CIRAS Government Contracting Specialist
I believe goal setting is critical to long term success, whether the goals are personal or professional. I’m sure you’ve all seen it: The line to success is not a straight trajectory. It often moves backward due to temporary set-backs. But the successful people are the ones who get back up, learn from those setbacks, and continue forward.
Being successful in the government contracting market can be hard. Being in business in general is hard. But one simple step we can all take to begin achieving the big goals we have is to set some goals and WRITE THEM DOWN.
If you’ve worked with me, you have probably heard this before – WRITE IT DOWN. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Use a simple sheet of paper. Think SMALL. Think BIG. Just pause for 10 minutes and think about what you want to achieve.
Why am I a proponent of writing it down? Because if you have a visual reminder that you look at daily or even weekly, I’ve found you are much more likely to remember it and work towards achieving it. Sometimes, life gets in the way, and we stray off course. That’s OK, but having a visual reminder of what those small, short-term goals and big, crazy, long-term goals are will help get you back on track.
Some examples of small goals you can set as it relates to Govcon:
- Get that capabilities statement drafted
- Attend 4 networking events for the year
- Find a mentor
- Learn more about socio-economic programs that your business may qualify for
- Identify three agencies that you’d like to do business with, then set a big goal of landing your first government contract.
- You could also set financial goals, such as increasing government sales by $100,000. Or a goal to learn about subcontracting opportunities in the government market.
Whatever your goals are, your Iowa PTAC is here to support your business as it relates to government contracting.
If you need help identifying where the best fit is for you, contact your counselor, and let’s work on setting some goals in 2019. Let’s write those goals down, whether they be big or small, so we can measure our successes and learn from our failures next December!
In 2019, we have a great line up of in-person events and webinars. They will include an in-person event focused on proposal writing, developing your government market strategy, and subcontracting webinars, as well as many opportunities to continue to network and develop those critical relationships with other Iowa businesses.
Let’s make 2019 even better than 2018! Working together, we are sure to be successful!
For more information, contact Melissa Burant at mmburant@iastate.edu or 563-726-9958.