By Dee Dee Helfenstein, Solutions Lead for Booz Allen Hamilton Inc
The professional sacrifice military spouses make because of near-constant moves is often overlooked. Twenty-three percent are unemployed, even though they want to work. I should also mention that 91 percent of military spouses are women.
An exciting development is that many are turning to entrepreneurship, particularly professional services, with little inventory to deal with while on the move. The federal government is eager to be their partner. Recently, a military spouse-owned consulting firm was awarded the largest ever U.S. Special Operations Command contract to a women-owned business.
Why don’t we hear more stories like that one? Often, it’s unfortunately due to a lack of network access, capital, and resources. There are also systemic disadvantages toward female founders in particular. As we head into 2019, here are ways for military spouse entrepreneurs to update your tactics and strategically position themselves for consideration as the next recipient of a federal contract.
Know Your Worth to The Federal Mission
It’s important for women and military spouse founders to understand their real value and fortunately, leaders in the government understand that increased diversity can unlock innovation. They view small business goals as more than just numbers, but rather see that inclusive innovation is core to business transformation and applying well-rounded solutions to meet their missions into the future.
“We are committed to ensuring that the 5 percent federal statutory goal for women-owned businesses is achieved,” emphasized Nina Roque, executive director for the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), the federal government’s only independent voice for women business owners and entrepreneurs. “Consistent and reliable access to the federal marketplace is necessary for women business owners to continue to develop and grow their business, and contribute, in a significant way, to the U.S. economy.”
Small businesses often have advantages over larger firms due to their ability to move quickly, offering agencies competitive pricing due to low overhead costs and deep niche expertise. But at a foundational level, it’s the strong network and support infrastructure that allows most businesses to get access to contracts in the first place.
Seek Out Support to Match Your Maturity
From identifying your NAICS code (North American Industry Classification System) to registering in SAM (System for Award Management), the alphabet soup of getting started and certified can be dizzying. And for some small businesses, those “early” tasks are not even on the horizon yet. It’s important to develop strategic networks and partnerships along your journey to winning a federal bid. Early stage startups can look to organizations such as The Vinetta Project, a capital platform and Seed Spot, an incubator, which help founders build credibility, obtain access to mentorship and capital, and launch a viable business.
In different ways, they are each focused on supporting disadvantaged founders who have high potential businesses, but minimal access to the traditional investment ecosystem. In 2018, Vinetta partnered with Booz Allen and the Small Business Administration to offer three sessions for women founders on how to work in the federal government and just last month SEED Spot and Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN) hosted a 2-Day Launch Camp for aspiring military spouse entrepreneurs. Participants included Dr. Ingrid Herrera-Yee who is building a nonprofit community of military spouses who are mental health professionals and want to reduce service member and veteran suicide rates.
For small businesses that are farther along in their lifecycle but would benefit from development support, the Mentor-Protégé program, administered by the Small Business Administration, is a way to accelerate this process. Mentors typically work with select small businesses in a capacity that varies based on specific company needs (e.g. technology transfer, security clearances, accounting systems, business development, and more). It’s a valuable way to start a long-term partnership and a good first step toward a joint venture
Do Your Homework to Stand Out
Even though women-owned small businesses are sought after in the federal government, lean operations sometimes lack the resources to gather intel about procurements or a program’s history. It’s essential to pay close attention to agency priorities and procurements planned for this year. Go after the projects that will be a good fit for your business by building agency relationships early on and developing a procurement strategy using resources offered by regional and federal development centers.
These development centers—such as the National Association of Women Business Owners, or another group depending on your classification—can help small businesses seek out specialists across agencies to build relationships that may yield valuable information about a program’s mission, expected procurements, and even contracts where they may not be hitting their small business goals. This effort is exclusively about information-gathering and developing a landscape understanding, so you can better position your business when the time comes
I have seen and been personally impacted by the power and talent that comes from small businesses owned by military spouses, veterans, and others. The good news if you’re a military spouse and small business owner: The federal government is increasingly opening opportunities for founders like you and is supporting high-potential companies that represent the diversity of talent in our economy.
Dee Dee Helfenstein leads Booz Allen’s Solutions Business responsible for new product strategy, strategic alliances, and accelerating transformative and integrated solutions for clients through inclusive innovation. She is passionate about female entrepreneurship and sits on the board of The Vinetta Project, a non-profit partner of Booz Allen which focuses on providing women founders across the country equal access to support and capital. Booz Allen is committed to reducing military spouse unemployment from the inside out, which means hiring, retaining, and growing military spouse talent and also encouraging military spouse entrepreneurship.
