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Selling products to the military.

InspireHD

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The government buys almost everything you can think of and a lot of things you couldn't.

This is a broad question, but what are some things the government wants to buy but can’t find a source for?

Other than DIBBS, are there any other sources of open contracts waiting for bids? I know a ton go unawarded.
 

Jonathan Hoch

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This is a broad question, but what are some things the government wants to buy but can’t find a source for?

Other than DIBBS, are there any other sources of open contracts waiting for bids? I know a ton go unawarded.
I had the same question, and then I started googling for Government RFQ, and a ton of resources started popping up that showcase all kinds of contracts looking to be filled. One was a database of 26,000 RFQ.

Check this out

Find and Pursue Government Contracts
 

rockit11

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The primary place to look, at least for Department of Defense Contracts, is FBO.gov. It was even in that movie War Dogs haha. I couldn't believe anyone knew enough about my job to have it in a movie. The things you couldn't think of are proprietary developmental contracts or secret products. But the DOD buys a lot of both commercially available and non-commercial (military specific) products, services, and construction. Got a landscaping business? Bid on doing work for the local base. You'll need to register in the system for award management (SAM). If you have a Small Business Administration (SBA) office near you (every state does) they also can help get you set up. By the way, the government sets aside many contract awards for small businesses only. I have awarded many millions of dollars in contracts. Government contracting seems really cryptic but it's actually not... Granted it's taken years to learn the nuances but winning awards comes down to following instructions. It's not the same way you'd try to win business with a company. We have to follow the rules and play fair to everyone that bids.
 
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rockit11

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This is a broad question, but what are some things the government wants to buy but can’t find a source for?

Other than DIBBS, are there any other sources of open contracts waiting for bids? I know a ton go unawarded.

Things we can't find a source for... One thing to look for is RFIs (request for information). This is one of the primary ways we do market research. We'll send these out if we're looking to see if a business capability exists for a need we have. These also go up on FBO.gov. You don't send a bid for these, just basically reply indicating that you believe that's something we can do or, we can definitely do that type of work/ product/ service.
 

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I had never heard of the SBIR before and I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread because I'm now in the process of applying for a DoD contract. Thanks for sharing this with us so we can all benefit!
Johnny - I've more experience in SBIR's than I'd like to admit. Please keep us updated on your progress. Have you looked at the new OTA process?
 

Ernman

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The primary place to look, at least for Department of Defense Contracts, is FBO.gov. It was even in that movie War Dogs haha. I couldn't believe anyone knew enough about my job to have it in a movie. The things you couldn't think of are proprietary developmental contracts or secret products. But the DOD buys a lot of both commercially available and non-commercial (military specific) products, services, and construction. Got a landscaping business? Bid on doing work for the local base. You'll need to register in the system for award management (SAM). If you have a Small Business Administration (SBA) office near you (every state does) they also can help get you set up. By the way, the government sets aside many contract awards for small businesses only. I have awarded many millions of dollars in contracts. Government contracting seems really cryptic but it's actually not... Granted it's taken years to learn the nuances but winning awards comes down to following instructions. It's not the same way you'd try to win business with a company. We have to follow the rules and play fair to everyone that bids.
Spot on rockit11
 
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InspireHD

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The primary place to look, at least for Department of Defense Contracts, is FBO.gov. It was even in that movie War Dogs haha. I couldn't believe anyone knew enough about my job to have it in a movie. The things you couldn't think of are proprietary developmental contracts or secret products. But the DOD buys a lot of both commercially available and non-commercial (military specific) products, services, and construction. Got a landscaping business? Bid on doing work for the local base. You'll need to register in the system for award management (SAM). If you have a Small Business Administration (SBA) office near you (every state does) they also can help get you set up. By the way, the government sets aside many contract awards for small businesses only. I have awarded many millions of dollars in contracts. Government contracting seems really cryptic but it's actually not... Granted it's taken years to learn the nuances but winning awards comes down to following instructions. It's not the same way you'd try to win business with a company. We have to follow the rules and play fair to everyone that bids.

War Dogs is one of my favorite movies and gave me inspiration to go out and try. I felt like a fraud, though. I had nothing to sell. I closed the business recently after only winning 2 contracts. I was solely searching one manufacturer on DIBBS. It was a race to the lowest bid. Was I willing to take a 1% margin just to win the contract? Sure. I was told, "In the beginning, you're just trying to get into their system." It was a process of starting with tiny contracts to then build up.

My first contract won, I lost money because the shipment to me came from two different places and I got charged shipping twice. My second contract I won, I profited $10, which put me back into the positive by $7. And this was maybe a 3% profit margin. There was no room for error.

My imagination was that I would find the contracts that nobody was bidding on and go out there and source the products. Can't find a specific radio? Sure, I found a guy who sells them down in Alabama. Need 50 of whatever? Oh yeah, I was digging around and found someone in Idaho who is the only person in the country who supplies them. He had no idea you wanted them.

But the reality? I sold nothing and manufactured nothing. "Hey Dept. of X, I'm reaching out to you as a supplier." "What do you sell?" "Well.....nothing, but I can source whatever you need!" That was the fraud in me. It didn't feel right.

It was easy to go on DIBBS and pick a source cage code and bid on 10 contracts a day, but trying to navigate the government codes and packaging, etc. and try to do it right was a little difficult. When 20 companies are bidding on 1 contract and everyone is quoting pennies, I just didn't see it as sustainable. A family member of mine used to work in a company who supplied to the government doing something similar and they did $16 million in revenue in one year. I couldn't wrap my head around it going down the route I went -- feeling like I didn't belong.

For the most part, even for the small business set-asides, does the government even care where the items come from? I mean, if they want a specific office chair, do they care that I went out and sourced it from Staples and added a 30% profit margin on top of that and then reshipped it to them? I don't actually manufacture office chairs, but I can find one.
 

Johnny Bravo

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Johnny - I've more experience in SBIR's than I'd like to admit. Please keep us updated on your progress. Have you looked at the new OTA process?
I haven't actually heard of that before now. I'm wondering if the program I submitted my proposal to is within the OTA. The entire process from bid submission to contract award is only one month.

I'll know if I'm invited to the next stage by this coming Friday.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 

Ocean Man

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Holy cow! I’m literally jumping with excitement for you in the café as I’m reading this. Can’t wait to hear more updates and you’re a go-getter!
 
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Cnc1

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It's been a while since my last post. I´ve been improving and presenting my prototype to different military officers and forces. The MOD contract helps here a lot. Next month will be the final stage testing. Hopefully, everything works out. The aim is to present the actual product at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in september that is held every two years in London.

Some lessons that I have learned:
1) The real entry barrier is knowing people.
2) Universities are interested in participating in innovative projects.
3) Make sure that you know the law.
4) Design standard solutions to your product.
5) Wear olive green clothes.

I will keep you informed.
 

Cnc1

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Final stage testing went well. The weather was sunny and the CNC milled product worked flawlessly. Everyone was happy. So I went to a company, that produces plastic injection molds and showed the CNC milled parts to them hoping that the long CAD drawing nights would be finally over. It turns out that plastic injection molding has its limits and out of 22 parts, they are able to produce only 14.

For the past month, I have been redesigning those critical parts. Changing one part affected another and so on. I was constantly thinking about how to solve those design problems. It was a dead end. One night I asked my girlfriend how she would solve the design issue.

"Hmm. Wait!" she said.

She brought her wristwatch and showed me how the lock works. And out of the blue, the eureka moment came. I was back on the highway. A couple of CAD nights and it was DONE!

The road has been frustrating and it will probably continue this way, but I think it is worth it.

I guess T. Harv Eker is right- "If you are willing to do only what’s easy, life will be hard. But if you’re willing to do what’s hard, life will be easy"
 

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Your progress is exciting.

Do you have a patent or anything that will protect you in different countries?
 
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Cnc1

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Your progress is exciting.

Do you have a patent or anything that will protect you in different countries?

When starting with this project I was fortuned enough to talk to some people that are in that kind of business. They said:
1) a patent will help but the real aim should be to saturate the market as fast as possible.
2)the high entry barrier cancels out most of the competition.
3)there are some countries, to whom I can not sell this product.
 

Owner2Millions

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WOW. so much info in this thread. Im very glad I found this. Besides selling my business and landing a big licensing deal. Gov contracting is an amazing thing to think about venturing.

My question is do all countries have these types of programs like the US for business owners to sell to the gov?
 

rockit11

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It's been a while since my last post. I´ve been improving and presenting my prototype to different military officers and forces. The MOD contract helps here a lot. Next month will be the final stage testing. Hopefully, everything works out. The aim is to present the actual product at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in september that is held every two years in London.

Some lessons that I have learned:
1) The real entry barrier is knowing people.
2) Universities are interested in participating in innovative projects.
3) Make sure that you know the law.
4) Design standard solutions to your product.
5) Wear olive green clothes.

I will keep you informed.

Hey Mile! Exciting you're making progress, thanks for keeping us updated. I recognize now you are in the UK and bidding on Ministry of Defence contracts! Most of my advice applied to US Federal Acquisitions. I'm only just replying to this because I just got back from Afghanistan.

As for any one else: I'm a Contracting Officer with an Unlimited Warrant (meaning I can sign contracts up to any dollar amount). Let me know if you have questions about Federal and especially DOD contracts. I have plenty of fun experiences working with both large and small defense contractors!
 
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Cnc1

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Trial and error again and again but finally I have a working product and a user manual. The military wants to test the product for a couple of months and then hopefully can I make my first sale. Meanwhile, I need to apply for a NATO stock number(NSN) so that other NATO members could see it in their catalog.

One company even asked if I´m interested in selling my prototype and CAD files.
 

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Trial and error again and again but finally I have a working product and a user manual. The military wants to test the product for a couple of months and then hopefully can I make my first sale. Meanwhile, I need to apply for a NATO stock number(NSN) so that other NATO members could see it in their catalog.
Awesome progress Mile, congrats. @Rearden has experience licensing IP. If you want to go down this road, I recommend you reach out to him.
 

Ernman

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I've just received an email. It took some effort, but finally my little awesome invention has a legit NATO stock number.
awesome news - congrats!!!!
 

rockit11

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For anyone still following, and in the USA, there is a new website for finding opportunities to win contracts with the Federal Government. beta.SAM.gov You'll want to look under the "Contract Opportunities" section of the landing page
 

Cnc1

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A week ago I received a product sample request from a foreign country's defense force. I was pretty excited and still am. After some digging and phone calls, it turns out, that you can´t just send a product like that to another country. Tons of paperwork needs to be done. Business verification, background checks, etc. It´s just frustrating. No wonder that the military stuff costs so much.

Anyway. During the product testing period, I saw a need for a new product. Did some research and guess what, the same thing- it has not been invented yet. The prototype will be ready for presenting next week.
 
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Cnc1

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A week ago I received the export license. It took some time but finally, I´ve got things sorted out. Unfortunately, due to C0VlD-19, there are restrictions which, won't allow me to enter the country. Now I have to wait till the restrictions are lifted. I hope this C0VlD-19 situation does not last for long.

In the previous replay, I mentioned a new product prototype. I presented the new device to the army personnel and law enforcement people. The feedback was very positive and during the presentation, they even wanted to take the product for themself for testing purposes. I mentioned, that the product is a prototype that has not been properly tested yet. They did not care, because they liked the idea very much especially from the counter-terrorism aspect. They kept insisting but I kindly refused. I will supply them with product samples this month.
 

Cnc1

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I got a chance to deliver the product. The foreign country's defense force representative was pretty amazed. They are testing the product and making sure that it meets the high standards. Hope it goes well.

Two weeks ago made my first sale. It took two years and a bunch of prototypes but it was worth it.
 

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Awesome progress & story. To answer the initial post, yes I have sold to the US Army in the form of advertising. I reached out to the Chief of US Marketing on a cold call and got the PO back about 10 days later. Still can't believe that happened because of the procurement process that is (normally) in place and the number of agencies the Army works with. I remember him telling me (after he gave me his cell number) to NOT use the general ideas@army.gov.mil address because it will get lost.

A little late, but DM me for details or help if need be.
 
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Cnc1

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After six months of complete silence, I received an email from a foreign high-ranking military officer. The testing period was successful and they would like a demo day in their military base so that I could introduce the device to different military unit representatives so that they can place an order. Fingers crossed.

The law enforcement people also tested the other product for eight months and a week ago they placed an order for the devices.

I'm quite happy that hard work is finally paying off ( or at least a fraction of it).
 

rockit11

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Hey all, I know I've commented here before with an extensive background and billions of dollars of contract experience in DoD Acquisitions. I am now working as a consultant helping companies win US Government contracts. Please feel free to shoot me a PM if you have questions.
 

Cnc1

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When I surfed the Internet earlier this year, I discovered that NATO was organizing industry days for companies. Although the booths were booked, I still decided to register. I was automatically put on a waiting list. Six months later, I received an e-mail saying that a booth has become available. HOLY S***!

I bought tickets and flew there. The exhibition was awesome. Met quite a lot of people. Got business cards from foreign army personnel and handed out my own cards. The feedback was great. A US army representative even said that my products were the coolest and that he had never seen such devices.

I would never have believed that I would be participating in NATO Industry Day with my products. I have a gut feeling that something big is about to happen. I can just feel it.
 

OleksiyRybakov

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Thank you for sharing your progress. What do you think about selling your product to the Armed Forces of Ukraine?
 

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