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Hello all. My name is Ted Erlwein and I'm one of the instructors who helped write the material for the B2G Institute. Prior to that, I was, as I still am, a business development consultant helping small businesses with Government contracting. Yes, there are some good resources out there that are free but the level of help, by statute, they can give is limited. It is interesting to hear comments back and forth on Government contracting. It is sometimes a hard nut to crack and there are a lot of rules and regulations that apply. But we do not offer "get rich quick" information. What we give is basic information on a $500 billion market. That is what the Gov't awards in contracts each year. And let's talk facts and figures. In California since October 1, there have been $419.8 million in contract awards where there was only one offer received. So why didn't others compete? They didn't know how. That's all we do - give people specific information about this avenue of business growth. And, to give a pitch to the institue, we also have a day 1 guarantee - if you don't think the info is for you, you get a full refund at the end of the first day. No risk. So the commercial market is in the tank and the government spends and will spend a lot of money including billions from the Stimulus package. So is it a gamble to come? Sure! It's a gamble to get up in the morning. But I just wanted to give the "other side of the story". I'm a small business like everbody else and I see where the dollars are....and that's what I teach people to do. Google me, look me up, and feel free to respond. I believe in what I do and what I teach. Best to all, Ted

Hi Ted,

Thank you for representing the B2G Institute and speaking up for them in this Forum. I think we all appreciate the potential benefits of bidding on and receiving government contracts, but do you have anything more than "It is sometimes a hard nut to crack and there are a lot of rules and regulations that apply" in regards to advice.

Your program sounds interesting, but with the feedback from most regarding the tactics and phrasing used by your sales people and little information on what the Institute actually does, I'm inclined to go the "do it yourself" route using forums like this and networking with others that have gone through the process.

I have to admit that your www.yourgsapro.com website it quite informative.

Chris

Thank you for your information and insight, its much appreciated!

Chris

Hi PalenciaGirl,

Wow, what a fantastic opportunity. Please give an example of something you are learning that you feel you would never have a clear understanding of trying to do it on your own.

Thanks in advance...!

Chris

On Day 1 for example, we spoke of the end of year money strategy since the gov't has to spend it or lose it. We discussed how Contracting Officers misapply NAICS codes. And we talked about the Dynamic Small Business Search page which is on www.ccr.gov. This is a place where Contracting Officers go to do Sources Sought. In this database, make sure you put a capability narrative and individual keywords. This database is reached from the last page inside your CCR registration.

how has your class been going? Are you happy with what you are beening taught?

If you don't take their course you will not be able to do this on your own. It's not the sort of thing that you can successfully teach yourself. Sure, you can teach yourself some of it but it will be harder for you and a steeper learning curve. Is it expensive, sure it is, but the instructors are seasoned pros and have years of experience behind them that is valuable to you. Honestly, you can't do it on your own. I finished today and after three days still feel like I need some hand holding but there is no way, no possible chance I could have taught any of this to myself. They know little tricks that you need to know to be a star.

It's well, well, well worth the money. They do try to upsell you on items, and they are great items to be sold on if you have the additional funds, but if not, the basic course (not the workshop) will be a great start and with effort on your own after the course ends you will succeed. These guys are all great and you will really like them and want to learn from them. A few of the people I met at the course were talking and we all decided to form a weekly support group meeting to talk about our success and failures and learning curve now that we are out on our own doing this. It should help all of us!

Again, if you want to sell to the government without looking like an idiot you need to take some sort of course, if not the B2G course, then something. Reading a book is a good start, but there is so much to this subject you will not possibly learn it all yourself, unless you totally dedicate yourself to learning this and spend at least 5 hours a night working on it.

Yeah, that is one way to do it but I wanted to learn for myself and to have an understanding of what was happening. Most people who "help" you end up doing it all for you and just charging you a hefty portion of the contract, if you win the contract. 100% you can do it this way and I likely will still enlist one of these persons to help me and hold my hand as they are likely cheaper than the upsell programs that B2G tries to sell to you after the program ends. We were told today that even if you miss something as minor as an inital on a bid your are disqualified, so having someone to watch over your final results is a great idea, someone who knows what they are doing. There is so much to it that I want to get some inital extra help with my bids and am meeting with someone tomorrow about this but I will know have a clue what happens and why it happens so I will not look totally green when talking to the government folks.