Step 10: Seek additional assistance, as needed, in federal civilian and/or DoD marketplaces. Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) are federally-funded organizations that offer free help. PTACs can be found at http://www.dla.mil/db/procurem.htm

Step 11: Familiarize yourself with budget forecasts for your targeted agencies. Each federal agency typically produces an Annual Procurement Forecast, as required by Small Business Act, which is maintained by their Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) or equivalent. You may contact each agency OSDBU for specifics. www.firstqov.gov. Use this budget to determine if they are good prospects for you.

Step 12: Explore subcontracting opportunities. Regardless of your product or service, it is important that you do not neglect a very large secondary market - subcontracting opportunities through prime contractors. Although there is no single point of entry for subcontracting opportunities in federal civilian procurement marketplace, SBA’s SUB-Net is a valuable source for obtaining information on subcontracting opportunities. Prime contractors, government, commercial, and educational entities, may post solicitations or notices here. www.sba.gov/sub-net

For DoD -The SADBU Website lists all major DoD prime contractors by state and provides a point of contact (Small Business Liaison Officer) within each firm. Investigate potential opportunities with these firms. Many of these firms also have websites that may be useful. Partnering with a prime contractor as their subcontractor can be an excellent entry platform to federal marketplace. http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/

Step 13: Investigate government programs. There are several SBA programs that may be of interest to you, such as 8(a) Business Development Mentor-Protégé Program, Small Business Innovation Research Program and Small Business Technology Transfer Research Program and Technology Resources Network. www.sba.gov

There are several DoD programs, some derived from aforementioned programs, that may also be of interest to you, such as Mentor-Protégé Program, Small Business Innovation Research Program, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions Program. Information on these and other programs is available on SADBU Website. http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/

Step 14: Market your firm to right contacts. Identify your prospective government customers, research their requirements, and familiarize yourself with procurement regulations and strategies require determination, direction, discipline and resources. There are many procuring organizations to consider, and educating yourself about their roles and missions will be no small task, but essential nonetheless.

When it is time to market your product or service, present your capabilities directly to people who buy it. Wherever possible, arrange marketing visits to agency project and program personnel. Provide catalogues and brochures to key personnel within agencies. Many Federal agencies hold small business fairs that emphasize how to do business with government and provide information regarding their program activities. Realize that, like your own, their time is valuable/limited. If match is a good one, you may be able to provide them with a cost-effective, quality solution to their requirements.

Gloria Berthold is CEO of TargetGov.tv. She teaches federal government marketing strategies through national audio conferences and in-person speaking engagements. Check www.targetgov.tv for more information.

Gloria Berthold is President of TargetGov at Marketing Outsource Associates, Inc.

www.targetgov.com; gberthold@targetgov.com; 410-579-1346

Benefits A good design must bring in profits for organization in form of recognition, better sales volume, increased market share & higher profitability. This can be attained through strong differentiation of product in marketplace.

It is important to consider key design activities before designing and marketing a new product. These activities can be categorized as those involved in actual designing and activities involved in managing designing process. The activities that occur while designing comprise of understanding market, competitors and complementary products; understanding user segment and understanding product and project undertaken. Once complete next stage involves designing concept, creating a prototype and then evaluating it for cost estimations and usability values. While product is being designed, key management activities occur at same time. These involve project generation, development, management and product organization.