Serving as Synergy’s Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, Vishal is responsible for the strategic planning activities that drive Synergy’s pursuit of the Department of Defense and Federal marketplace and work leading to increased market and revenue growth. Vishal’s visible achievements over nearly 30 years experience display delivering innovative and IT transformation solutions to customers across the Department of Defense, Federal Civilian Agencies, and Commercial customers.
As a growth leader at Synergy, let me share with you a few guiding thoughts that have served me well throughout my business career and may be helpful to those of you similarly engaged in GovCon business development. I hope these pointers will save you some valuable time, reduce the causes of anxiety and frustration, and help you to achieve greater success this year!
First, it’s critical to clearly understand the factors that impact your company’s bid decisions. Typically, you’ll find these are the focus of periodic gate or stage reviews, and they are the chief considerations that will guide you in determining how wide or narrow the aperture of your opportunity identification lens ought to be. For example, they include your organization’s financial capacity, corporate experience and past performance, market competition, contract size and duration, compliance requirements and whether the role of sub-contractor or prime role is optimal. Each of these factors may be weighed differently given market conditions and may evolve as the firm matures.
Be mindful that as firms grow from early growth stages to mid-size and large businesses, their financial situation may change. Early growth stage firms may be more focused on building their past performance and reputation, whereas mid-size and large firms may be more focused on winning larger contracts and maximizing profit margins. The resulting market valuation of the organization will depend on a variety of factors, including revenue growth, profit margins, and the company’s overall competitive position in the marketplace. These considerations ultimately guide bid pricing strategy and should best be contemplated early in your pursuit selection.
At Synergy, we have adopted a balanced approach that takes into consideration our corporate experience, aspirations, and the inspiration of our team members.
When a federal opportunity presents itself, the first thing I do is carefully review the opportunity to determine if it aligns with our company’s capabilities and strategic goals. Next, I assess the competition to see if we have a competitive advantage or if there are potential barriers to entry. If the opportunity appears to be a good fit for our company, I assemble my team to develop a proposal that highlights our strengths and explicitly addresses the needs of the government agency or organization.
Relying on our past performance and corporate experience is a straightforward, reliable way to ensure a high probability of success. Our delivery teams have a track record of delivering high-quality work in specific areas, and it makes sense to continue pursuing similar projects. However, we also recognize that relying solely on experience can limit our growth potential and prevent us from exploring new opportunities, which is why we also seek out projects in new areas.
We also prioritize pursuits based on our corporate aspirations. By setting ambitious goals and seeking out projects that align with our long-term vision, we can push ourselves to achieve new heights. This approach does come with risks, but we believe that calculated risks are necessary for growth.
Additionally, we consider the inspiration of our team members. When our team members feel passionate about a project, they are often more motivated to work hard and deliver exceptional results. However, we ensure that pursuing such opportunities aligns with our overall strategy and business objectives.
At Synergy, we understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to pursuit selection. It’s both art and science. That’s why we strive to strike the right balance that works best for our organization. If you are someone who shares our zeal for pursuing opportunities with a balanced, thoughtful approach, we invite you to join our growth team.
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