CZ Consulting Services Corporate Services

CZ Consulting Services is a Woman/Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business and is a full service proposal provider assisting all sizes of companies in the Federal Bidding process. In addition, CZ Consulting Services provides a website that contains volumes of information to assist you with your proposal requirements and access to information.

 

Section I – Services Offered

Section II – New Government Contractors/Startup Company Information

             Section III – Instructions on How to Manipulate the Federal Business Opportunities Excel Worksheets

 

SECTION I—SERVICES OFFERED

 

Although a great many of you have been to the website, I thought maybe there might be something there that could provide assistance to many, especially those small start up firms or commercial firms  working to sort out the process and information getting started with Uncle Sam.

 

The Construction Proposal Home Center is a full service Proposal Center offering assistance to both small and large construction and maintenance companies in the preparation of the following:

 

v  Construction Management

v  Healthcare Construction

v  Operations Maintenance and Engineering Enhancement (OMEE)

v  Heavy Construction (Rail, Hwy, Electrical, & Energy)

v  Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP)

v  Operations and Maintenance

v  Architectural and Engineering (A/E)

 

Proposal Types:

 

IDIQ, MATOC, SATOC, SABER, JOC, IDC, MICC, MACC, Design-Build, Bid Build, Design Bid Build, As Built, and Facility Design

 

Pricing:  All Proposals are priced on a Flat Rate basis. (No Hourly Rates), so you always know upfront all costs associated with each proposal. Absolutely no hidden fees!    

 

CZ Consulting stopped the process of billing on an hourly rate, because it simply is not cost effective to the small business customer. Each solicitation is evaluated and a Flat Rate is provided given the amount of work involved. Another ways that CZ Consulting Services is able to keep rates affordable is by utilizing Win Bonuses that are reasonable.   

 

Start-Up Companies – Special Pricing for those companies seeking to saturate the Federal Market with multiple proposals.

 

What the Construction Proposal Center has to Offer:

           

v  Proposal Preparation

 

            Great Flat Rate Pricing on every proposal based on the solicitation requirements

            Special Rates for Multiple proposal Contracts

 

NEW-Start-up Companies/New to Government Contracting - Special pricing for Market Saturation Proposal Contracts

(multiple solicitations assigned to one contract with special pricing allowing emerging Federal Contractors to have the opportunity to get started with building Government Past Performance and Relevant Experience.)

 

Looking for a Long Term Proposal Services Contract with fixed pricing on your proposals based on their type; call right away, because the openings for monthly proposal contracts are somewhat limited.

 

v  Proposal Template Preparation

           

Running Low on Time, too much to do, Allow CZ Consulting to create your Cover Sheets, Binder Spines, and Proposal Templates and then simply enter your proposal content under the headings assigned (Requirements and Evaluation Factors) to each proposal.

 

v  Proposal Review/Editing

 

            Prepared a proposal and just need an extra pair of eyes to review and make minor edits

                        OR

            Need a total Revision of the companies Technical and Management Information that is input into your proposals.

 

v  DIY Digital Downloads (Word Format)

      

So your company is winning projects and the Government Agency in which you won the contract from wants a detailed plans on how your company intends to make it all happen, such as a Quality Control Plan, Safety Plan, or Infection Control Plan, and/or  an Environmental Safety Plan.  For a company new to the Federal Government, these are required Plans that must be turned into your Federal Customer, filled with detail and operational information. At the Construction Proposal Home Center you can quickly purchase and make these plans your own. All that will be necessary is to perform a search and replace Company Name to Your Company Name and add any information that is pertinent to your company. Simple and easy to change and now you are ready to turn in your plan to your new customer.   

 

“Replace Company Name with the Name of your Company, logo, and insert any required data”

 

Each Plan is complete with Cover Sheets has styles assigned with an electronic Table of Contents, and ready to turn into the Contracting Officer on your new projects.

 

v  Quality Control Plan (57 Pages)

v  Environmental Health and Safety Plan (96 Pages)

v  Infection Control (96 pages)

 

v  Construction Solicitations Spreadsheet

 

The Solicitation Workbook Project that started back in January. Those companies that signed up for the service truly loved it. I pulled the plug on the project temporarily until I was able to build enough interested companies because building this worksheet and keeping it up-to-date is a full time job. In order to continue to support such an undertaking it is imperative to ensure that there is adequate support. I only mention this as this is an absolutely fabulous tool for Federal Contractors and to my knowledge cannot be found anywhere else on the net.

                       

                 Information Contained within the Worksheet

 

The worksheet were filled  with the latest Solicitation, Sources Sought, and Presolicitations.

 

Each solicitation is linked back to the active solicitation at FBO.gov

 

The Solicitations Worksheets allows each company to sort in accordance with their own needs and requirements and seasonal planning based on Sources Sought and Presolicitations. I believe that if you took a moment and went to the website and really played with the sample, you would find that it could be a major time saver in many different ways.

 

See Instructions in Section III below.

 

v  Contractors Information

Ø  Federal Contractor Certification(FCC) access

Ø  VA Technical Information Library

Ø  SDVOSB Information

ü  VA Mentor-Protégé Program

ü  General Information

ü  Small Business Definitions

 

v  Construction Resources Library

Ø  Construction and Engineering institutes, Associations, and Societies

 

v  Construction and Office Supplies

Ø  Skil

Ø  DeWalt

Ø  Bosch

Ø  Bulk Office Supplies

Best offices supplies pricing I have found for Proposal Supplies and free shipping on orders of $75 and Next Day Delivery if ordered by 2pm-Great Service. There is no comparison in pricing with the local office supply retailers.

Ø  Many Retailers

  

Information Contained within the Worksheets

 

The worksheets were filled with the latest Solicitations, Sources Sought, and Presolicitations.

 

Each solicitation is linked back to FBO.gov associated with the given solicitation, and each company is able to sort the spreadsheet very simply.

 

This document allows each company to sort in accordance with their NAIC codes, requirements and seasonal planning based on Sources Sought and Presolicitations. I believe that if you took a moment and went to the website and really sorted the sample in various ways, you would find that it could be a major time saver in many in determining where you want to put your bidding efforts.

 

 

SECTION II—NEW GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS/STARTUP COMPANIES

 

As a contractor New to the Federal Government or a Startup Company looking to do businesses with Uncle Sam it can be confusing at best. Certainly, many of you are asking, where and how do we start. For the established commercial company, you may not be happy with how the system works for getting started, however a little advice taken can save you allot of time, aggravation, and money. What company today can afford to waste their resources? None that I am aware of!  So here we go, I will get straight to the facts.

 

There are so many facets to Federal Construction, Maintenance, and Engineering arenas; however, I will do my best to simplify some of the information to at least get you on the right one way street.

 

First of all, bidding with the Federal Government is like starting a new career field, yes, I understand, you are asking what she is talking about. Simple.  When you start a new career field you start at the bottom and work your way up, and yes, that means even the most experienced companies have to look at starting at the bottom with the Low Value Projects. You will not find this written down anywhere, because the Government must receive any and all proposals submitted, but that doesn’t mean that they will select your company.

 

Every proposal turned in to Uncle Sam is a measurement of Risk, Past Performance, and Relevant Experience, plus all the Technical and Management information requested in a solicitation and each solicitation always expresses how the proposal will be valued and measured and what areas in the solicitation carry the weight. Uncle Sam requires so much more than a $ Value, a Capabilities Statement, with a cover letter….they want the kitchen sink. In general terms, the higher the value of a solicitation, the more volumes and content is required for a given proposal.

 

Proposals can be as simple as a single volume or very comprehensive with three to six volumes each bound separately in a three ring binder. Each proposal that is prepared will be another learning experience and trying to your efforts, but don’t let it get you down; the end product can be very satisfying. As you build your Proposal Library, you are building resources for future bids. Writing a proposal for the Federal Government is like re-inventing the wheel each time because the requirements change in how the information is presented.  Each Solicitation has a whole new set of requirements as the value of projects goes up and your company moves up the Federal Contracting Ladder.

 

Preparing proposals is hard work and can be grueling even for the experienced proposal writer. This one of the many reasons that the outsourcing of proposals can cost a firm $80 to $250 hr, if not more. As stated above, CZ Consulting stopped the process of billing on an hourly rate, because it simply is not cost effective to the small business customer. Each solicitation is evaluated and a Flat Rate is provided given the amount of work involved. Another ways that CZ Consulting Services is able to keep rates affordable is by utilizing Win Bonuses that are reasonable.

 

Some Options for Getting Started in the Federal Bidding Process:

 

1.     Set Short Term Company Goals, where would you like your company to be within twelve months financially? It is not impossible to envision a 3 Million company in twelve months if goals and bidding are done smartly.

2.     Seek out Teaming Partners with Federal Past Performance to “Subcontract” with. Build your Federal Past Performance as a subcontractor to a Prime. This is a great way to start moving forward within the Federal Arena.  (A good place to find Teaming partners is utilize FBO.gov and in general each solicitation has a Tab “Interested Vendors”. Click on it and contact those companies who are also interested in a particular venture. Also get to know the companies in your area, meet with them to discuss options for teaming.

3.     For the experienced company seeking to Prime keep your projects under the $1 Million Dollar marker. Two or three of these projects under your belt then start raising the bar to the next level. For more effective results try sticking with the 100K to 1 Million to ensure you are maintaining your companies chance to win.

4.     For the Start-Up Company, review the $25-100K Solicitations. Uncle Sam has plenty of them to go around. I know and I understand, there are so many large projects out there that you want to sink your teeth into, but first you must start here if you are looking to prime and build prime past performance. With each win and excellent project performance you are reducing Risk and Building your Federal Company Resume. Starting at the low end of the scope also will assist your company in learning the ropes of how a proposal is done on the Federal side. In general the proposal on the low end of the scale are much easier to understand, create, and master. Always keep this in mind, no two solicitations are alike.

5.     Review the Requirements especially those in the Pricing Proposal. Can you meet the requirements for bonding as a startup...Maybe-Maybe not? Here are some options to assist you with Surety Bonding Options for the startup company.

 

a)       Offer up your Company as sub to the Prime Contractor, since you don't have to carry the big Surety bond, this will build Gov’t Past Performance and Relevant Experience which is always invaluable.

b)      Team with a company who is willing to be your subcontractor, and still bond the project. Large companies love to do this because that is the only way that they can get involved in a set-aside.

c)       Consider Bidding services contracts as most of them do not have Surety Bonding, it is an option for moving forward why you are building your Federal Past Performance portfolio and bonding capabilities.

d)      Same as Number 2. There are many set aside companies who will share a bond for a piece of the pie.

e)       Quick Bonds – for the bondless…Strictly based on your personal or business Credit Report, generally worth up to $250,000 within 24 hours. Once the company has used up the 250K Bond, then apply through the new program with the SBA for SDVOSB Construction Firms.

f)       SBA website, last year there was a special project set up for assisting SDVOSBs get bonded.

v  http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/loans-grants/bonds/surety-bonds

g)      For Federal Highway Projects, the Department of Transportation has some options for bonding small business

v  http://osdbu.dot.gov

 

Note: 

Commercial Past Performance can carry equal value in the review process as long as it is relevant to specific project requirements. Experience, if it is solid and returns a great review is always a big plus. For example if the solicitation has a requirement for 3 Past Performances and you have two Past Performances that specifically related the bid, then definitely use them. I would also recommend throwing in a Government Past Performance if you have one and this is to show “Government Past Performance” therefore reducing the risk factor evaluation.  As a startup your company may not have Past Performance but the employees do. There are ways to represent this type of information and the Federal Government has begun utilizing sections of information to show this type of experience. My recommendation for capitalizing on personal past performance, starts in the Personnel Resumes.  Ensure all the resumes are in the same Corporate format and keep in mind, these resumes are not personal resumes, these resumes are meant to enhance the Companies Past Performance Experience, plus ensuring the Gov’t that your team has the experience and capabilities to perform on project. (HINT: There is a format available on the website for creating a great corporate resume for use in proposals.)

 

 

SECTION III—INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MANIPULATE THE FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES EXCEL WORKSHEETS

 

 

Example of a Sort:

 

Click on Construction Solicitations Spreadsheet          

           

Locate and Open “Sample Workbook”, save a copy to your hard drive and open in Microsoft Excel.

 

 

You will note when you open the document, there are 5 (five) TABs at the Bottom of sheet,

Solicitations, Presolicitations, Sources Sought, All Inclusive, and Instructions for sorting.

 

Highlight the list not including the Headings (Hint:  for me it always seem to work best by starting with the last file from Section M highlighting up to Row 2, where the content begins.)

 

Click on Sort & Filter

 

Click on Custom Sort

 

 You will see the Sort By, click the down arrow and select the option you would like to search on first, ie Set-Aside, This option allows the solicitations to be sorted by set-aside status of each solicitation (Small Business, SDVOSB, VOSB, 8a, Hubzone, Unrestricted)

 

       

       

Click Add Level

 

 

Click the down arrow and select “Category”

           

 

Click “Add Level”