 So you're probably asking me, Eric, well, all right, there's a bunch of competitors out there, who should I be targeting? Like, what competitors? So what I did was I put together a list of 10 things that I use, like as indicators or markets to trigger me saying, okay, this might be someone that I want to approach that I want to pursue. And again, all this is based on my practical experience. I can only speak from my practical experience is what has worked for me. So when I'm out here, and I'm like, okay, all right, I'm going to go to a new marketplace. Okay, the government's already got their prime people they're working with. And now I'm like, all right, how do I break in? I want to show them what we can do like what we can bring to the table. So we're gonna say, all right, let's go look at who's out there who's already like working and doing stuff in the space. So you're like, okay, well, Eric, how do I know who should I be calling right? Or you might even say to me, well, I called a bunch of people and they hung up. Well, nobody hangs up on you anymore. But I called a bunch of people, no one responded to me, I sent a bunch of emails, crickets. So like, all right, there's got to be some sort of method to the madness. Well, what I did, I sat down, I kind of organized my thoughts in my head. And I said, let me put some paper. And let's talk about so let's discuss the 10 things that I use, like some of the indicators that I use to actually identify potential competitors to target for upcoming opportunities and to establish relationships with. So the first thing is, all right, if you're looking at on IDIQs, right, Maytalks, MAC contracts, multiple word contracts, you know, again, if you're looking at any of these IDIQs, and you notice that a firm is on multiple IDIQ lists, that's definitely somebody you want to hit up, right? So that company, there by the fact that they're on multiple lists, means that they're going to have to leverage working with subcontractors in order to get these things accomplished, right? So again, if you see, if you see, like, if you're in Virginia, and you pull up the list with the Coast Guard, and you see people, and then over here, and you're like, okay, in Maryland, they're also on the list with the Navy, and you're like, wait a second, and then over here, they're also on the list with the Army, like, okay, this is somebody I should definitely target, because why? Someone that's on multiple lists cannot do all the work on by themselves, right? So they're going to have to rely upon subcontract help to help facilitate getting some of the contract awards. That's the first thing. Check if you see anybody on multiple lists, that's the person I wanted to. Number two, if you see a competitor that has a bona fide office, that would make a great partner. When people or companies, I'm sorry, have bona fide offices, that means what? Do you know what even a bona fide office is? Probably not. A bona fide office means, all right, I'm registered here with the SBA to do business in this particular region, right? So the SBA has these different regions, the map of the United States. So you're in, like, say the Southeast region, and particularly in Georgia. Now, companies that are strategic go to where the opportunity is at. So let's say they realize that there's opportunities in North Carolina that are coming up, where the government's spending billions and billions of dollars. They now create a bona fide office in North Carolina to be able to take advantage of the small business contracts there. So now that company is actually based in Georgia, but their bona fide office in North Carolina. So if you see anybody with a bona fide office, that is a forward thinking company that also has to work with subcontractors, right? Because most people, they don't carry their project managers and their management staff to alternate locations, but the people who are going to be on the ground doing the actual work, those persons are going to be brought and typically are going to be local based companies. So again, anyone who has a bona fide office, definitely someone that you want to target. Number three, if you find someone has an office in your home state and or around DC, that means that that company is close to both the money DC, right? And also, they've got their boots on the ground where the opportunities are going. So that would make a potential great partner. And I see this a lot, which is, you know, for some of the companies that are there, I mean, they're larger, but you also see some of the mid sized companies that are not past the threshold of large business just yet, they will have a office in DC, because that means they got people out there talking to government officials, trying to buy for some of the contracts coming down. But at the same time, they've got a local office that are on the ground that's actually dealing with the local people and trying to help facilitate contract actions. So again, look for someone that may have an office in DC and or in your backyard, right? So if you're in Utah, they got an office in Utah, like, wait, I look on their website and they're like, you know, they're based out of DC. That's someone that is going to be looking for localized people to help do the work. Another thing, make sure they're not a multi billion dollar national, because even though multi billion dollar companies like national firms, yes, they outsource a lot of work, they're probably the most difficult to try and talk with and break into. So a lot of times, to get working with them, it's more of a process. And because they're so large, they don't really care so much about people, right? And therefore, it is, the barriers to entry are a lot higher. So again, the idea is to try and get someone that's more more passionate, more caring or concerned, and more likely to want in your best interest. And so I found that the large multi national firms, they could care less about you, your company, you go bankrupt, any that kind of stuff. So they're not, they're not, they're there to serve their own best interest, which again, most companies are, but just I found that they are even more like capitalists, so per se. So they're not, they're not going to lose a penny, even if they're wrong, they, you know, they'll lie, cheat to see whatever it takes to try and beat you. And so I don't want anyone to start off in that manner. If you find that, you know, you're working with a Boeing, you're working with a Northrop group, you're working with the GE, and that they've treated you favorably, that's great. You know, continue that relationship, but it's not a practical approach to teach people how to jump in and establish those relationships. I would rather, much rather someone start with a mid-sized company that's got maybe one or two offices, then someone who is a national player that basically, you know, they do $2 billion a year, and you're just like another name. You're not even a name, you're like another, like a number in their data entry system. So just be careful with that. Number five, a firm that's medium size of large business by industry standards. So for example, you know, if in construction, we're say we're 36.5 million per year, three year average. So that's 100 plus million, it's like 120, just under 120 million threshold. So if you find a company that's doing say 50 million to 100 million, that makes for a potential great partner. You can't really work with someone that's too small because then there's no value add for you. So you've got to work with someone who can at least come to the table with the government and help, you know, help add value to what you want to do, right? And so, you know, working with someone that's too small, I would eliminate, I would not even consider them. And then working with someone that's too large, like on the other end of the echelon, I would kind of eliminate them as well. So again, you want to shave off the fat from this side, shave off the fat from that side, and then work with people that are really in the middle. So again, just as a benchmark, again, these are not like, like permanent like markers, like you can't move the threshold or anything like that. These are not written in stone. They're just kind of benchmarks to follow. So again, you know, when people say, well, what do I follow with guides? I mean, you want to go plus or minus 20% up and plus or minus 20% down? That's fine. A firm has limited staff in their office. So this is, this is another thing, right? If you see a firm that meets that requirement, right? So you've got this mid-sized firm, but they got limited staff in their office, right? This may be a, what do you call it, when you have another office somewhere else? This may be like a secondary office or a third office, or maybe they are just getting into the marketplace, right? So again, when I say limited staff, a limited staff means five or less people, right? That's what I would say by limited staff. Again, it's all relative to the type of industry you're in. But for me, if you go to an office that has a few people, they're more likely to be able to discuss building a relationship with someone than a staff that has 10, 15, 20 people in it. Because again, why? They've got policies and procedures. You've got to talk to this person. You've got to improve from that next person. And it just, it's, it's more hoops to jump through to accomplish the same mission, right? So again, like I said, these are all places where you could start. If you run up to a staff where you see that they're open to having a discussion with you, and there's 10 people in office, don't turn around and go out the door and say, well, Eric said, if there's, if more than five people, I should not talk to you guys. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that when I see that there's a staff of five or less people, then it's kind of like you could call and get someone on the phone. You can, there's, you know, you can find a decision maker. You can, there, you know, they're probably open. They're, they're growing or they want to grow. And so, right, they're looking for opportunities as well. There, I could see them being more likely to sit down, have coffee with you and discuss what you got and what you bring to the table. And that's, that's really, which, you know, that's the idea behind this whole thing is to get to that point where you can sit down and discuss, you know, who you are, what you do with someone else who can actually ultimately make a decision and move forward. Affirmative has regional managers. I've always found that companies who have regional managers, those companies are, they're well structured enough to where they can run a project. And also it shows that they are exploring opportunities in different places, right? So they're also looking at alternative opportunities, wherever they might be. And so they're, they're more open minded and for thinking people. So I get, I like companies that have regional managers. Affirmative has out of town managers. Again, whenever I've worked with some of my Alaska Native corporations, for example, they have all their managers, like based out of home, and then they travel to the job sites, wherever that may be. So again, these people are progressive, therefore thinking they are exploring, you know, and guess what? When I, whenever I had an idea about pursuing something, they were like down, they said, yo, every way, like, if I said, hey, I'm thinking about, let's chase this particular market, they'll have a conversation with me about it, right? And that's what you want. You want someone says, okay, look, let's have a conversation. If you want to chase this market, if you do these things, we'll do these other things. And that's kind of like, that's, that's all you can ask for, right? From someone is if, if I do this, will you be willing to do that? Okay, so if I put in my part, will you be willing to put your part? And that's really what you can ask for. That brings me to number nine, Alaska Native corporations. I like Alaska Native corporations. You know, they do a large part of government contracting work. What I like about them the most is, even though they're like this huge conglomerate multinational firm, they are also separate entities. So each particular one, Alaska Native corporation warrants on its own merit. So it has its own staff, its own people, its own CEO that runs it. So again, the Alaska Native corporations as a whole, like as a general descriptive term, which you will find is that like, for example, I've worked for three Alaska Native corporations, and they didn't even know each other. So like the people that were at this particular company, they never met co workers from the other Alaska Native. So they're, even though they all work for the same like parent company, they all run on their own, they're all independent, they all have different people, different teams, different staff, different subcontractors. So like, let's say you mess up with one, the other one won't even notice it because they're not even talking. So it's a great opportunity to partner with them because they are like small, large firms. I know it's like, like it's like hypocritical statement, right? Like oxymoron small and large, they're like small and large at the same time because they've got the umbrella of the parent shielding them and protecting them and then like providing with money and resources they need. But also they're small enough to where you can get to them and talk to the people and actually reach decision makers. So, you know, I can tell you, I had one of my students that had an opportunity for an Alaska Native and he reached out to Alaska Native Firm, the phone called him, he had a lunch meeting like within a week with them and they were giving him all the information they needed to pursue a contract with the Navy. So again, they're very open minded and they're always ready to go. And then number 10, I would say any company or firm that has a history or a past with the government. So if they've got past performance of the government, they're definitely a good candidate to talk about partnering with. And you can go on FPDS, you can go on dynamic small business search and see people who've got history with the government. You can also see some of the recent graduates, right? So recent 8A graduates who were done well. Those are all people that are great people that you can talk to to explore opportunities. So again, you know, listen, the point of this is you don't need all these traits, right? You don't need someone to have all these traits. But these are like for me, little markers and indicators that if I see it, I'm like, okay, this person or this company is someone I definitely want to try and reach out to for exploring opportunity. So again, you know, what I found is people have exhibited these traits and my particular past have helped me reach my goals in the federal marketplace. And I and I know that if it's done it for me, they can do the same thing for you guys out there, right? So listen, let me know, try it, find out how it works, give me your feedback, tell me if it makes sense, if it doesn't make sense, if you call some people and what happened, let me know. Matter of fact, if you want me, and you got to mind what you think as a good candidate and you, your company is solid, and you want me to reach out to them for you, like hit me up in the comments and let me know. And I will be glad to like reach out to them for you. Now, again, I can't do this for everybody. And probably like most of you guys probably gonna hit me up. So again, I can make this statement, both statements say, you know, if you've got to mind that you think that you want to reach. And if I determine that your business is worthwhile, right of working with them, then, you know, I'll be happy, more than happy to show you how to make a phone call. You know, we'll jump on the line and call them and talk to them and see if we can get somebody to respond to you. All right. Listen, try it out. Let me know if it works. And I'll see you next time.