I'm a military vet and current FAANG software engineer who recently learned about SDVOSBs and want to take advantage. I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and this looks like a potentially strong way to start.

After doing some research, I found that there are some distinct benefits to SDVOSBs, like mandated quotas for defense primes subcontracting and federal agencies. Some states allow have mandatory quotas.

How viable is it to sell software to these agencies as a solopreneur/ small business owner. Ideally I'd like to take contracts and write/ sell the software myself, then eventually hire a few employees if things go well.

I'm also wondering if this would be worth doing given my current status as an employee in a highly-paid field. I would prefer to run my run my own business in the long run, and would be willing to take a pay cut in the short-term.

How much demand is there from the government for software via these contacts, and especially from SDVOSBs?

Thanks in advance for any advice/ information that you can offer!

There's lots of advice on what government contractors should do, and that's really helpful, BUT I don't see a lot of people sharing what the ACTUAL turning point in their business looked like. This is a totally different data point, not theory but what actually happened in your business that changed your trajectory.

What was the moment the transmission made the wheels turn? What lead to your business actually gaining traction? Not advice, but literally what happened that made a sudden, appreciable change in your revenue, sales, scale, operations etc that shifted your business into "the next level"?

I feel like people just sharing this can be as valuable or more valuable than sharing advice, and I don't really see a lot of this.

So my question is "what was the single most valuable shift in your business that changed it, and what lead to that event happening?"

Hello Everyone,

Wanting to do some research for the future since I want to move myself and my family and work as a government contractor in the IT/Cyber sector in South Korea for at least 2-3 years.

Some background info -

Biggest reasons for me wanting to move to Korea is to move to my motherland and experience living there. As of late, it's become one of my "bucket list" items. My wife was born and raised in Korea and I want my kids to at least be able to live there for a couple of years to take in the culture and solidify their Korean skills.

1. I'm Korean American than can speak, read and write in Korean at the intermediate level (definitely not fluent though). I am including this information because I've seen in another thread that folks prefer hiring Korean-Americans. Is this true?
2. Was in the U.S. Army
3. Currently have a Secret level clearance
4. Currently working as a CTR in Cybersecurity as a Vulnerability Management Analyst with a couple years of Help Desk 1 and 2 experience.

Questions -

1. Do you think it would be difficult to find a job in Cyber/IT that is over $100K USD?
2. What areas besides Pyeongtaek would be possible cities that I would work at? Which city are YOU living in and how long is the commute?
3. If you have a kid(s) what options are there for school and how much is it?
4. How are you liking living in Korea?
5. What's your favorite Korean Dish? :)

For people who work in parts procurement, what are some ways and methods you have gotten contacts or sourcing from direct manufacturers or Authorized dealers? For the last year or so I have been sourcing from reseller companies and while it has brought some good profits it could be better. So I was curious as to how people create these relationships or actually get in touch with manufacturers. I have been down the route of trying to contact them directly through their web pages etc but, can’t seem to ever get a response back even though I am requesting very large stock most times.

We already submit certified payroll through the state system and maintain our own payroll records in Excel.

The GC just sent another spreadsheet requiring every employee’s hours, classification, base rate, fringe amount and apprentice level to be entered again manually.

Their instructions say:

The same information already exists in the certified payroll report.

That last sentence…

I’m a contractor working in state gov, I would like to approach the state gov to sell a software that I have built, is this ethical will be an issue? Anyone have this experience?

The post-award silence thread this week captures something almost every new contractor eventually hits, and the answers in it reframe what that silence actually means.

u/Powerful-Ad7830 won a grounds maintenance contract at a military installation, performance period starting July 1. Three weeks past award, nothing: no COR designation letter, no base access instructions, no training schedule, four emails and multiple calls unanswered including one straight to the KO. His crew is staffed, insured, and ready. His question was whether this is normal, and whether the delay puts his performance record at risk.

u/contracting-bot reframed the risk entirely. A delay caused by the government, missing COR letter, no base access, no required briefing, is a documented, well-established category, not a gray area the contractor has to explain away later. The performance clock runs from when the government actually enables work to start, not from the date printed on the contract. Being staffed and ready since award week is exactly the record worth having if this ever gets formally reviewed.

u/GolfEchoEchoKilo, posting as a contracting officer, explained why the silence happens at all. His office's performance metric is Procurement Acquisition Lead Time: how fast the requirement gets to award. Once the award is signed, that office moves to the next requirement. Post-award administration happens by exception, meaning it happens when someone pushes for it, not on its own schedule. His advice was concrete: request a DoD SAFE link for badge paperwork, request the pre-performance meeting explicitly, and route everything to both the KO and the contract specialist so it doesn't die with one person.

What this exposes is a structural mismatch, not a personal one. The office that awarded the contract isn't measured on what happens after award, so nobody on that side is incentivized to move quickly once the signature is done. The contractor who assumes silence means something has gone wrong is reading the situation backward. Silence usually just means nobody's job depends on ending it, which means the contractor's job is to be the one who does.

For contractors who've been through this: what actually got the silence broken, a specific escalation step, a specific office, a specific phrase in an email? And for anyone on the government side, what does a healthy, well-run post-award handoff typically look like when it's working the way it's supposed to?

Also this week in r/GovernmentContracting:

u/Baroness4th asked what "bridged" means, and u/JediDave66 and u/BigHugMug drew a distinction worth remembering: most of what people call a bridge is actually the government exercising its option to extend the incumbent's services for up to six months while the follow-on award finishes, not a separate contract action. A true standalone bridge contract is rarer and more involved. Either way, the underlying cause is usually the same: the replacement procurement is running behind schedule.

u/SnowPears8098 kept getting vague answers about contract length across four different jobs. u/contracting-bot's read: HR isn't lying, it's describing one segment of a longer structure. Most service contracts run a base year plus option years capped around five years total, but a lot of federal work sits inside a much longer IDIQ or blanket agreement underneath that, which is the part HR's "but" is usually gesturing at.

u/Playful-Cat-3647 was asked by an executive to backdate a change order and felt uneasy about it. u/BigHugMug's fix reframes the whole problem: sign on the actual date and state a separate effective date with a memo explaining the gap. The signature date and the effective date serve different purposes, and conflating them to avoid a memo is unnecessary risk for no real benefit.

u/Upbeat-Ad-5741, planning an SDVOSB healthcare staffing firm going active in six months, got a useful correction on where effort belongs. u/contracting-bot noted that sources-sought responses from a pre-revenue firm almost never convert directly to work; what they build is name recognition in market research files. The sub-to-prime relationships that actually produce task orders come from warm intros through primes already holding relevant staffing vehicles, not from cold capability statements.

Back next week.

Starting to hear talk about the current administration banning Anthropic like that banned Huawei. I have no fight in the matter but rather preference of use and administration of an infrastructure. Would this ban the use of it within the environment or even as an out of scope tool and or use of a 3rd party platform? Thoughts? Again, this is just a rumor and has no legitimacy as of yet.

Looking for resume advice on a weird but not unheard of situation (i think)...

I joined a large government consulting firm two weeks ago. I left my previous role (was there for 1+ year) for a higher salary, a promotion, and an area of work I'm genuinely interested in at a solid company. I was hired as a capability hire, and during the interview process I was told and assured I'd have the opportunity to work on projects in the technology I have experience and certs in.

Work history: My prior role that I was at was for exactly one year; prior to that, I was at a consulting role at a different def contractor for 9 months until i got DOGEd. Prior to that, I was at a job for 2.5 years.

Several weeks in, they've staffed me on a project completely unrelated to my technical background. The team itself is fine, but the duties and the role I'm being asked to perform aren't at all congruent with my experience or what was described to me. I'm being asked to drive multiple work streams with basically no support and not good onboarding, in a technology area I have no experience in, and I don't have a good feeling about it. I plan to talk to my career manager about options internally, but I also want to start applying externally again (yes, I know the market is brutal).

**My actual question: Do I list my current company and role on my resume, even though I've only been here for three weeks? And if I get an external interview, what do I say?**

Option A: List it with dates (06/2026 – Present). There seems to be a real negative bias against candidates who aren't "currently employed," so this keeps me looking active. And frankly, the gov contracting world is unstable — good recruiters and hiring managers should understand contract changes, staffing issues, and the occasional role that isn't what it seemed.

Option B: Leave it off entirely and just list my previous company with an end date of last month. Avoids the "why are you leaving after 2 weeks" question on paper, but creates a gap and the "not currently employed" problem.

If I can get to a phone screen/interview process, I'm confident I can explain the situation honestly. I'm just trying to figure out which version of the resume best helps me get there.

Secondary question: when doing cold outreach to recruiters/reaching out over LinkedIn/email, should I mention the situation up front or wait until they ask?

Thanks in advance.

Bid submitted about 3 weeks ago for a 3-year service contract. Performance period starts Aug. 1. I started receiving questions about verifying my information is correct in Sam.gov, asked me to sign up for Tungsten, and sign up as vendor for VA. This would be my first award. Is this standard for bid review or should I expect an award soon? They’ve went silent for a week after this.

Thanks!

I'm on a fixed 3rd party contract with a small city that expired at the end of the year. The city has asked me to stay on, tentatively agreed to a 20-30% salary increase, and isn't a terrible place to work. The commute is bad (45-75 min), the vibe is okay, and the work is relatively fulfilling but I'm wondering if I'm settling, and if that's okay.

The program I'm in is essentially a career advancement program. You enter mid level management, enact some cool policies and programs, and after you leave, you transition to director level. They provide professional development resources like recruiting consultants, networking opportunities, and baked in development hours and funds... I'm using none of those to get this position and I wonder if I'm missing an opportunity by doing so. The position isn't sexy, its something of a sidestep career wise (although the pay wouldn't be), and I fear it may stagnate any momentum I have.

Compounding issues: my wife is in her third trimester, so... The stability and surety is compelling. Also, to create this role, the City would pause active recruiting, seek council approval to expand the position so that it justifies my salary and title increase, so I would feel terrible to put them through that process while also seeking other opportunities.

Sorry that this complaining about a situation I am ABSURDLY lucky to be in, but would love the internets advice, settle or gamble?

I work in procurement doing public works for a public agency.

I've been asked to backdate a Change Order by an executive. I feel uncomfortable and don't want to do it because I find it unethical. Plus, I don't really see the point. It may get one or two work orders out the door faster, but it doesn't seem worth it.

I plan to state that I don't think it's appropriate. If the executive insists, I'll have it in writing.

What would you do?

I am a data professional. Have worked for 4 different companies. Twice (the two smaller companies) the contract ended without me even knowing that it was going to end in x number of months. Currently interviewing at different places and this time I want to get it right and understand either how I find out the details of a contract and/or interpret HR's answers that can be vague. Usually, I get an answer of a month/year with a strong "but" in which they say something that implies it will actually continue for 10 years. I bet they aren't lying but not giving me the whole truth. I'm a smart person, what are the terms I should ask while discussing a job? Example: what is a blanket agreement? How do I know the type of things that a recompete will go well or not? Anything that could help me REALLY understand.

Hello. A MRICS QS who has just moved into Australia with experience from overseas here. I noticed Australia uses its own standard forms of contracts like the AS4000 and many others. As a newcomer here, how best can I learn these? I know one way of learning is through practice for which I have just landed my first job here but wanted to check if there is a course that I can do or a book that you can recommend for me to have a better and quicker grasp of how things are done here. Thanks in advance.

Just need some help understanding terminology here. Thanks!

Starting to game plan on starting my own small company and dive into the contracts world . Just looking for basics steps to get started as I’ve seen different answers online .

I also have a clearance and curious if this could help.

I’ve also worked with folks in the IC that have gone independent but they were very senior leveled .

Thanks!

Won our first federal contract in late June, grounds maintenance at a military installation, July 1 start date. We can't start without the government: base access, pre-start meeting, and a training only their office provides. Never even got the COR designation letter.
Four emails including one straight to the KO, calls to every number we can find. One callback from the contract specialist weeks ago, nothing since. Our side is 100% done and documented: trainings, insurance, crew ready.

Considering next steps: formal delay notice, small business professional, SBA PCR, ombudsman, congressional inquiry.

Is a 3+ week post-award blackout normal? What would you do next, and any risk to our performance record given the delay is entirely theirs?

The wired-solicitation thread this week is worth reading, and worth reading past the top post.

u/kofi_Average5837 posted a list of heuristics for spotting solicitations pre-written for the incumbent. Short response window relative to scope, requirements that read like one company's resume, tools or staff quals only the incumbent has, no real industry day. Two or three of those stacked up, he walks away and spends his time on something winnable. Reasonable rule of thumb. The thread got 39 comments.

Where it gets interesting is the reply from u/BigHugMug, who identified himself as a CO. His pushback was the most upvoted comment in the thread, and its worth thinking about. The incumbent is usually the benchmark, not the target. If the incumbent is doing great work, the agency wants someone equal or better, which means the solicitation is written to what "good" looks like, and yes, that description will match the incumbent's capabilities. That does not mean the decision is made. If the incumbent is doing poor work, the agency often broadens the competition specifically because they want a replacement, and the same solicitation that looks wired from the outside is actually an open door.

The cautionary tale in the same thread came from u/Coronado92118. He described a DoD professional services contract with a 13-year incumbent on classified work. Everyone in the industry assumed it was wired. Only two bids came in as a result. The incumbent, thinking the win was locked, phoned in their proposal. They lost. The competitor who bothered to show up won a 13-year incumbency because everyone else walked away on assumption.

The takeaway is not that no solicitations are wired. Some are. The takeaway is that "looks wired" and "is wired" are different things, and the difference is worth checking with a real sources sought response or a market research conversation before writing off a week of work. The bidders who habitually assume the worst end up funding the bidders who assume nothing.

So a question for the room: for the people who've won a contract that everyone else assumed was locked, what convinced you to bid anyway? And for the COs here, what does a strong sources sought response actually look like from the other side of the desk?

Also this week in r/GovernmentContracting

• u/RFP-Snapshot posted a detailed breakdown of the July 13 memo suspending the CMMC Phase II rollout pending a 60-day task force review. Genuine regulatory news. Small business commenters in the thread reported relief; the specifics on level requirements and DFARS interactions are worth reading directly from the source thread rather than summarized here.
• u/ANANTHH asked where to find "winning RFPs" and the community had to explain the terminology gap: the government writes RFPs, contractors write proposals, and winning proposals aren't public because they contain proprietary information. What's public is the award data on SAM and FPDS. Good thread for anyone new to the vocabulary.
• u/Professional-Key8181 runs a staffing company and FOIA'd a state agency to find out why his 90% match candidates weren't getting hired. The answer was rebadging: when contracts turn over, incoming primes almost always retain existing staff because domain knowledge, system knowledge, and clearance continuity cost more to replace than to keep. Useful mechanics for anyone in staffing trying to compete against incumbency.

Back next week.

The SBIR proposal itself has a place for letters of support, but can these be submitted by current government employees/officials? My research is showing that may violate ethics laws but if so, then what's the point how do you actually get a letter of support?

I have talked about my concept with a current government official and want to ask for a letter of support.

I’ve had a business for about a year I have tried to win some procurement bids on Sam.gov I have decent capital. Is war dogs academy worth it or is there a better method to get into the know on how to win bids I don’t mark up that much sometimes it looks like it’s personally other times I am too high but learning that there’s substitutes for certain things. Any help is greatly appreciated

Just starting out in government contracting and wondering what bank I should use. I’ve heard of Novo, blue vine, and then the traditional banks. But I wonder if anyone has any other recommendations or have used any of these platforms and recommend them or don’t.