 Everyone welcome today. We are discussing a comment that was left on our YouTube channel by one of you out there And by the way, thank you always for leaving comments. We appreciate them Because what happens the comments gives us topics for discussion And I'm sure if you're thinking that so are hundreds of other people out there So thank you for being brave and leave it your comment today's comment left here It's actually part two and I'm gonna make it bigger because it's hard to read It's part two of our first part series where we discussed disenfranchise small business owners Probably the majority of people that are out here watching our channel. So this particular person says interesting I heard you say don't aim for a set of sides. How with one without capital gaining any traction Are there any testimonials of disenfranchised low-income persons getting a federal contract without building performance history? And where did they get the capital from to perform the tasks that were required? And then the person goes on to say shouldn't city state and county contracts be the first place you start Just asking questions and curious why you said don't aim for set of sides I've been doing research for a coach and so far everyone is saying the same thing except what he mentioned meaning me Mentioned above. I see there's not many people speaking on the subject. So help is very limited and the final part, please Don't compare me to a married Caucasian Couple to everyone else and say that they did it without any set of sides because a low income Disenfranchising God knows what person can't compete without starting point. That's attainable And so as I said, this is part two of that series in part one here Which you will see it says how to win government context without past performance We actually discussed some of our guests on Previous episodes that we've interviewed on this particular YouTube channel We've brought them on and we showcase their skills their talents and they help answer the questions for us Unfortunately, the last 15 minutes got cut off The other thing that we discussed is here are making a Giants podcast And so again, if you missed that first part go back and watch it today, but Today's different. So again today's a different day And then today what we're gonna do we're gonna finish up that last 15 minutes So if you watch the first part if you didn't watch it go back and watch it if you did This is the part two of the second part and the last 15 minutes were cut off So I'm here to bring that back now. What I decided to do was I Want to prove what I'm saying because What I share with folks is out there is Again, it's very easy to sit in a comfort your home and watch YouTube people and you don't know who's telling the truth You don't know who's lying to you So I'd like to prove what I'm saying and if you're in any of my programs We've got a website here below click up on Eric comm slash join if you're part of any one of my programs You know that I pull up my emails. I make phone calls So you can see that we're actually doing the things that we say we're doing And so what I want to do today is I want to kind of fact-check myself and and doing that I went ahead and pulled up Sam.gov. It's a little reputable site, right? Everybody's heard of Sam.gov So we want to go ahead and fact-check myself. I pulled up Sam.gov and I searched for the keywords pressure washing and I searched the word floor now What am I doing? What's the objective? The reason why I went to Sam.gov is because the person's question was That do you need set-aside and I tell people all the time that you do not need set-aside Unfortunately, there's so much misinformation out there that are telling people that they need set-asides that I'm Combating all of the other misinformation and all the bad information. I want to caution everyone out there I want to warn you Make sure that whoever you're listening to whoever you're talking to that they actually know what they're talking about I know sometimes it can be hard to figure out if that person is true if they're valid But again dig around figure out how how how many Contracts that they want ask them right if you are concerned or you're curious ask the person are they actually doing Contracts that makes the huge difference It would make to me if I was going to make an investment in someone or a program I would want to know if the person who I'm speaking to that coach as you say Want to make sure they're actually doing this for living So that's the first thing I want to caution everyone out there is to make sure to join us for living And so what I like to do is show you not only that I do this for a living and I do that on Instagram on tiktok on LinkedIn on Twitter. So again you go any of those feeds you'll find me on those places. I do it there So again, if you're on any of these platforms go to gov con eric go to gov con giants on Instagram Go on there and I show you examples of me actually in the field go on a site visit talking to people I show you examples of things that I'm bidding Proposals that I'm writing so I show you real-life examples like in life stuff not sitting here in an office in a studio type setting I show you in the field what we're actually doing. So what I'm doing today with this particular video I want to pull up real-life examples Demonstrating the fact that you don't need set-asides and that's not written into these contracts. So Aside from the fact that set-asides only represent a small fraction of all the opportunities out there Let's just scratch all that right 23% versus 70 something percent and then when you break it down to actual Hub zone service disabled 8a they're all 5% each right or 5% 3% whatever the numbers are I don't know if that's my head when you look at that that fraction. So if you've got women on hub zone 8a and service disabled you got those four categories and Let's say they 5% each that's 20% the 80% of the other opportunities out there is you're just throwing all that away and Really, you're really throwing right closer to 90% because there's far fewer in between people who have multiple More than two of the four Designations so really you're throwing away 90% of opportunities based on just ignorance really it's plain ignorance And it's not a bad thing It's a good thing because when you don't know something you should ask and I'm glad you came here because at least I Could set the record state and I can set truth to my tone. So now let's go back over to Sam that gov I hate I don't like this view. Let's go to have paid view and I'm on Sam that gov And what I did was I typed in pressure washing I typed in flooring and of course Just like any chef would do in the kitchen. I went ahead and I pulled up an opportunity in fact Let's go back this first one here I literally just picked the first thing that came up which was this cane build tank cleaning And I pulled this opportunity up here and it's with the Coast Guard base and we'll see this was Issued the 25th. I think today. I'm recording this is The 25th, I believe yep, so it came out today was published today. It was published literally 1142 a.m It's now 1226 so it was published about 45 minutes ago So we pulled this up and it says here a total small business set aside No certification needed for total small business set aside So that right there just disproves or proves what I'm saying is true and disproves what you're saying Approves to what you're saying is false. So right there says total small business set aside Do we know what total small business set aside is do we know what tall business set aside is Do we know what tall small business set aside is All right, so total small business set aside means what if you register and your company falls underneath The threshold for the max code right if you go to the small business side standards table by the sba And your company falls on that threshold. You are a small business No registration needed So go back over here and this says total small business set aside And you're going to find oftentimes that things are typically fall under small business set aside Not for any specific type of social economic Category like a day hub zone or women or veteran So you're going to find this more often than not when you're looking at small opportunities, which typically that's what we're pursuing So total small business set aside, you're leasing and rental equipment Here is it gives you synopsis and there is one attachment here Um pdf and of course I went ahead and pulled up that attachment and the only thing on that attachment is this far smart matrix That's it. So now let's go back over to the actual document And it gives you a description of work It says you're here. This is a request for a quote RFQ All right, the solicitation document incorporated provisions are included in the circular which we just pulled up Uh is anticipated that a competitive price purchase order should be awarded of the synopsis solicitation All responsible sources may submit a quotation, which if received timely shall be considered by the agency All right, and so it gives you the solicitation and tells you what it is Uh tells you your task Bench cleaning cleaning the following bill just need to be clean high pressure watch remove oil grease contaminants For both uh ballast tanks and billages will take place this date Tank cleaning. This is what it is And that's it And it says all quotes shall be emailed to this particular person figure this email. No receive no later than this date So if you're looking at this, where does it say that you have to have government pass performance? If you're looking at this, where does it say that a new entity can't bid it If you're looking at this, where does it say that it's not eligible for disenfranchised people? You are creating walls for yourself. You are putting up your own hurdles in your own path It's already hard enough as a small business as a disenfranchised person It's already hard enough for you to then go out and make assumptions false assumptions or buy into false narratives that really You are put perpetuating because of the type of comments that you're making Out there and so instead of seeking out And finding out, okay What is actual truth? You know and looking because again, I want you all to do your own homework to do your own research I did not say believe me. I'm saying do your own research. It's very easy I didn't this took me five minutes to do so go on here and do your own research. All right, so that's one example. We'll go on Scrolling down I put flooring in there's some trailers and stuff and and the reason why I didn't pick some of these It's only because there was a lot of attachments and documents and I and I some of them had like 10 attachments and I just Really, it's a lot to kind of read through and a 20 minute video So I picked some that had less attachments So the this other one rental portable toilets and cleaning services It sounds like a business or entity that a lot of small businesses get into janitorial type services this would have to be rental portable toilets and cleaning and the other thing that That was the reason why I like this particular opportunity. In fact, let me explain the first one So I like this first particular one because the this tank cleaning and pressure washing is The type of business or industry that a person that works with their hands Friends and family This is the type of business pressure washing that is very little actual investment so meaning that If you've got the equipment which could be hundreds of dollars If not, maybe a thousand or fifteen hundred dollars worth of equipment You could technically start go out there and do this particular project or Some of this equipment can probably be rented for Less than a few hundred dollars And so now you're only depending upon manpower and labor to do this And so that makes sense to me An opportunity for a disenfranchised person or small business to start off with If you weren't comfortable with paperwork if you weren't comfortable with Negotiation if you're not comfortable with all of this other crazy stuff that a lot of times these proposals require So, you know for me If someone were to ask me where could I start right and you were The type of person that like working with their hands This is a great opportunity for you to build up past performance And for the government to get a chance to know you your company and know the type of things that you can do for them So that's another reason why I pulled this up because it's very You know, you really if you don't have a whole lot of money These are the type of opportunity that you could start off with with You know small dollars and make an investment This other one rentable affordable toilets and cleaning services All right, and so on here. Oh that one. I'm going to show last actually We'll show that one last we'll show this other one first and then we'll come back to this one because I haven't pulled up the pdf documents. They're at the bottom of my page here So let's go over to this other one annual small boat repairs Uh, and again, all of these were on my list today that I pulled up on sam Uh, I was just looking for ones. I didn't have so many attachments So here's a rentable affordable toilets cleaning services. Again, that was updated august 25th And published august 25th, so it came out today and then this boat repairs one was actually published yesterday So and then there's some more I could pick this window washing contract in indiana So, you know, this stuff is everywhere. That's uh So now let's go back. We did the tank cleaning one. So let's go over here to the small small boat repairs Uh, and let's see combined synopsis solicitation It says Uh, total small business set aside again, you're going to start seeing some of the same things Uh, re bit maintenance repair rebuilding of equipment now Again, eric, why did you pick this particular opportunity? The reason why I picked this opportunity is because Uh, what it does is it shows you sorry for that. Uh, This is the opportunity that if I were saying to myself, okay, eric Who can I partner with to help me with contracts? Like, okay I don't have the skill set, but I'm hungry and I want to learn how to do this government stuff But maybe can I use like one of my friends who has a business and then I'll do like the paperwork side And I'll help manage the contract and then he can actually do the work This is the type of opportunity that a person that does like boat repairs and craft repairs They're not looking on sam.gov the government's procurement website for opportunities Probably they're getting their opportunities from people that are in or around marinas They're advertising at restaurants near marinas or they're advertising at places that service marinas and boaters So they're like they're less likely to be on here If I was a person that fixed boats looking at opportunities So again, just putting ideas in people's heads out there of how is it that you can collaborate with friends family And other people that you're associates that you know of to go after government contracts. Remember Um, all of us have teams even the billion law companies have teams amazon partners with people Uh, richard brance's company is partnering with people, uh, you know So so why do you think that you've got to go out and try to figure this stuff out yourself? So here's an example of an opportunity that you could If you live close to this area go out and find people and again, I show examples on tiktok I show examples on instagram, uh, you can go out and find folks out here who can provide this type of service Partner with them to pursue this opportunity. So again, when we're looking at this It says here combines enough solicitation best value And we look at the requirements and there's two attachments Okay, here's the first attachment, which is the scope of work small boat repair It gives you the background tells the requirements Small boats. It tells you the type of boats that need to be fixed Give you descriptions And I know I'm going through this quickly But again, you you at home can stop the video at any point All right Tells you what you have to do Reconfigure the boats Gives you some pictures All right And then this is the next attachment as far as provisions in the solicitation And I know that when you look at these types of documents sometimes Um, people get intimidated by this but really uh with the government Most of the time when you see all of this, these are far clauses and so they're really just, uh Clauses like sexual harassment Like I see organizational conflict of interest The way you're working at so a lot of this stuff are just standard clauses that they put in every single contract So don't be intimidated when you see these All these things out here because for example, this is contractor access to the facilities All right, so it's just telling you when you can and can't go to the facilities Nothing nothing for you to actually do with that clause except understand it submit of invoices It tells you how to submit your invoices again Nothing that you have to do with that clause except understand it requests for equitable adjustment That's if the government if there's something, uh, that you that's a differing Between the site and the scope of work then the government's supposed to pay you Additional monies that you're due Um, so a lot of these clauses really there's there's nothing that you actually have to do except read and understand them So don't be intimidated when you see all this stuff because it just and it's just a matter of understanding what the clause means and It's really just incorporates part of your contract delays. You can't delay it obviously Uh, if you're delayed, this is what happened. Uh, you have to have insurance So a lot of stuff is just and you'll see once you do a couple of contracts or once you pursue a couple of these things You'll see this is all repetitive stuff repetitive information. Sorry. So this is just all of the contract clauses that's included in here These are pictures and the scope of work in here all right Um, and then going back It tells you more far provisions It tells you best value period performance Okay, and again nothing on here Um, offers are due this day. They can be submitted by smart sheet located at this location for more information email this particular person so again once again Nothing on this document says that you have to have Past performance working for the government nothing in this document says that you have to have been in business for so many years It just it's really, you know Um, nothing on here makes you have to have a set aside um I'm just trying to figure out Um, you know, if you work with someone who already fixes boats for a living Then you could use them to actually do the work you put the contract together you manage that and so then you're not spending any money um So I I just think that there's so many ways to skin the cat. There's so many ways that you can Pursue these opportunities. There's not one way. There's not one path and unfortunately, there's so much misinformation of people who because they've never done it So they assume that the only way is through the certification route That's an assumption. That's a false narrative. That's being Projected throughout the small business communities Here is a perfect example where again, it has nothing to it being disenfranchised nothing to it number years of business Nothing to do with how much money you got in the bank. None of that stuff So That's two examples. Let's go ahead and pull up one last example Before I cut out on this video and all we're doing is we're just showing you Uh, the reality of it and again go back to um, this particular video go back to my podcast cast and look at these folks out here because What I'm showing you on sam.gov I'm I'm basically confirming what I've already showed you using with these actual people but now I'm going on sam.gov and I'm Like doubling down on what I said earlier. So I'm not backing up I'm actually doubling down on what I said in terms of that you don't need certifications And it doesn't matter where they're disenfranchised and you don't need money all the time So again, yes, if you want to build your business and you want to be the prime contractor And you want to be have your name on the board then yeah, you're going to probably need money but if you're okay with learning the business and making uh, like they said 50 percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing if you're okay with that then There's alternative ways to do it and I'm showing you examples of that So here again, Renewable Portable Toilets and Cleaning Services Uh, there's four attachments here and let's go ahead and pull them up. There's one two three and four attachment This attachment again as we showcase before clauses incorporated by reference. So these are far clauses Uh, nothing to see here. Let's go back Okay, here's the statement of work for the rental of the portable toilets and cleaning services scope of work period of performance Correspondent your responsibilities other information firm fixed price Uh, payments through WAF contract administration. Here's your point of contact You must be registered and WAF to get paid That's only after you get paid doesn't apply now Okay, that's that Here's your schedule of supplies and services All right, so you list here Renewable Portable Toilets Handwashing Stations Cleaning Services one time per week Uh tells you your quote date your vendor name business name business address Dunn's cage code representative title signature All right Um, and here's a combined synopsis solicitation RFQ number the date time and place contract address point of contact Set aside can I zoom into this? Set aside not set aside Uh-oh It went somewhere All right went back. Okay. All right set aside not set aside Uh competitive unrestricted operation do authorized to operate and do business in japan. I didn't even know this in japan All right. Well, that actually answers another question that people always ask me Uh, eric if i'm an international company or if i'm not a u.s citizen or if i'm raised as can I do business with the government? Here this answers that question for you. This actually happens to be in japan. I didn't know that But either way Um, it doesn't change the fact that we're still proving the point that you don't need a set aside so again, um the competitive opportunity to pursue and uh, just like the rest of them It doesn't matter about your set aside status. It doesn't matter Uh, where you come from it doesn't matter to disenfranchise and it doesn't matter Um, whether or not that you have access to capital because again, uh If you decide that you want to pursue the consulting route or you want to pursue the subcontracting route, then there are opportunities for You to do this with very little capital If however, you decide that you want to become a prime contractor Unfortunately a prime contractor you're going to have to be responsible for the overall contract And that's not necessarily a path that everyone Is necessarily has to take in the beginning So a lot of times that folks are telling you to be a prime contractor, but I can tell you this Being a prime contractor is not always best for everyone out there. There is no one size fits all solution We are all unique just like we all have unique dna's. We're all unique people individuals Uh, we are all unique companies and entities until there is no one size fits all solution So do not pigeonhole yourself into thinking that the a day is the end all be all the hub zone The veteran owned the data that it's not known these things Um look for opportunities that you have access to great people great partners great relationships And then you can build upon that So if you've got those things that would be the foundation that I use to start with In pursuing my federal contracting journey. Hey, listen, if you're looking for more tips tricks things Make sure to go here at gubcon eric.com slash join if you like this video hit thumbs up Make sure you subscribe and if you've got a question A comment concern leave it in the show notes because I might just answer your question next. Thank you so much