6/9/2010
Courtney Consulting Solutions, LLC
"I often refer people in the small business community to the SBDC. They too often get asked the questions, “Where do I start?” and as an entrepreneur with a grand idea, they can assuredly guide you in the right direction. If a small business owner approaches me wanting to know about government, I refer them to the PTACs. It is unusual to bump into other veteran business owners but if I do, I let them know about the VBOC if they are struggling with basic business skills like accounting, capital, strategy etc. There is something special about veteran communities and a sense of trust you do not find many places. I appreciate the VBOC because anything that is in place to help those who served should be backed to the fullest. "
After serving over 11 years in the U.S. Army in various roles to include helicopter pilot, senior logistical, contracts/acquisition, budget officer and leader, it was a natural transition to assist business owners on the topic of how to do business with the government. After my time in the Army, I decided to obtain an Executive MBA at Florida International University to help with my transition to the commercial/civilian world. I enjoyed my experience and learned a great deal about how the commercial business marketplace operates. I worked corporate for over a year as their Senior Contracting Officer and set them up for success in all areas pertaining to government. During this time many business owners approached me with a very simple question, “Where do I start?” I found many to be extremely frustrated after years of trying to penetrate the government marketplace or others with no clue where to even begin in unraveling the red tape. While assisting a few companies I had another venture going on centered around rainforest conservation through the sale of carbon credits while providing ancillary benefits like biodiversity conservation, economic development and empowerment. Our business plan was revolutionary and over a year’s span, we won several national and international technical and socially responsible business plan competitions. Oprah Magazine and The White House Project chose our socially responsible business model as one that could make a difference and chose me as one of the 80 women nationwide that had the leadership background to change the world. Most recently, I was appointed to the Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women representing more than 677,625 woman in the greater Jacksonville area focused on educating, advocating and celebrating women. Throughout this process, I learned how to pitch to many VCs and industry leaders and went to NY frequently discussing our project with the largest investment firms and best environmental/carbon lawyers in the country. I perfected the art of business plan writing and pitching. I became a judge for a national business plan competition, The William James Foundation, in which I provide guidance to the next generation of socially responsible business plan writers. Now this was the real learning. My MBA gave me the groundwork but the actually doing is where you ‘pay your tuition’. That continued and I kept being brought back into the government marketplace world because of the sheer unknown most people face. It was all coming together. I bought from thousands of vendors in the Army so I knew what worked and what didn’t when it came to being a successful seller, I could write business plans, I could quantify social/environmental attributes into a Social Return on Investment and I understood business aspects like marketing, accounting, strategy etc. The need was there. So now, I began researching what the market looked like for government business development consultants. I clearly found a void and knew I could fill it. Many other firms, mostly located in the DC area, offer about 40% of what I could do to truly set up a client for success. They could register clients in certain systems and position them in the pre approved vendor space (GSA) but it stops somewhere after that. Are they really setting them up for success? I knew the answer-no. A company can have a few tools in place but if they do not have the know how to use them, what a waste of everyone’s time. I knew opening up my own consulting firm, officially, was necessary. I named my new LLC Propitious (I love the meaning-look it up) but people could not pronounce it, so I decided to use the industry standard it seems, my name. I changed the name to Courtney Consulting Solutions, LLC. Most ‘consultants’ out there have no experience with real buyers in the government. They may know regulation but regulation will not make the sale-the client will. We give clients all the right administrative tools like registrations and poisoning as a pre approved vendor. Additionally, we train them from start to finish on the right and wrong ways on approaching this marketplace. They will have a contract specific business plan in place which will give them direction and a sense of the market. They will know which agencies to target and people within them. They will have simple marketing tools in place and know how to pitch, quickly, to a federal buyer. If the company offers products or services with environmental/social attributes, we will define and quantify them for a powerful statement. This is important because most government agencies have a buy green first policy. Lastly, our clients know how to maintain what they have so they do not fall out of compliance. Because of my varied background, all the elements came together quite nicely and my clients are set up better than anyone out there. We really learn the intricacies of a business and put what they do in powerful terms. The whole process takes about 10 months so my services are not for companies with short-term mentalities. If they are experienced and looking to grow their business in a whole new direction, then those are my type of clients. With government spending at an all time high, not considering this marketplace is perhaps not the smartest thing to do-especially if your competition is figuring out how to play the game. When starting this venture back in September 2008, it was much different than my last because that was a big effort and the story sold itself. In this case, I had to start a small business and the selling point was my experience. This was much different and became a bit personal. I contacted the Veterans Business Outreach Center for advice and they were so helpful. If they could not answer my questions they would find the answer out and they always follow up. Over time, they still contact me to check in-this is how this article came to be. I did not have big power lawyers or huge investment firms backing me-it was just me on this one. The approach had to be different. The SBDC and VBOC understand small business and enlightened me about the benefits of being a small, woman, and service disabled veteran business. If I needed help with local contacts, they provided them. If I needed assistance with planning or benefits, they advised me. It was great to have them there-a free service set up to ensure small business have a chance at success-because lets face it, most small businesses fail but they are the lifeblood of our economy. Over time, I have referred many companies that need my help but are not quite ready for government sales to the SBDC, PTAC or SBA. They always provide good, basic advice on small business issues as well as initial things a company can do for government sales. I have sent clients to seminars in the local Jacksonville and Miami area. Some being match making or training classes on government contracting. Since the company’s inception, I have trained a smart, talented woman by the name of Leslie A. Hulser and she is about to become part shareholder due to her hard work and tenacity. She has helped grow this company and continues to amaze me with her professionalism and initiative. We have a fantastic designer that works on client’s marketing materials and an extremely competent research/administrative assistant. We recently joined forces with a larger firm that saw a need for our ‘niche’ services. They pass us clients and we work with them on competitive positioning and then they take it to many more levels like lobbying and opportunity searching etc. In our first year, we grossed over $100,000 and this year will surpass that. We are drafting processes so this is not a job-but a business. As the President/Owner I know in order to be successful our clients needs come first. We will not just ‘advise’ like most consultants but we do! We develop, draft, design and educate. Second, systems must be in place. Third, we must always keep an eye on the market and lastly, we must always be learning and growing ourselves. It is no fun if the only one doing the learning is the client.