Lessons Learned for Small Business and HBCUs

1
Lessons Learned for Small Business and HBCUs

• Austin Boyd
• Business Development
• Science Applications International Corporation

2
Austin Boyds 12 Step Program for Overcoming
Shrinking Revenue Share- or- Seven Habits of
Highly Effective Business
3
Introduction

• Business Development, SAIC Huntsville
• 256-971-6640 (Work) austin.w.boyd_at_saic.com
• 6B technical services company
• Software engineering, systems engineering
• Modeling and simulation, systems analysis
• Army AMCOM, NASA, MDA local business
• Seeking innovative small business partners with
  initiative and desire to grow the technical
  services business

4
Why 12 Steps?

• Meet many small businesses and HBCUs with
  interest in growth, but
• They dont all grow or even survive why?
• Seeking business partners to grow into small
  business arena and capture HBCU share of federal
  business
• Strong interest in mentoring partners from small
  business as future team mates of SAIC

5
12 Steps

• Put others first
• Think strategically
• Communicate
• Develop relationships
• Partner with your customer
• Take your customer to market
• Mine opportunity sources
• Move fast and decisively
• Develop responsive business processes
• Think out of the box
• Think big Act Big Win Big

6
Put Others First

• The nice guys always win in the end
• You can accomplish great things if you dont care
  who gets the credit
• Make your customer a hero and she will remember
  you one day when it matters
• Share it, dont snare it
• 10 of a win gtgt 100 of a loss
• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

7
Think Strategically

• Strategic planning is not 12 months out
• Where do you want to be in five years?
• What are your strengths and what strengths to you
  need to reach your goal?
• Who do you need to partner with to get to your
  goal?
• What investments do you need to make?
• What are your major thrusts?
• Who are your customers? Who are your competitors?
  Your strengths, weaknesses?

8
Communicate

• Network in town, in your professional community
  inside your customer contractor base inside your
  company
• All email and all phone calls do not demand a
  response practice good information management
• Tell others about opportunities that they may
  have missed, even if they are competitors
• Become an information resource for others seeking
  help or solutions to short problems

9
Develop Relationships

• Customer relationship management (CRM) means get
  to know the customer as a friend and an
  associate, not a money-bag
• What are their preferences, who are their
  families, what causes pain in their job, what are
  their major areas of distress, what do they need
  to succeed?
• Earn the right to be heard earn the right to
  sell your product or service
• Relationships take months and years to develop
  this is strategic planning

10
Partner with Your Customer

• Seek CRADA opportunities
• Mentor your customer on how the business
  community works
• Help your customer to identify sources of
• Team with your customer on procurements YES, you
  CAN do this!
• Ask your customer to mentor you if this is
  appropriate
• Communicate with your local small business office
  OFTEN

11
Take Your Customer to Market

• Invest the money and time to find sources of
  revenue for your customer
• Before you do this make sure you have a vehicle
  to use the money you take to them
• Lead your customer or mentor her to make inroads
  into new funding sources
• Seek and win Congressional earmarks
• Share business insights with your customer for no
  other reason than making her a success

12
Mine Opportunity Sources

• You MUST mine FedBizOps every day
• Locate a competitive intelligence firm and set up
  a relationship
• Watch Federal, Army, Air Force and Navy web sites
  announcing new business opportunities all have
  them
• Get into a mentor-protégé relationship with a
  large business and use their information mine to
  your benefit
• Visit your small business office OFTEN and get
  out of town to see other SDB offices

13
Move Fast and Decisively

• Be the small business that large businesses envy
  make quick decisions and deliver on what you
  promise
• Avoid even a hint of bureaucracy
• When on task order contracts, always respond
  ahead of time, dependably
• Publish proposal schedules stick to them
• Have a point of contact who can be reached for
  large business interface with your unit
• Be willing to say NO and move on

14
Responsive Business Processes

• Put a STRONG focus on finance and cost accounting
  processes stick by your rates
• Link your business development and marketing
  processes to your finance/cost accounting and
  recruiting
• Pursue ISO and SEI CMMI assessments learn EVMS
  practice Earned Quality (EQ)
• Institute a Business Pipeline tracking system
  track your metrics
• Hire hardworking dependable personnel for
  contracts and insist on responsiveness

15
Think Out of the Box

• Team non-exclusively if it will not hurt your
  position or credibility
• If you lose, negotiate your way onto the winning
  team YES, you CAN do this!
• Everything is negotiable everything
• Find large businesses that have large unfilled
  funded job openings offer to fill them for short
  term until they hire a full timer
• Team with government on government procurements,
  particularly the large ones
• Give others the work take the pass through

16
Think Big Act Big Win Big

• You are only as good as you think you are and
  only as good as you act
• You are more influential than you give yourself
  credit for
• Get outside yourself dont be afraid to tackle
  the big one
• Always always tie your pursuit to your strategic
  plan and plan for growth
• Dont ever sell yourself short
• The glass is always half full

17
Summary

• Sell what the customer is buying
• There are virtually no limits to growth, but you
  may break your culture to get there is that
  worth it?
• Think strategically
• Think out of the box, dont think small
• Develop relationships over the long term
• Be fast, be agile, be willing to take risks and
  take advantage of split second opportunities
• Share the work, share the credit
• Rule 1. Put other people first

18
Points of Contact

• Business Development, SAIC Huntsville
• 256-971-6640 (W) austin.w.boyd_at_saic.com
• Also Karen Rogers 256-971-6518
• Glad to provide more detail on any area in this
  presentation call for support
• SAIC is seeking HBCU/MI partners on all federal
  procurements call and talk to me
• I answer email and phones, but I travel more than
  an airline pilot so, please be patient.