Now What? A Call to Action for CEOs Post DOGE
With more DOD cuts coming, it is hard to say that we’ve hit rock bottom or steady state, but for a lot of folks, we are coming out of the shock and awe phase.
It’s now the time for action.
So…now what? What’s the plan for the rest of 2025? It is hard to plan beyond this year, given the uncertainty, so let’s focus on 2-4Q25.
- Banking relationship. Now, more than ever, get on a first name basis with your banker. If you can’t text them or have them pick up your call, you aren’t close. Cozy up to the person who holds your LOC and make sure they are one of the first people to know what’s going on in your company. And don’t hold back the negative news – the more they are aware, the more they can help you.
- Look inward. Right size the corporate organization. This sounds harsh, but if you’ve let go half of your billable team, do you still need a full-time HR person? Do you need a full-time CFO? Consider moving folks to part time, consider outsourcing, consider cutting one of the team. Get your G&A in order to weather the reduction in revenue. No one said it would be fun, easy or something you want to do, but you have an obligation to those still employed at your company to keep as lean as possible, and to reduce your overall costs.
- Know your numbers. Get a handle on your cash flow, your indirect rates, your forward pricing and your profitability. Immediately. Understand the impact of less direct labor, less G&A, etc. Give up on the original 2025 budget and the illusion that this year is going to be a growth year. Better to manage your expectations now and give yourself grace for a down year, or a flat year. Remember, maintaining is the new winning.
- Get ready to write. Understanding this is contrary to #2 but consider doubling down on your proposal shop. Assuming you aren’t rolling over and playing dead, you are going to need to bid way more than you planned on just to get back to your pre-DOGE status. The forward pricing is going to be more important than ever as the govt squeezes rates downward. Have knowledgeable graphics designers, proposal writers, and pricers on speed dial to utilize during the peak season. Don’t hire but utilize outside firms or independent 1099s to handle the peak. If you know you have enough work, hire now while the job market is soft.
- Grind. Get out from your behind laptop and hustle. CEOs sell. People want to buy from the CEO. While you may have BD and capture folks to do this for you, NOW is the time to focus on getting out there. Rebuild any relationships that may have faded away. Talk to other CEOs about what they are doing. Network, team, hustle.
- Most importantly, reframe your thinking. Instead of focusing on what has been lost, concentrate on how far you’ve come. Remember when you first started and the feeling of your first contract win? How your team was tiny? How you worked your ass off to grow the company? You did that. And you can do it again. Do not fall back into DIY-ing everything yourself. Be strategic in what you spend your time on. Now, you have the benefit of experience. You can rebuild back what may have been lost.
Strategize on what you need to do to be successful in the federal contracting market under this administration. Talk with companies who have not been impacted and get ideas. You can rebuild stronger than before.
Time to move from shock and awe, analysis paralysis to ACTION. NOW.
About BOOST’s CEO, Stephanie Alexander
Stephanie Alexander has spent more decades than she wants to admit supporting high growth government contractors with an eye towards their bottom line. She is the CEO and founder of BOOST LLC which supports back-office functions for government contractors. She is a co-founder and Partner at govmates, a free teaming platform and technology scouting tool to connect business across the federal landscape.
