Getting Started in Government Contracting and How to Reduce Stress » Succeed as your own boss.

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LaQuan McCarley It is a government contracting specialist that provides consulting services to help small businesses do business with the federal government. Her firm, Verve Consultants, provides business development, compliance, proposal management and certification services to businesses looking to enter into government contracts. With over 20+ years of experience, she understands the challenges small business owners face, often referred to as a “bridge” to help clients navigate business ownership and government contracting hurdles to reach their revenue goals. For more information www.verveconsultantsinc.com

SmallBizLady: How do you become a federal government contractor?

Laquan McCarley: If you have already established your business, have an EIN number and a business bank account, the next step is to complete the registration process at SAM.gov. Once your registration is approved, you’re ready to start as a federal government contractor.

Tip: Take the time to understand the laws and regulations you must comply with as a government contractor. Compliance is essential to maintaining an active state.

SmallBizLady: What do I need to register my business with the federal government?

Laquan McCarley: As a federal government contractor, you will need to create a competency statement that matches the government’s resume. At a minimum, your skills description should be concise about the products and/or services you provide to the government, what makes them different, past performance, and company information. Skills descriptions should be tailored to the target agency. As a tip, if you know an agency you’d like to work with, check their website to see if they provide any information or formats you’d like to see.

SmallBizLady: How do I find contract opportunities?

Laquan McCarley: Research is key to finding opportunities. There are many research sites out there and it is important to implement a booking strategy to find opportunities that are right for you. A few free tools to mention:

1. The System for Awards Management (SAM) is the federal government’s official site for accessing all public and active contracting opportunities. SAM.gov
2. SBA manages Subnet, a subcontractor network database that provides subcontractor opportunities.
3. USASpending.gov provides historical information on government contracts awarded, contract amounts and expiration dates.

If you know agencies you want to do business with, visit their websites and search for contract opportunities.

How to be an effective communicator

Meredith Bell Co-Founder and Grow Strong Leaders. The company publishes software tools and books that help people build stronger relationships at work and at home. Meredith is an expert in leadership and team communication, author of three books, and host of the Strong Leaders podcast. She co-wrote her latest books, Communicate with your team: Developing the top 10 communication skills, And Peer coaching made easy, With her business partner, Dr. Dennis Coates. In them, Meredith and Denny offer how-to guides for improving communication skills and serving as peer coaches for others. For more information: https://growstrongleaders.com/

SmallBizLady: What is the #1 communication skill important for leaders and team members?

Meredith Bell: Yes, listening. It is by far the #1 skill because it is the foundation for all others. Many people think they are excellent listeners, but in reality, they are usually waiting their turn to speak. Listening involves many sub-skills: focusing your full attention on the other person, noticing non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and body language, showing empathy in addition to the other person’s words, and repeating back what the speaker said to make sure you “got” the message.

SmallBizLady: What is the three-step process required to change a habit or master a new skill?

Meredith Bell: We can learn In Care Of The best way to practice a skill, but that doesn’t mean we start doing it right away. The way we currently perform skills is because our brains are physically wired. We literally have to rewire our minds, and that takes time.

3 steps to complete: 1) Focus – Decide to focus on improving one skill (or aspect of a skill) at a time. 2) Action – Practice the new behavior over and over again. 3) Reflection – After each situation, after practicing the behavior, take time to think about how it was by asking yourself 5 questions: What happened? Why did they control it that way? What was the result? What will you do differently in the future? What is your next step? Steps 2 and 3 should be repeated several times to make the new path stronger than the existing one.

SmallBizLady: In your new book, Connect with Your Team, you describe 3 types of feedback. What are they, and why are they important in business?

Meredith Bell: First, it’s giving positive feedback, or expressing gratitude for a particular cause. Most of us hear more criticism than praise throughout our lives. It’s important to know what others do well, especially if it’s a behavior we want them to repeat.

Next is to give constructive feedback and do it in a way that supports and encourages the other person. There are 5 parts: 1) Verify the good. 2) Explain Especially The nature of problems. 3) Explain the impact on you or others. 4) Reset expectations and gain commitment. 5) Encouragement and support. Often, we avoid giving this kind of feedback, and the result is that nothing changes because the other person doesn’t understand that their behavior caused a problem.

The third is to accept feedback gracefully, so the other person feels comfortable being honest with you. To do well: 1) Listen without defending. 2) Apologize for your behavior if necessary. 3) Thank them for their feedback. 4) Commit to a new behavior and follow up from their perspective to ask how they’re doing. We all have blind spots, and if the people around us don’t think we’re accepting their feedback, we’ll continue to make the same mistakes.

How to reduce stress and avoid burnout

Vernon L. Williams is a stress prevention strategist. He is an author, speaker, and coach with a reputation for challenging, motivating, and helping clients overcome stress and burnout. Since his start in business, Vernon has had a reputation for exceeding client expectations and helping people see their problems in a new light. He is the author of eight books, including The 7 Top Myths That Perpetuate Stress (and How to Get Rid of It), The Power of Happiness: 21 Days to Conquer Your Troubles. Vernon has created several courses including Work Stress Prevention and Positive Thinking Strategies for Business Owners. For more information: www.Preventworkstress.com

SmallBizLady: With all the books on stress, why does stress remain such a problem?

Vernon L. Williams: The simple answer is because most information on stress is based on myth. In fact, I wrote a book called The 7 Top Myths That Perpetuate Anxiety (And How To Get Rid Of It). A myth says that stress is inevitable. Being a business owner is a normal part of business and one that all business owners face. Believing this myth can make business owners think they have no choice whether or not to be stressed. This can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy – business owners become stressed because they expect to be stressed, thereby perpetuating stress as a problem. In fact, stress is inevitable for business people. How do I know that? 45% of business owners say they are stressed. If stress were inevitable for business owners, 100% would report stress.

SmallBizlady: How is your approach different and why does it work?

Vernon L. Williams: I’ve talked about stress being inevitable for business owners before. The second common myth is that because stress is inevitable, the best way to deal with it is to control it. There are some healthy ways to deal with stress (exercise, spending time in nature, watching funny movies, etc.) and unhealthy ways to deal with stress (drinking too much alcohol, abusing drugs, overeating, etc.) Healthy and Healthy Non-stressful coping mechanisms are only able to deal with the symptoms and not the cause of stress.

My approach is to help dispel another myth about stress: that stress is caused by your circumstances. We know this is false because we have all seen two people in the same situation (for example, stuck in traffic) and one is stressed but the other is not. As Epithetus said: People are not disturbed by things, but by their attitude towards them. Therefore, I focus on the real cause of all anxiety: our thoughts about our circumstances, not the circumstances themselves. As King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said: Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts. —Proverbs 4:23 With that in mind, I teach my clients to replace negative and stressful thoughts about their circumstances with positive and empowering thoughts.

SmallBizLady: What is your process called and what is required to implement it?

Vernon L. Williams: It’s called my process Anti-stress method (or SPM). To achieve success, business owners must reject common myths about stress, such as, stress is inevitable, the best way to deal with stress is to manage stress, and stress is caused by circumstances. The prerequisite for my process to work is for clients to 1) acknowledge that their thoughts create their own stress, 2) believe that it is possible to live a stress-free life, and 3) decide to control their thoughts. Once those conditions are met, instead of allowing thoughts to enter their mind and take their emotions where they want, clients must 1) monitor their thoughts, 2) challenge each thought by asking critical questions (eg, will this thought help me) Will I achieve my goals? If the answer is “yes”, then enter. If the answer is “no,” don’t let the thought enter.

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