. Several of my friends are, and I continue to learn from them. I say this to share that last week I received an incredible recognition from my Federal Contracting colleagues, mentors, and peers. The 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award presented to me at the Government Marketing University GAIN conference, is most certainly a proud moment for me and my family.

 

But, this article is not about me.

 

Yes, I am proud of this award, but there is something else that would make me very proud, and that is seeing the GovCon Small Business Community making itself more visible to be considered for, and to win some/most/all of the more than ten billion dollars in obligations made to ‘Other Than Small Businesses‘ under the Simplified Acquisition Procedures each fiscal year.

 

This is about total visibility, that to me is about knowing something occurs, understanding when and where it occurs, how it occurs and with whom it occurs. It’s also about knowing what steps to take, and taking the steps to lessen the likelihood or prevent the same result from occurring. In this scenario, it means knowing that federal and defense agencies are making a large number of competitive awards to non-small businesses under a procurement method established “to improve opportunities for small business concerns.” The biggest reason this is and has been occurring, in my humble opinion, is because small businesses are not making themselves visible to the Buyers and Customers responsible for these purchases.

 

The basis for how and why agencies can set-aside buys made using Simplified Acquisitions is the “Rule of Two.” The question is, how often do two or more small business concerns who are viable actually show up? The vast majority of Simplified Acquisition awards made to more than fifty-thousand small business concerns each fiscal year, ARE NOT set-aside for small business. This means they are competed Full and Open but awarded to small business. We’re talking $15 billion in obligations on average, from FY19 through FY21. Do you know how many small business concerns do $1 million or more in Simplified Acquisition buys? I do and I know some of these companies.

 

Just letting this soak in for a minute. Are you ready?

 

The vast majority of obligations made to non-small businesses are not limited competition/sole source awards. This means they are competed Full and Open and awarded to large businesses. That’s the other $10 billion in FAR 13 obligations in recent fiscal years. When you look at WHAT was being purchased in the awards made to small business versus other than small business, there is little difference. Are there goods or services that can only be procured from specific sources? Absolutely. But the Government has a process for identifying those ‘only one source‘ or ‘name brand only‘ situations, and they represent a very small portion of Simplified Acquisitions. So what is the likely cause of better than forty percent of these buys going to non-small businesses? I’ve already mentioned being visible to Buyers and Customers, but there is also awareness of how these purchases work, and knowledge they exist in the first place. There is also clarity. By this I mean the fact most companies, not just small, are stuck on the statutory threshold of $250,000. They don’t understand that threshold is ‘per contract action’ and that there can be many contract actions, especially when an Indefinite Delivery Vehicle (IDV) is used. Then there is the Commercial Item exception (FAR Subpart 13.5) that allows the Buyer to increase the threshold to $7.5 million under normal circumstances, and to $15 million to support contingency operations such as a pandemic, humanitarian support, and more. Think National Interest Actions (NIA) for that last part.

 

For as long as Simplified Acquisitions have been a part of federal contracting, they are still very much unknown and misunderstood. Much of the information shared about Simplified Acquisitions, especially by third-party entities and even by the Government, is inaccurate and other times totally incorrect. An example of this is the belief Simplified Acquisitions are limited to goods. In FY2021, services outpaced goods in total obligations. Before that, it was effectively 50-50. The point here is trust but verify.

 

What agencies can and do buy this way looks very much the same as what they buy via contracts and contract vehicles when Simplified Acquisitions are not the solicitation and procurement method. Speaking of contract vehicles, they are very much a second-class citizen in Simplified Acquisitions, with more than seventy-percent of obligations made using a purchase order, or a definitive (standalone) contract. Even when contract vehicles are used, the majority of them are single-award versus multiple-award.

 

What’s the bottom line? Visibility, being seen and the ability to see, is key to success in all aspects of federal contracting. It’s not just being seen, but also the ability to see and know. If your company and offerings are not visible to buyers and customers, they can’t buy from you. If you can’t see buyers and customers, you can’t sell to them. Currently, billions of dollars ‘reserved for small business concerns’ are being awarded to large businesses because viable small businesses don’t have good visibility.

 

Have I ever told you the story of how Simplified Acquisitions helped me become visible to NAVAIR? Because I was seen and could also see, it led to me winning my first million dollar contract with the U.S. Navy in the early 90’s.  Ask me about it sometime.

About Me

My name is Go-To-Guy Timberlake, and I have over 30 years of federal sector experience, knowledge and relationships that I bring to every client, cohort, and community engagement. I developed my knowledge, relationships and skills while supporting civilian, defense, and intelligence agency programs, starting with Operation Desert Shield. I am chief executive visionary and co-founder of the community known as The American Small Business Coalition, and in addition to “Go-To-Guy” I am referred to as “Professor” and ‘Edutainer’ for my ability to make mundane discussions about business essential topics interesting and practical. I am the creator of Ethical Stalking for Government Contractors®, the curriculum and philosophy that has guided hundreds of small and large companies to successfully find and win federal contracts and subcontracts valued at more than $5 billion in realized revenues since 2010. In October 2022, I was honored at the GAIN Conference with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Government Marketing University.