GovCon Industry 4th Quarter… Who the Heck Knows?
‘Tis the quarter of last-minute contract proposals, mad scrambles for key personnel, task order bidding, and trying to keep everything straight between whose team you are on and for what. Add that to trying to manage multiple folks on vacation and everyone suffering from a bit of summer head (i.e. we’d rather be at the beach mentality). Oh, and COVID… can’t forget work-from-home-forever, COVID. he GovCon industry is rarely so tense and slow-moving, so it’s important to keep perspective throughout.
It’s a time when some folks lose all strategic perspective and go whole-hog into the throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what hits strategy. What is the difference between 5 proposals or 6 they think?
But….2020. Need we say more? Our response to practically everything these days is…2020.
Keeping all of that in mind, what does this government 4th quarter actually look like in the GovCon industry?
We’re hearing mixed results. Some folks seem to be business as usual (which means crazy). Our strategic pricing specialists are busy as are the proposal peeps. There are a significant number of folks going after 8a STARS right now too. But some folks are reporting that things seem quiet….eerily quiet.
For those on the quiet side, the question becomes, is there a true lack of opportunities?
Potentially, and here’s why:
- Everyone is still focused on COVID related acquisitions
- Money was spent on other priorities (IT infrastructure and/or pandemic related)
- Recruitment process is slower these days due to remote work
- Less intel opportunities since everyone is running at 50%
- Less opportunities that are not on the large GWACs/IDIQ vehicles
- Category management has effectively become the have and have nots, squeezing small business
- Lack of access to government officials – everyone’s home, wandering around for snacks, not wandering the halls for business
Whatever the case may be, what’s important is that business owners and business development folks keep on top of the rumors, what they are seeing in their business and talk to their frenemies about their experiences. Don’t be complacent that what you are seeing or experiencing is the same everywhere in the GovCon industry. Don’t fall into the trap or get lulled into a significant pause on your growth strategy or BD goals. It’s easy to get complacent when things get slow, but complacency is how you become irrelevant in the GovCon industry.
Not only do we spout great advice, we take it too. In our conversations with partners and frenemies, we’re continuously gathering new data on trends and gut feelings. Luckily for you, we don’t keep it all under wraps. BOOST is sponsoring the upcoming govmates Institute with Wolf Den & Associates titled, Virtual First: Business Development in a Post-COVID World. This event is free to govmates members. Check out the institute page and apply for a seat at the virtual institute ASAP.
What are you seeing in your line? Head over to our LinkedIn Page and join the conversation about current GovCon industry trends and where businesses are going from here.
Updated 03/21/2023
