“The economy has been slip sliding away,” says Witcher, whose 75-man operation also sells and services big rigs and is the Northeast’s largest supplier of Pierce fire trucks. “We decided we wanted another place we could sell.”

As the economy slows, this is a good time to take a closer look at the federal government, the largest buyer of goods and services in the world. The advantages are clear. The budget is set; the government typically lets vendors know where they stand throughout the bidding process; and, best of all, bills are paid on time, typically within 30 days.

Witcher says he has become a government convert. After hiring a consultant to learn how to navigate the complicated process of bidding for federal work, he shifted his inventory control officer to the full-time task of researching potential contracts and has amassed a database that tracks all the bids the company has submitted - won and lost - to learn from its history.

“The federal government is my No. 1 customer now when it comes to parts,” Witcher says. “It has been continually on a growth pattern for us.”

The government buys virtually everything the private sector does, from condoms to coffeemakers to the services of publicists, pest control experts to entertainers. Yet for some, the idea of doing business with the government raises images of can’t win backroom deals. That’s just not the case with contracts in the small business arena, says Malcolm Parvey, a marketing consultant who has coached Witcher’s company and others on how to win federal bids.

Most of the work is awarded electronically, he notes, through a rigorous procurement process that takes time to master. There’s a high level of transparency, too. The government even lets bidders see who their competitors were and how they priced once the job is awarded.

“I know that small businesses have a great interest in this market; they just don’t have the time and they don’t have the expertise to go after it,” says Parvey, co-author of a new book, “Winning Government Contracts,” due out in February from Career Press.

The book is the latest attempt to simplify what can look like an insiders’ game. There are many guides on how to get federal work, including the government’s own tutorials at the Web sites of agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. General Services Administration as well as popular sites for searching federal procurement such as FedBizOpps.

“With the Internet what used to take 10 days now takes 10 minutes,” he says. “There are more and more agencies that are allowing competitive bidding to be done over the Internet.”

reuters.com

It’s not impossible to get your business out of debt and heading towards profitability. Others have done it and you can too.

Facing bankruptcy can be a terrifying experience for a franchisee or small business owner. But it’s not uncommon - and it’s not hopeless either. Not everyone comes back from the brink, but Jeff McKeown is one entrepreneur who did. After four years in the staffing industry, he decided to open his own Express Personnel franchise in Racine, Wis. in 2000 at the age of 26.

In order to put the required $28,000 down, McKeown and his wife borrowed $15,000 and cashed out their 401(k)s and combined savings accounts to come up with the difference. Eager to get his business off the ground, McKeown said he accepted any and all clients, even those with bad credit and iffy documentation. He also felt that to compete, he needed to have the lowest price in town so he kept very small margins.

“Many clients did not pay their bills and several declared bankruptcy with huge payments to me outstanding,” McKeown explained.

By 2003 he owed the franchisor $120,000 and had maxed out all of his credit cards. Express Personnel’s corporate office even sent McKeown a 10-day letter that said the company planned take back the franchise.

That’s when he realized he was in trouble, McKeown said. So with the help of a consultant, he fired 30 percent of his customers, raised prices, and established minimum gross margins and strict credit terms. The business began to grow and by July 2006 he had paid off the majority of his debt. Last year, McKeown says he earned about $160,000 to $170,000 and is expecting to net $400,000 to $500,000 in 2007.

Climbing out of debt

If a franchisee or small business owner is nearing bankruptcy then “either their revenue is short or their expenses are too darn high, but usually it’s both,” according to Jeff Elgin, CEO of Minn.-based FranChoice, a franchise consulting firm.

Elgin suggests taking a good hard look at the expenses for starters, and making sure that all of them are absolutely necessary. “Take away the credit cards,” he said.

For franchisees, “usually, the fundamental issue is that they’re not executing the system,” Elgin said. And if it’s a good franchise company, then it has a proven and reliable system. “If you execute it, you will succeed,” he says. People just need to get “back to the basics of blocking and tackling.”

Indeed, many franchisors have consultants on staff tasked with helping franchisees grow their businesses.

“I thought I knew it all,” McKeown said. He now advises other young entrepreneurs to find a mentor or expert who can offer support and business advice.

By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Looking to bring in new business? Then you’re probably on the watch for government contracts coming up to bid. If you’re not, you should be.

Together, federal, state and local governments buy over a $1 trillion dollars in goods and services each year. A not-insignificant amount of that money gets funneled into multimillion-dollar constructions projects. But other federal, state, county, city and town funds get earmarked for smaller projects - everything from website development to brake parts, motivational speakers, pre-printed plastic bags, and alfalfa. Some of that money could be yours if you pursue and win government contracts or subcontracting work from the companies that win big contract awards.

Web sites you may find useful:

1. www.fedbizopps.gov
2. www.onvia.com
3. www.findrfp.com
4. The Dodge Report

Read this very useful article at Business Know How.

As confidence in military and White House leadership continues sliding, Americans are gaining confidence in the country’s small business leaders.

When asked how much confidence they have in leaders of a range of public and private institutions, 54% expressed a “great deal” of confidence in leaders of small business, a new Harris Interactive poll found. That put the small business sector atop the list of institutions in which respondents expressed the most confidence. The military came second with 46%, and major educational and medical institutions came next, with each sector notching 37%. The telephone poll of 1,013 Americans was conducted Feb. 6-12.

Though military leadership had the second-largest percentage of respondents expressing a great deal of confidence, that figure has slipped substantially from 2002’s high of 71%. Likewise, the percentage of those expressing a great deal of confidence in White House leaders has slipped from its post-Sept. 11 high of 50% in 2002, to 22% in 2007.

Confidence in the leaders from other public sectors has been slipping as well. The percentage with a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court dropped from 33% in 2006 to 27% this year. Over the same time period, the support for leadership of organized religion shed three percentage points, going from 30% to 27%.

Outside of small business, the captains of corporate America and Wall Street also saw growing shares of respondents with a great deal of confidence. The percentage of those with a great deal of confidence in Wall Street leadership edged up from 15% to 17% between 2006 and 2007. And “major companies” gained three points, going from 13% to 16% during the same period.

startupjournal.com

Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Air Force’s new small business director, Ronald A. Poussard, looks to expand opportunities for small businesses and reach beyond goals to support the Air Force mission.

Mr. Poussard, who is a member of the Senior Executive Service, was selected as the director of the Air Force Office of Small Business Programs. He will be responsible for the leadership, management and oversight of the Small and Minority Business Program, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Institution Programs for the Department of the Air Force.

Mr. Poussard began his Federal government career with the U.S. Navy as a student trainee in 1982, and has held a variety of increasingly senior positions in the acquisition community. He has been a staff analyst supporting major systems such as the C-17 cargo airlift aircraft, as well as the Deputy Director of Contracting and the Small Business Director at the 11th Wing, Bolling AFB, D.C. He also served as the Director of Contracts and contracting officer establishing the first joint Air Force, National Reconnaissance Office and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency space-based radar program. Mr. Poussard has also served as senior business adviser to Air Force Program Executive Officers and field acquisition commanders for space and command and control programs, providing contracting and business analyses for the development of acquisition strategies and source selections. Additionally, he was the Deputy Director of the Defense Acquisition Regulations System Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, D.C.

Mr. Poussard holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University, a Master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University, and a Masters degree in National Resources Management from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is also a graduate of several executive leadership courses.

Blackanthem Military News

As states look to shrink the swelling ranks of those without health insurance, the crucial test for one approach gaining favor with policy makers is likely to be its impact on small business.

Massachusetts and Vermont are gearing up to introduce programs this year that require employers either to provide health benefits to their workers or make annual payments to help cover the uninsured. The governors of California, Pennsylvania and Illinois have proposed similar plans, and others are percolating in the legislatures of several other states.

Among the loudest critics of so-called pay-or-play requirements are business groups, which say the added cost would hurt legions of small businesses, ultimately forcing them to raise prices or lay off workers. But a closer look suggests that while some small businesses might be squeezed, a great number would be exempt from the rules. And many businesses and self-employed workers could even benefit by dropping their current health plans and picking up cheaper coverage through state-sponsored programs.

Read complete article at startupjournal.com.

By KELLY SPORS at startupjournal.com

The exact rules for forming a limited liability company, or LLC, vary by state. An LLC is similar to a partnership but has the legal protections of personal assets that a corporation has without the burdensome formalities, paperwork and fees.

All new LLCs must file so-called articles of organization with their secretary of state’s office. This is usually just a short form that asks for the names of the LLC and its members and their contact information, along with a filing fee that ranges from $30 to $200. A few states also have other registration requirements. You can find the rules and fees involved at your secretary of state’s Web site or at http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-structures/llc/. Click on “State Guide: Forms and Filing Fees for Business Formation” under the Tools & Resources section.

Though it’s often not required by law, you should draft an operating agreement for your LLC that spells out the details of the business arrangement, including members’ percentage ownership, roles, rights and responsibilities, says Anthony Mancuso, a business attorney in Berkeley, Calif., and author for Nolo Press. Having such an agreement can help protect the LLC structure if it’s challenged in court and prevents you from having to default to state operating rules.

You don’t have to hire a lawyer to set up an LLC, since state requirements are usually self explanatory. But it’s a good idea to have one read over paperwork and operating agreement to “make sure your interests are protected,” says Mr. Mancuso.

Even though most states don’t require any annual paperwork or administrative procedures, you should document major business proceedings and lay out some formal procedures — like one meeting a year — to help protect your LLC status.

Some states charge annual fees and taxes that can diminish the economic advantage of choosing to become an LLC. California, for instance, charges an annual $800 LLC tax along with a $900 to $11,760 annual fee based on a business’s total annual income exceeding $250,000.