How To Land a Government Contract with Expert Hillary Boyce

On this episode of Experienced Voices, we’re joined by Hillary Boyce, Founder and CEO of BAFO Services, who has spent more than twenty years mastering the procurement, execution, and management of government contracts.

Hillary’s path is a powerful blend of entrepreneurship, expertise, and service. After building and acquiring her own small government contracting business, she led the award of numerous services-related contracts.

A U.S. Army veteran, Hillary began as an Engineer in the National Guard before serving in the active Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Her dedication and excellence have been recognized with the Emerging Star Award (2016) and the Stellar Award (2017) from the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce—both honoring top federal suppliers demonstrating exemplary growth and leadership.

Tune in as Hillary shares her unique insights on navigating the federal contracting landscape, growing as a business leader, and bringing the discipline of military service into the world of entrepreneurship.

Transcript

[00:00:05] Jeanne Gray: I am Jean Gray, publisher of American Entrepreneurship Today and host of the podcast series Experience Voices, where I talk with highly accomplished people who share the critical elements that led to their success.

 For many businesses, both large and small government contracts have been essential to their success in our how-to segment of experienced voices. Hillary Boyce, founder and CEO of BAFO Services shares her 20 years of experience in government contracts to help business owners navigate the federal government procurement process.

Hillary's experience includes owning her own small government contracting business where numerous government service related contracts were awarded. She's also certified as a master in business development through the Minority Development Institute.

Is a US Army veteran having served as an engineer in the National Guard before entering the active Army and serving in the Third Infantry division.

 Welcome to experienced voices, Hillary. 

[00:01:10] Hilary Boyce: Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:01:13] Jeanne Gray: Well, there's a lot to learn about obtaining a government contract. So let's just start with really the fundamentals of government is big. There are lot of agencies out there. So being an expert in this field give me a, a sense of how many agencies are out there offering government contracts to, to business owners.

[00:01:41] Hilary Boyce: There's actually over 400 federal entities that are procuring goods and services from civilian government contract companies to include some of the most popular ones that most of us have heard of. Department of Defense department of Homeland Security, veterans Affairs, health and Human Services, NASA to name some of the top few.

[00:02:07] Jeanne Gray: So when a person is considering or looking for a federal contract, and we're primarily going to focus on the federal government, there are 400 of these entities. Are there individual databases or is there a system set up to make this efficient? 

[00:02:26] Hilary Boyce: The primary portal that manages the government opportunities and the award notices is sam.gov, and that's sierra alpha mike.gov.

That stands for the system of award management. It's a free portal. Companies can register for it. They can express their capabilities, they can contact other companies, but it's a free database that you actually have to register and keep updated. To do work with the government. 

[00:02:55] Jeanne Gray: Is it a good starting point for, let's start with , the business owner who's become aware of federal contracts but is truly a novice is a good starting point.

Just to go on to and register on that portal. 

[00:03:12] Hilary Boyce: Absolutely, you can actually go on that website without making an account as just a public viewer, and you can search for opportunities that may have came out in the last year in your state or district or wherever you're interested in. So it's definitely great tool for research of past contracts that came out so you can kind of see what this, what the frequency is what they're looking for.

You can kind of do that, that dance on previous contracts. 

[00:03:39] Jeanne Gray: Now we're going to take the listener through a learning curve of what they would experience. 'cause now the, portal has wet their appetite that there's much opportunity out there. But there's a journey that they're going to go on in understanding all of the complexities and the requirements , to be successful.

So. What is the most fundamental question that a business owner and entrepreneur should be thinking about as to finding a match on the portal? 

[00:04:15] Hilary Boyce: So there's actually several things. But first is always to me is, you know, I have company owners that just started in the business. They have a hundred percent defined their base of services that they want to offer.

They know they wanna be government contractors and they say they'll do anything, but I need a little bit more than that. And they needed to define a little bit more than that. So they need to clearly be ready , to define what they want to sell. You know, it could be professional services, it could be IT, it could be janitorial, it could be nuts and bolts, ladders.

But they needed to kind of define what they want their company to do. So that would be, you know, in my opinion, the first step of clearly defining what kind of products or services you want to sell. And then from that point you know, looking @sam.gov is a great way to kind of start 'em. Doing their searches for those previous opportunities in that same lane.

And you can look at those old solicitations, look at 'em, see what they require, see what the submissions were, look at who got awarded, do backwards math behind the scene on their cost and how you thought you would cost it and kind of where you are. So there's a lot of way to practice to figure out.

Before you even start on how you get there. 

[00:05:28] Jeanne Gray: Right. So when they're defining their product and service, then I believe there's a classification system that they need to identify for the match. How does that work? 

[00:05:40] Hilary Boyce: Yes. So every product or services is given a government NAICS code, and that's n. A ICS codes.

You can clearly look online. There's a big directory of, you know, for example, IT services may fall in about. Seven different ones, depending on if it's software or if it's help desk or if it's cyber. Just as an example. But those NAICS codes make sure that you put in the right category of what you're selling, but it also gives you a different size standard to be considered small.

Every NAICS head code has a different size standard that maps to those. 

[00:06:18] Jeanne Gray: Now some of these contracts can be quite large. So explain maybe the strategic advantage of being a, prime contractor versus a a, a subcontractor. 

[00:06:32] Hilary Boyce: Well, we could talk about that for a long time, but being a prime contractor means you are the ultimate entity company responsible for fulfilling those services to the federal government.

You're the responsible party, regardless if your hired staff or subcontractor doesn't perform well, you're the one that's gonna get the slap on the wrist for say the written report of how your services are, and you're the one entity that gets paid directly. And how you disperse that payment from what you get to your clients and partners , is up to your own terms and agreement.

But that prime normally is the one doing most of the work, of course, because you know, you, you don't wanna be a prime contractor if it's not something that you can fill in for those partners that don't. Perform. You know, when you're a subcontractor , you have less risk. You're performing exactly what the prime contractor has given you, hopefully in a written agreement.

You're performing just x, y, z you're not responsible for the overall management and the performance of the entire contract. Subcontracting is usually the way companies get their feelers in the government contract work. That's how they kind of come on board to help a prime, whether they're small or large, to do just what that section is to kind of get their fee wet.

[00:07:49] Jeanne Gray: So if I want to go the subcontractor route how do I identify myself to a prime contractor or am I. Going through a similar process and the portal helps me become identified as a potential subcontractor. 

[00:08:08] Hilary Boyce: The portal does sam.gov does. You can always search once you have an account with sam.gov, you can search for large business partners, small business partners, woman-owned partners in any certain area, zip code, or service.

Offerings. You could search by other, janitorial companies that are in your state. That may be a different size standard. Also with sam.gov, it's not just a repository of the companies, it will give you posts of who won what contract. So when you see who won a contract, maybe a large company won a contract in your district and you do a part of that.

There's nothing wrong with reaching out to that company and saying, Hey, congratulations. I saw that you won. I would love to be a support entity in your team if you have a gap. And that's a great way to kind of start. 

[00:08:59] Jeanne Gray: That does sound like a great opportunity. Now a lot of emphasis is placed on getting small businesses more involved in government contracts.

Can you share a little bit about. , The ways that the government is making it easier for small businesses and , any subsections of small business to become more involved. 

[00:09:25] Hilary Boyce: Absolutely. The federal government also has a mandate to use small businesses of various different social economic statuses.

For example, woman-owned, small businesses, service disabled, veteran-owned small businesses. There's a hub zone small business certification program. That means that your company is in a underserved geographic area and you are pledging that you employ folks that are in those same areas.

There's also something called an eight, a social economic disadvantaged certification. And all of these different classifications have a mandate for the federal government to spend a certain amount of dollars. For example, women owned small businesses. The government has an aim of 5% of federal dollars.

Are given to women known set asides service disabled veteran owned businesses. The government aims at giving at least 3% of prime government dollars to those. So everyone has its own goal where the government tries to make sure every subagency is also aligning with those goals. 

[00:10:30] Jeanne Gray: So if you're part of these segments.

You should become certified in some way before beginning the process of finding a contract. 

[00:10:42] Hilary Boyce: Yes. You can't just raise your hand and say, I'm a woman-owned company and I'm certified and I can do business with the federal government. Underneath those set aside programs, you have to actually go through a process where you have to show and upload lots of documentation.

You know, your company business plan, your company operating agreement. If you're trying to prove that your service disabled, you have to upload your military records, your Veterans Affairs, disability ratings. But more importantly to those things, those programs also require to see that you have the proper liability insurance set up.

You've registered for your state, your locale that you're doing business in. There's a good checks and balance from the SBA programs for these certifications. Before you can just say, Hey, I'm a service disabled business. You know, give me direct dollars. That you have to have that certification and you have to update it Often, if there's a change of ownership, if there's a change of economic status.

The government is doing their, the best they can to kind of review those to make sure it's being fair. And you're not just saying a woman owns it. There actually is a woman operating , and managing it. 

[00:11:49] Jeanne Gray: So if they want to initiate that certification process, does it occur locally or, or state or federal that they, who do they call?

[00:11:59] Hilary Boyce: Federal. , There's really not a phone call. That's all a online application process that you start and you upload a certain checklist. And then once you get a case manager or an appointed person which could take months, then that's who you start direct calling. But they assign different agents to work those cases.

, And to tell you what you're missing if you didn't upload something right or. If there's a change of your articles in business partnership that kind of goes over all of those things but you will probably see that the SBA website, sometimes they do some little tutorials. But the SBA website is a great resource to those type of set asides and eligibility rules.

So make sure that's being utilized for anyone that's looking to make sure they get that it could take months. For any of these applications. So I always tell, , new company owners still look for opportunities, still do your research while you submit your paperwork and get that going.

But there's a lot of things that you might have to wait on for that process to be finished. 

[00:12:56] Jeanne Gray: Right. And even, if you're not in one of these groups, you could just simply jump in right away and start looking because you're not. Trying to go down that set aside pathway. True. Right?

[00:13:08] Hilary Boyce: True. But even if you're a woman owned, for example, and you're going through the certification program, you can still look at small business opportunities that might not be woman owned and still do that full diligence over reviewing those, partnering with those, you know, get prepared for those. So it's not a complete showstopper, it just will kind of slow down the set aside programs.

[00:13:29] Jeanne Gray: Right. So, now let's assume that the small business is certified or does not need to be certified, and now they're putting their toe in the water. So I think having a realistic view of what it takes in time to win a contract or to get through the first process all the way, you may not win the contract.

But I would say that , it's somewhat lengthy. And what would be a realistic horizon for someone entering this process for the first time? Just to get through the application process and to even submit for or bid put a bid in. 

[00:14:19] Hilary Boyce: , It's gonna vary. Like for example, my first company that I owned, I won my first two contracts within the first 30 days of opening up my company.

But I did not wait for set asides to come, but for me to apply for. But you know, each, each one's different. You know, if you know that , you're gonna target a certain contract, a certain location. The lifecycle of that contract might not even come out for another year. But on average there's probably about five or 600 federal opportunities that drop any given day on sam.gov.

So it could just be looking, researching, you know, building your proposal library, doing your due diligence to research and study you know, hiring the right people if you're providing services. They're gonna be part of your proposed team. All that's gonna be an important part to kind of get the ball rolling in the right direction.

[00:15:11] Jeanne Gray: I have the sense that the listing of the contracts are up, or the database is updated almost daily. So there is, there's no seasonality. It's, it's just being on the portal and knowing when the opportunities are coming. Is that a great way to describe it? 

[00:15:31] Hilary Boyce: It is, it is. But you can also set up search agents you know, in that portal that will give you an email daily if something comes out on those preset search agents.

For example, let's say that you're one of fine janitorial opportunities that come out in the state of Florida and your service disabled certified, and you want them to be set aside. You can set up that search to come to your inbox every time. Anything in that. Perimeters hits. So you can, search it daily or set up those searches in a variety of ways so you're not missing something that could be of interest will come right to your inbox from the sam.gov portal.

[00:16:10] Jeanne Gray: Well, I think it's pretty neat that you obtained a contract within 30 days of your first company, but I suspect that you are a person who's well prepared. And so not everyone has the skillset of administration and maybe prior experience to pull that all together. So let's talk a little bit about the preparation.

we covered at the beginning, , they should know their scope, their product and services, and we discussed the. Finding the right classification in the portal, and then it really goes next in, I would assume, into preparing the proposal. So what does that entail? 

[00:16:57] Hilary Boyce: Okay, so let's say that you found that solicitation that you wanna go after and normally a solicitation is out maybe for a 20 or 30 day cycle.

The government drops it. It's due 20 to 30 days from that point, and there's no exceptions of it being late. You have to submit it on time or it's not a qualified bid. So that whole life cycle of that proposal preparation period is gonna be very different depending on each different solicitations requirements.

Some government solicitations may tell you they have a 10 page limit and they'll lay out four things you have to include, let's just say example. They want to. Technical approach to how you're gonna fulfill the work. Let's say they wanna see a sample resume, let's say they wanna see a past performance, and then they want to see your offered price.

Those are kind of the four core most commonly used sections. You know, that proposal could say, I want 10 pages. It could also be more complex where it wants. Six volumes and they want a much longer list of things. They want to see financial securities. They wanna see proof of who you're gonna hire, and they wanna see contingent offer letters.

They wanna see insurance, they wanna see surveys from your previous clients. So each proposal will vary from, , short and simple response to more complex response. And that's something that any entrepreneur or team should assess quickly on the opportunity of, you know, what's the sweat equity involved in responding to each one.

And if it's your first one, you don't wanna start one that's gonna be majorly complex. Hundreds of pages. And I do first one for someone. Would be that 10 page, , kind of easy button. And then as a company responds to their first one, second one, , every time they're putting together a document they're building their proposal library that they can reuse, recycle, adjust for future.

So the first couple of proposals are always a little challenging when folks have never put certain things on paper. And then when you do. Of course you kind of reuse and grow your library. So, proposal number 10 was a lot easier to do than the first one. 

[00:19:10] Jeanne Gray: Now, I imagine the government wants to know that , the winning bidder is a solid company.

And you, mentioned that. They would need to provide references of prior work or similar work in which they're bidding. But let's look at some of the accounting aspects of it. , Are they requiring financial statements and do they require the financial statements to ? Be reviewed by an accounting firm or hit a, a higher level of, certification by an accounting firm.

[00:19:44] Hilary Boyce: Sometimes the government uses a cost model called firm Fixed Price, and they also use another contract pricing model called Cost Plus. So for firm fixed price contracts, they kind of are as that sounds, you're sending a bid. For X amount of dollars per month, per year, per week, whatever that schedule is of those terms.

And you get paid that regardless. For those type of contracts. There's not a requirement for CPA audits or anything of that nature, but every government entity in their proposal could ask for. Let's say the last two years of , profit or loss statements, for example.

They could ask for that. , I've seen that before. But then we also have the cost plus cost model where the government requires that DCAA have already had done a pre-established audit on your financial systems. And so that's much more complex. Usually companies don't try to even look at that until, you know, five years, 10 years in business, whenever they have sophisticated systems set up.

[00:20:50] Jeanne Gray: And how about the role of attorneys? Is there anything required from a law firm in the application process? 

[00:20:59] Hilary Boyce: Not necessarily in the application process, but as a government contract company, you're gonna wanna have a trusted attorney in your Rolodex, kind of that knows you, whether they're helping you out to review complex teaming agreements or subcontract agreements.

An attorney isn't gonna be needed for every step of the process, but it's always great to have a good legal eye on those documents so that you are protected.

[00:21:24] Jeanne Gray: Now, does the solicitation tell the bidding company how soon their bid will be accepted? 

[00:21:37] Hilary Boyce: Normally it does normally in the structure of the pricings, the line items will say, line item one is gonna start, it could have a date, could say January one, the following year.

But normally it has that in there as a timeline. Doesn't mean that the government can't slip those dates to the left because of all kinds of different delays, budget acquisition processes, staff issues. , Budgets need to be realigned, but the government will put that out there. And in that case that they do shift dates, they'll always come back out , to people that submitted bid and say, Hey, would you extend your terms of your price eligibility by 60 days, six months while we evaluate more?

And normally that's just an easy response. And yes, I accept the terms of this extension. But normally they do put it out there as an aimed start date. 

[00:22:28] Jeanne Gray: For a company that's winning a contract for the very first time are there typical hurdles that they experience in ramping up to meet the obligation that they have taken on?

[00:22:41] Hilary Boyce: Sometimes, usually recruiting and staffing I find is probably the most biggest challenge for companies when they won their first contract and they were not prepared for it. So, you know, submitting a bid is one thing, and then , being prepared because sometimes when the government gives you the award notice.

You may have 10 days to be fully staffed and ready to provide those services. Some times you may have 30 days. So, , if it's a complex bid with multiple staff, multiple labor mixes, multiple locations having a staffing recruiting firm to kind of help them maybe needed at the beginning. that may be their model to need them throughout.

But the staffing, recruiting and getting those right people on board for the price that you submitted is sometimes a challenge At the initial transition of a new contract. 

[00:23:31] Jeanne Gray: Are there instances where the government is specifically looking for entrepreneurs who are working in cutting edge technology and looking for an area of expertise that's innovative?

[00:23:46] Hilary Boyce: They do, they do. A lot of times the government will put that requirement in the technical approach section that they wanna see the latest innovations. They wanna see cost savings methods that you propose. , The government's always looking for not just cost savings, but new innovation that industry knows best, and they want them to bring that to the government.

[00:24:10] Jeanne Gray: So as we wrap up, let's talk about some of the best practices or, tips that you would give a first time applicant entering the government contract process. 

[00:24:27] Hilary Boyce: So tips, I would say partner smartly, two companies teaming together on one opportunity. Allows each company owner to share the sweat equity.

You're sharing the cost burden of submitting a proposal. The cost, the overhead cost that your staff is doing to do all those research before any revenue comes from result of that contract. So partner wisely partner with people that you check references on. Just like an employee.

If you're gonna team with a company, check their references. Who else teamed with them? Did they pay their subcontractors? , Did they treat 'em well? Because, your reputation could also be on the line. If you partner with a company that's not performing well, or no one wants a partner that doesn't pay a couple other pro tips for, you know, lessons learned is to make sure you're setting up proper pay terms from your teaming partner that work with you.

If you're teaming with a large business, for example, their of course, initially on your agreement is gonna be 90 days paid. Negotiate that, come back to them. Negotiate 30 days pay. I'm a small business. Cash flow is really important. Negotiate that. You may end up meeting in the middle, but if you don't ask, there'll be no judge.

There'll be no, no that. So there's a couple things. Any other questions? 

[00:25:50] Jeanne Gray: Well, , as you were speaking, I was thinking about the, again, the first time winning bidder. They have gone through this process pretty much digitally through the portal, but when it comes time to actually fulfill the, contract, I assume then there is a point of contact that's established.

How does that work? 

[00:26:15] Hilary Boyce: Yes, so the government always appoints a contracting official and a contracting. They come a core contract officer representative. The core is always the technical point of contact for that contract. And then of course, the contracting specialist is more the financial, legal, obligatory, POC.

So a lot of times when a contract has been awarded to a company, there's a face-to-face kickoff meeting within a couple of days of that before execution, just to iron out to make sure everyone's on the same sheet of music. Make sure everyone's moving in the right expectations. And sometimes that can be done remotely, but sometimes that's everyone in the room, which will require travel depending on where that location's at.

[00:27:01] Jeanne Gray: If there are issues with jump starting, the contract act, is that worked out then directly, with those face-to-face contacts from that point forward? 

[00:27:12] Hilary Boyce: Yes. Yeah. Hopefully that's all brought up in the kickoff meeting. You know, and it can be going over that what the government calls a statement of work, a performance work statement.

, We're gonna make sure this is clear. This is what we're performing, this is what , the timeline is. These are all deliverables. And if there's something that's not clear on both the government side or the contractor side, it could result in a modification. But it has to be done with paperwork.

But to make sure from the kickoff moving forward. We're on the same sheet of music is what's gonna be needed for successful performance and a happy government customer. 

[00:27:47] Jeanne Gray: Are there any instances that you're aware of where after or soon after the kickoff meeting that the government realizes that the winner is not the right party or that there are events that occur early in the contract that are fatal?

[00:28:10] Hilary Boyce: Yes, I've actually witnessed a company be awarded a contract that was a classified contract that required a company to have a facility clearance, but the federal government failed to put that clearance proof requirement in the proposal. So they awarded a contract to a company that when they found out during the kickoff meeting.

They can't perform it until they go through about a nine month process of getting that proper clearance and stated inspections. So that was fatal which caused them to cancel that award and to adjust their proposal requirements that were previously submitted and do a modification to companies that did submit it.

So stuff like that could really waste a lot of time and energy and federal dollars. 

[00:28:56] Jeanne Gray: So the process for some companies may be a little daunting and they might be looking for some outside advice and expertise. So , you're our guest because you have this expertise over 20 years. What are they obtaining from a third party expert that they're willing to pay for?

Are they willing to pay a lot for? That would steer some of the listeners to say, I'm not going to go through this alone the first time. I'm going to look for guidance. So share a little bit about what a third party expert brings to the table. 

[00:29:46] Hilary Boyce: So first, you know, my company BAFO Services. We are a third party advisory consultant company for folks that are selling to the federal government.

You can kind of tier your budget. And how much you spend for those services. Like my company for example, we offer hourly support as needed to all of our clients. All of our contracts are, , , you tell us when you need us. You tell us how much you need us. You might not need us on the monthly basis.

You might need us. In three months. You know, we have clients that use us daily. We have clients that just use us whenever they do have a need. There are some companies that offer these kind of advisory service at a monthly flat rate. I'm not one of those, but those are, and make sure if you do do that.

You're kind of making sure that you are ready for that kind of volume to need that on whatever that predetermined bucket is. But before you kind of spend money, I would always, highly suggest you the team with a mentor, even if it's an unofficial mentor company. And maybe they're, a small company, but they're getting ready to hit the mid company size and they're outgrowing that small business standard size.

, That would be a great partner for free to kind of mentor team together and learn from their best practices. But subject matter experts, like my company, for example, are always here to help as well as you figure that out. 

[00:31:10] Jeanne Gray: share a little bit about where , an expert interjects themselves.

Is it part of the selection of the first contract? And or is it part of making sure the first application is done properly? 

[00:31:27] Hilary Boyce: So the services that my company in particular offer, we help several of our clients find that opportunity first. Like we help them build pipelines of pre-vetted opportunities that line up with what they have to offer, what their clearance status is, what their geographic location capabilities are, what their size standard is.

So we can kind of help them build that pipeline of those opportunities that we prevetted for them to approve or disapprove, of course. And then our support goes all the way to, teaming suggestions. Do they have a gap? Can we suggest a couple partners that we've kind of already researched that do that kind of gap work?

And then we help them build that compliant compelling response. To each solicitation the whole way through. We can just give them outlines that are compliant to fill in. We can completely hold our client's hand throughout the entire development of every page through that entire process. And then normally, even after the proposal's submitted.

The government may come back and ask questions or clarifications. We kind of help those customers. There's, companies with responding properly, making sure we're interpreting the federal government's terms to them. So that's the kind of support that we provide 

[00:32:41] Jeanne Gray: since they're such a range of contracts, anywhere from janitorial to, I imagine defense contracting, third party service companies.

Have specialization that they're really good at certain types of services in the portal versus others. 

[00:33:01] Hilary Boyce: Some do. Some have their specializations per the services, some have their specializations per the agency. They may be Navy focused only. For example, if they're a SE, and that's where they came from and that's what they did in their prior career.

But for our company, we provide compliance and support across all agencies. That's kind of what we focus on because the federal acquisition regulation. Isn't one agency or another. It's , the rule book for all federal agencies, and that's kind of what our support focuses on. 

[00:33:34] Jeanne Gray: Well, Hillary, it's been great speaking with you.

I learned a lot about government contracts and I'm not an administrator by nature, so power to you for what you're doing and also. For your military background. It's always great to see military I have some connections there. So , they serve a really important part for our country.

So again, thanks for being a guest on Experience Voices. 

[00:34:01] Hilary Boyce: Thank you so much for having me. 

[00:34:02] Jeanne Gray: You have been listening to the podcast series, Experienced Voices. To hear more and subscribe, visit american entrepreneurship.com/podcast. Where you will also find a form for listener feedback.