Amanda Bresler and Alex Bresler share their insights in NCMA's September edition of Contract Management.
The full article is linked below.
"The Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian agencies are attempting to bring in the best, most innovative, and capable bidders for federal contracts using solicitations that are difficult or very difficult to read—fewer than 3 percent are written in plain English.
Small businesses asked to read solicitations that matched their capabilities lifted from beta. sam.gov were appalled.
“That was SUPER painful.”
“Super annoying.”
“I’m struggling mightily.”
And not only are solicitations dauntingly difficult to read, but the government gives bidders almost no time to digest them and respond. Every year for the past ten, 70 percent or more of Defense solicitations sought responses within 21 days; 30 percent gave just ten days.
Amanda and Alex Bresler deserve our thanks for crunching the real data to prove just how hard government makes it for companies to play in the federal market. So now we know without a doubt why so many firms avoid it like the plague.
Read on to learn about more hurdles, and solid advice for DoD and all agencies about how to fix these problems."