On a small business budget

Transcription

1 Making rain On a small business budget APMP Florida Chapter Chris Simmons, Rainmakerz Consulting LLC September 10, 2014

2 SB Problems and priorities 1. Costs = MONEY 2. Competition 3. Employees 4. Finance = MONEY 5. Information 6. Management National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Research Foundation,

3 What s on your mind? Controlling costs Shifting priorities Optimal use of resources Identifying/influencing bids Bid/no-bid and role

4 28 million 0.1% LARGE businesses 99.9% SMALL businesses 3.7 M (veteran) 6.1 M (minority) 7.8 M (women) 13.9 M (men) = 50% of workforce 22% of govbiz $102 B/year 4 Source: SBA FAQ, September 2012

5 Why go small? More experienced More flexible/responsive Fewer customers Hands-on leadership Better work/life balance Trusting culture Less expensive

6 10 years 5 years 2 years 70% 30% 50% 6 Out of business?

7 WIIFY: Win More and Work less EFFICIENCY Low High Low High WIN NEW BUSINESS 7

8 Ideal World Best case scenario No constraints Optimum efficiency Detailed plans/processes Unlimited resources Must win Real World Constraints Limitations Inefficiencies Limited resources Murphy s law Make due 8

9 Track opportunities Identify Qualify Pursue Bid Win DO 9

10 Pipeline management Pipeline 1 Pipeline 2 # of Prospects: Average Value: Average pwin: 10 3 $20 Million $25 Million 10% 35% Pipeline Value: $20 Million $26 Million 10 10

11 Proposal math Annual Revenue Target ($26 million) Average Contract ($2 million)/ Win Rate (35%) =37 Proposals/Year

12 Capture plan Prospect overview Opportunity overview Issues and hot buttons Competition Win/teaming strategy Themes and discriminators High-level proposal schedule pwin assessment Action/call/contact plan B&P staffing plan Capture plan readiness 40% Capture Plan 12

13 Know your customer Mary Smith President Power Sponsor Decision Maker Source: The Complex Sale John Jones VP Operations Terry Talker VP Sales Sam Shade VP Finance Lucy Liken VP HR Recommender?????????? Decision Maker?? Preference (-5 to +5) 13 Power (-5 to +5) Gatekeeper Decision Maker Source Selection Board Evaluator Recommender Roles Informant Power Sponsor Coach Influencer Non-Participant Potential Influencer Supporter Neutral Opponent Unknown Louis Lips Director +5-4 Informant

14 Understand the competition Us Them Our Sweet Spot (Why us?) Our Strengths Their Weaknesses CUSTOMER NEEDS Our Sour Spot (Why not them?) Our Weaknesses Their Strengths 14 Source: Jump Start Your Business Brain (Doug Hall, 2001)

15 Proposal management plan Proposal team organization Roles and responsibilities Proposal outline Evaluation criteria Proposal development methodology Proposal schedule Win/section themes and discriminators Proposal operations and infrastructure Escalation procedures RFP questions/issues/assumptions Weaknesses/risks/threats 60% Proposal Management Plan 15

16 Win Align with evaluation criteria 100% 75% 50% (1-2 themes) 25% (2-3 themes) (2 themes) 0% Technical Approach Management Plan (1 theme) (1 theme) Past Performance Transition Plan Business/ Pricing 16

17 <Company Name> (XYZ) is pleased to respond to this <long project name> (ABC) for <long customer name> (TBD). We are a Small Business founded in More about us blah, blah, we have X,XXX employees and $XX million in revenues. We re so special, aren t we great blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah this is a mission-critical project.blah, blah we are best-in-class and leading edge, blah blah blah we have assembled the best-of-breed A-Team. Blah blah blah <your vague or generalized statement here>. Our technical approach includes <buried theme here> blah blah blah. 17

18 Theme sentence Understanding the need Graphic call out Our <solution> reduces staff training time by using <big so what> implemented in similar <your customer> projects. We understand the importance of reducing staff training time as a key cost reduction component Our proven <solution> reduces training time and costs #1 rated <solution> for best value and usability (Information Week, 2012) 75% reduction in staff training time (from 4 hours to 1 hour) <Big so what> promotes user acceptance Successfully implemented in 20 <your customer> projects Rated Outstanding by <your customer> Figure 1-1 summarizes how we reduce training costs and exceed your.using our proven<solution>. Focus Box Service Levels Evaluation Criteria Action Caption TBD TBD TBD Solution TBD TBD TBD Overview Graphic Figure 1-1. A Proven Technical Approach. Our <solution> exceeds your service level agreements by reducing training costs by 75 percent

19 Consider consultants Total Cost Number of Hours 19

20 Shop around 20

21 21 How the big companies do it

22 How small companies can do it Start small Test ride Evaluate 22

23 Cost too much? 23

24 Buy in small chunks 24

25 Rainmakerz Consulting LLC. All rights reserved.

26 Increase your trust quotient TQ = Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy Self-Orientation 26

27 First step checklist Do nothing? Research/analyze Identify pain points Develop/refine plan(s) Develop/refine template(s) Get help 27

28 Recommended reading Must Read Articles, The Best Articles Published by CapturePlanning.com, Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) Body of Knowledge, 3. Jump Start Your Business Brain: The Scientific Way to Make More Money, Doug Hall, MustWin Process Workbook, CapturePlanning.com, Powerful Proposals: How to Give Your Business the Winning Edge, Pugh and Bacon, Shipley Capture Guide v3.0, Larry Newman, Shipley Proposal Guide v4.0, Larry Newman, The Beginnings of STOP Storyboarding and the Modular Proposal, APMP Proposal Management, Walter Starkey, fall The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch,

29 Who s Chris? 100s of proposals (27 years in BD) Rainmakerz Consulting founder and principal 140+ customers; $82 billion in new contracts Deloitte Consulting (partner); CGI (senior principal) APMP Fellow; APMP NCA Board (4 years) Top 25 Consultant nominee (Consulting Magazine) MBA in IT; class president (UMass Amherst) 29 Contact Chris : chris@rainmakerz.biz,