How to Get Started with Government Contracting — Sheena Parker

Government contracting is a potentially lucrative market, but many small businesses desiring to enter the space don’t know where to begin. On this week’s episode of The Playbook, host Mark Collier, area director for the UGA Small Business Development Center, is joined by Sheena Parker, CEO of 4SYT Industries, a leading facilities management company, specializing in government work. Sheena is going to share her wealth of knowledge on this very important topic for small businesses and detail the course that she has developed exclusively for aspiring government contracting businesses.

Transcription:

Mark Collier:
Welcome back into The Playbook, Sheena.

Sheena Parker:
Thank you so much for having me, Mark.

Mark Collier:
All right, Well, fantastic. Listen, you’ve been a busy lady since we last spoke, so why don’t you kind of catch me up on all that you’ve been doing, especially your kind of pivot into the government contracting space.

Sheena Parker:
Yeah, so we have just expanded our government contracting quite a bit. We were already doing federal and local, but we kind of got more into corporate, which is one of those unknown gems, and we kind of expand into the northeast a little bit more, so we’re providing pressure washing services for the Phillies, so we just did-

Mark Collier:
Wow. That’s a big deal.

Sheena Parker:
Especially since they’re going to the World Series, sorry, Braves, but we want the Phillies to win because we are supporting them right now. We just expanded quite a bit with our contracting just as a whole. Then also, I had to kind of, I was almost bullied into teaching people how to do government contracting, so I created a course.

Mark Collier:
Okay. Well, we’re going to delve into a little bit about that a little later, but first of all, kind of walk me through the strategy you took and kind of your thought process for really wanting to dive deep into the government contracting space.

Sheena Parker:
We were gorillas. We really were just bidding. We were building relationships. I encouraged my team to build relationships. There’s a lot of different strategies with government contracting, but we really just took those two bidding and building our relationships to the utmost level.

Mark Collier:
Well, those are the two areas I think that are very important. One of my old adages is true. People do business with people who they know, like and trust.

Sheena Parker:
Know, like and trust, absolutely.

Mark Collier:
For you to sink your teeth into that and really build a strategy around it, what was very smart on your part.

Sheena Parker:
Ah, thank you. Thank you, Thank you.

Mark Collier:
All right, so for other businesses who are aspiring to get into the government contracting space, tell me why they should be interested in it.

Sheena Parker:
Government contracting. I mean, for me, I look at who has the biggest wallet. Why not offer the services to the biggest spender?

Mark Collier:
Absolutely.

Sheena Parker:
It’s as simple as that. Then a lot of people, they might feel like they’re stuck or they haven’t been able to scale, especially with, in my industry with facility management, it’s more like residential or maybe small commercial, and they feel like they’re plateaued. Once you’re able to scale to government contracting, then you have the money to be able to afford to hire the people to be your managers and work in different states. I just feel like go to the biggest spender.

Mark Collier:
No, that’s a great point. Here’s something that’s very important too. Yes, you can look at that, who’s the biggest spender and go into that government contracting space, but not all businesses can do that, because the first step is to find out that what you’re selling is something the government’s buying. I know businesses that are in the crochet business, you’re not going to have a big government market purchasing crochet items.

Sheena Parker:
Maybe not, but then you can pivot with that. You can be a sewing master for the government. I mean, it’s not always going to be cookie cutter where, “Hey, I do this type of thing. I make rugs.” My daughter just said she wanted to start making rugs. I was like, “That’s interesting,” but you’re not going to do that per se, but you can take that same skill and bring it over to the government.

Mark Collier:
That’s a very good point, so I guess the bottom line is look at what skill set you do have and try to match it up with something the government has a desire to purchase.

Sheena Parker:
Exactly right. Yeah.

Mark Collier:
Makes sense, so we talked about kind of why businesses should get into government contracting. Let’s talk about the benefits to establish businesses. Let’s say you’re a business out here, already established, doing great work in the commercial. What is your motivation from going into the government contracting space?

Sheena Parker:
Same thing. I would say it’s really the same thing. I even encourage people who have a business that first, then those who are just trying to start a business and then go into government contracting. I would rather someone already have the understanding, the fundamental basics of business, running a business, especially if you have commercial contracts and you have a little taste of what could potentially be a government contract. Of course, I’m always going to relate back to facilities management, but if you have serviced a large apartment complex, so if you serviced the large commercial building, then you probably will be able to service a government building.

Mark Collier:
Okay. No, I see where the two can potentially kind of converge. Because I know with most government contracts, they want to see some type of track record.

Sheena Parker:
They do.

Mark Collier:
They’re not going to hire you a start up right out the gate with no track record.

Sheena Parker:
Not typically.

Mark Collier:
Okay, not typically.

Sheena Parker:
Not that it’s impossible.

Mark Collier:
Excepts to every rule, right?

Sheena Parker:
Of course. Of course, but yes, in all past performance counts. Even if you were an employee, it still counts. That’s a misconception.

Mark Collier:
No. Yeah, no, that is a misconception. Someone told me once that why just work in this space? I don’t have any experience in it. Well, your work is your experience.

Sheena Parker:
Exactly right. Yep, exactly.

Mark Collier:
Makes sense, so businesses want to go to government contract, and they basically have two routes. They can do it themselves and trial and error method, or they can purchase a course like yours.

Sheena Parker:
Yes.

Mark Collier:
Okay, so talk to me about the course you developed, kind of what was the strategy behind developing the course, and what value does it deliver to the people who purchase it?

Sheena Parker:
Yes, so my course is GovCon for winners, and we do-

Mark Collier:
GovCon for winners. I like that.

Sheena Parker:
Yeah, and what we do is we teach everything from cradle to wedding. I don’t like to say cradle to grave, but cradle to wedding. If you are a business that’s not established, we go through the whole setup process, setting up properly. Also, I give my personal attorney’s information, my personal bonding information, accountants that I have, because it’s really important to have the right people that understand government contracting when you are hiring them to work for you while you’re building this process. Then I go into federal contracting, how to set up. We actually have proposals that have been awarded, which it’s hard to find those on the internet, so we have those templates or the actual awarded proposal inside of our federal portion. Then we go into local contracting, which is the same but different. It’s mostly documents, but we do go into how to build our relationships in your local area and become a vendor.
Then we go into corporate contracting. Like I said, that’s one of those hidden gems, and we explain how to make the best of your industry day and how to be a diverse supplier for AT&T or Boeing or Coca-Cola or some of these companies that have an agenda to empower entrepreneurs to sell a service or a good to them. Then veterans, of course, I always have something for my veterans because I am a program queen. All the programs that I have, I have participated in, or things that I feel are beneficial for veterans specifically, I also have that included. In the business setup, federal, local, corporate and stuff for my veterans.

Mark Collier:
All right, so you’ve kind of created a kind of one-stop shop course that companies who have no prior government contracting experience, they can take this course and they will have the steps that they need to hopefully be successful in it.

Sheena Parker:
Absolutely right. Yep.

Mark Collier:
You mentioned something very important. You said there’s federal and then there’s local.

Sheena Parker:
Yes.

Mark Collier:
A lot of people get that confused.

Sheena Parker:
Yes.

Mark Collier:
Everyone knows about the federal government and their purchases, but states buy products and services?

Sheena Parker:
Oh my God. Yes.

Mark Collier:
Counties.

Sheena Parker:
Yes.

Mark Collier:
Cities and other municipalities, they all buy, so that’s part of the local umbrella that you’re referring to?

Sheena Parker:
It is, and that’s where I started. My first three contracts were local, and they were six figure contracts. That makes a difference when people say, “Well, the money is filtered down from federal, down to state.” Sure, but they filter a lot of money down to state. There’s a lot of agencies who you can reach out and touch and make those connections with and say, “Hey, we’re here. We’re able to provide janitorial or whatever service,” so sometimes they’re a little easier to touch than federal.

Mark Collier:
No, and the trickle down effect, I mean, I think that’s part and parcel. These large bills, for example, the infrastructure bill.

Sheena Parker:
Yes, huge.

Mark Collier:
It’s a federal bill, but that money’s going to be distributed to the states to actually implement the programs and projects.

Sheena Parker:
Absolutely. Yes, 100%.

Mark Collier:
Getting in good with those local contracting officers and understanding when those bids are going to come out is important.

Sheena Parker:
Right, before if they ever come out, so you can get ahead of it before it’s even put out for bid.

Mark Collier:
Right. That makes perfect sense. All right, so there are a lot of courses out here that you can take and purchase for government contracting, so differentiation is the holy grail of all business models.

Sheena Parker:
It is.

Mark Collier:
Talk to me about how your course is different and how your course delivers just exceptional value to your students.

Sheena Parker:
Well, what I find, and of course I always ask for feedback. When I was doing consultations before with people who wanted to get into government contract, and of course, I asked what is out there on the market? It’s not like that I’m snooping, but I just want to know what their experiences was if they had taken a course. A lot of people don’t understand the three tiers, and that’s what we are doing, is teaching three tier contracting, because I’ve done it all. I’m in the field. I’ve scrubbed toilets. I have been a part of every process of my business. Because at the beginning, it was just Sheena.

Mark Collier:
Well, that’s important. You know all the job functions, so you know who to hire and what skills you need for those job functions.

Sheena Parker:
Exactly right, and I do cover that as well in the business setup portion. Even if people don’t take advantage of going through that portion of the course, it is available that they know, “Hey, this is the next hire that you need to make.” It may not be a program manager, it may just be an admin assistant. With mine, I teach why just focus on federal? You may not win any federal for a year. Why just focus on local? You may not win any local for a year. Why not just focus on all three? You just never know.

Mark Collier:
That makes sense. No, I mean, having a strategy, because I’m sure the strategies are oftentimes very different for local, than with government contracting versus federal.

Sheena Parker:
They are.

Mark Collier:
To have a course like yours that can kind of walk folks through that process would deliver great value. I get it.

Sheena Parker:
Yes.

Mark Collier:
All right. Companies today, they’re hearing what you’re saying. They’re excited, they want to get into it. Give me some strategies on what companies should be doing today, kind of the best position themselves for a future entry into the government contracting sector.

Sheena Parker:
Just make sure all of your paperwork is complete.

Mark Collier:
All right.

Sheena Parker:
It’s a very simple statement. However, going through this process, there are some people that don’t know that they have to be registered with the Secretary of State and have an EIN.

Mark Collier:
Did not know that. Okay.

Sheena Parker:
Yeah. It’s simple stuff, but if you don’t know, you don’t know. Also, some people need business licenses.

Mark Collier:
Yes, they do.

Sheena Parker:
Not everyone does problem business, but some do or don’t. Veterans, you get business license for free if you’re service disabled. Just little plug there, but also just insurances. I would always recommend people go free first just to see if it’s something that you want to do, and check out some of the federal sites that have the bids on there. Whatever industry you’re in, read exactly what that particular bid is asking, and that’ll give you a window to know what you are going to need when you start bidding.

Mark Collier:
Okay. Very, very good. All of this will be covered in your course, kind of step-by-step and …

Sheena Parker:
Yes, step-by-step.

Mark Collier:
… How to bid and how to win, and how to protest.

Sheena Parker:
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, that’s that word. Yes. Absolutely. Yes.

Mark Collier:
All right. Very good. All right, so hindsight is 20/20 as they say. What would you do differently today? Let’s say you were talking to the younger Sheena Parker, and you said, “I’ve got some advice for you. I’ve been where you’re going.” What’s some advice you would give to a young aspiring entrepreneur seeking to get into the government contracting space?

Sheena Parker:
To do it. Take away the fear. Analysis paralysis kill dreams.

Mark Collier:
Oh, I agree.

Sheena Parker:
Just really do. I’m going to build a plan on the way down type of gal. That’s not popular, but I would say that just having the fear and then the regret is probably a lot worse than figuring it out on the way. If you know want to be a business owner, you have to make sure that of that first. You want to be a business owner. You want to be an entrepreneur, and just pull the trigger.

Mark Collier:
Pull the trigger, and go and just make some mistakes. All entrepreneurs are going to make mistakes no matter how well-prepared you are.

Sheena Parker:
No matter how rich they are …

Mark Collier:
Yeah, that’s a good point.

Sheena Parker:
… They continue to make mistakes forever.

Mark Collier:
Yeah. They say the marketplace is a final and unforgiving arbiter.

Sheena Parker:
Oh my goodness.

Mark Collier:
The value of your service or product.

Sheena Parker:
Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that.

Mark Collier:
All right. Sheena Parker, founder and president of 4SYT Industries. I want to thank you again for taking the time out of your busy day to come in and talk about a very important topic, government contracting, because many business owners want to get into it, but they have no idea where to start, and you now have a kind of turnkey system that they can potentially look at that’ll help them be successful in that government contracting space.

Sheena Parker:
Yes.

Mark Collier:
All right.

Sheena Parker:
Thank you so much.