SWOT analyses have been around a long time, and continue to be popular in the business development community. Unfortunately, the vast majority of SWOT analyses are essentially useless—not because the tool is broken, but because it’s not being used properly. The ultimate goal of a SWOT analysis is to produce…
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Barriers to New Market Entry: Sunk v. Relevant Costs
The way you handle sunk costs when attempting to break into a new market in the federal contracting arena can be the difference between success…
Gathering Competitive Intelligence Ethically
A common misperception is that “competitive intelligence” is synonymous with “corporate espionage.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Corporate espionage is an illegal activity…
Is An Incumbent “The Man Who Knew Too Much?”
Riddle me this. If knowledge is power, is it ever possible to know too much? If you watch the 1956 blockbuster “The Man Who Knew…
OutsideIn™ Analysis: Seeing Yourself As Others See You
Capture teams in the government contracting world spend a lot of time trying to determine the right balance of solutions and strategies that will differentiate…
Price-to-Win: The Trade-off Between Capabilities & Price
A big part of winning a deal in the federal marketplace depends on how effective your PTW (Price-to-Win) strategy, or position, is. Keep in mind…
Identifying Your Competitors: How Wide Should You Cast Your Net?
Winning government contracts requires a lot of preparation. Would-be contractors spend hundreds of hours developing capture strategies and crafting compelling proposals, as well as (hopefully)…
Evaluating Your Competitors’ Capabilities: Where to Start?
It goes without saying that winning government contracts requires a thorough and intimate understanding of the customer’s wants and needs. In positioning to win, however,…
Profit & Fee Are Good Things, But They’re Not the Only Things
The goal of every business is to remain in business. In order to do that, the business has to make a profit. True, that may…
Total Evaluated Price (TEP) v. Performance: What’s the Difference?
Let me start by acknowledging that when people say the federal contracting arena is complicated, it’s because of concepts like Total Evaluated Price (TEP). After…
