Scott Stults
Category: Uncategorized
A couple of days ago I did some competitor research. My goal was to see a five-year timeline of SDVOSBs that were operating in our NAICS (541519, 541512, 541511, 519130, and 518210). The metrics I was looking for were total income, employees, and federal contract award amounts. From this I hoped to draw some comparison to us.
After navigating a metric shit-ton of reports, statistics databases, and spreadsheets, I was only able to come up with the table below (which is about a third of my goal.) Its based on a 2002 survey of small, minority, and women-owned businesses. In particular, the section Im including represents veteran-owned businesses. There is a section of the original table that does not account for veteran status, so a comparison could be made to show its affect on customer distribution. (By the way, they do this survey every 5 years and are doing one now. The new data wont be published for about 3 years.)
| 2002 NAICS code |
Kind of business and types of customers |
Employer respondent firms |
||||
|
Number |
Percent |
|||||
|
Total |
RSE |
Total |
SE |
|||
| 51 | INFORMATION |
|
|
|
|
|
| Types of customers, total |
4,457 |
4 |
X |
X |
||
| Federal government |
X |
X |
3.7 |
0.4 |
||
| State and local government |
X |
X |
12.3 |
1.6 |
||
| Export sales |
X |
X |
2.5 |
0.6 |
||
| Other businesses/organizations |
X |
X |
73.3 |
3.8 |
||
| Household consumers/individuals |
X |
X |
26.0 |
1.2 |
||
| All others |
X |
X |
12.6 |
1.1 |
||
| Item not reported |
X |
X |
1.4 |
1.0 |
||
| 54 | PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC, & TECHNICAL SERVICES |
|
|
|
|
|
| Types of customers, total |
79,207 |
– |
X |
X |
||
| Federal government |
X |
X |
3.8 |
0.2 |
||
| State and local government |
X |
X |
9.5 |
0.2 |
||
| Export sales |
X |
X |
1.1 |
0.1 |
||
| Other businesses/organizations |
X |
X |
59.0 |
0.7 |
||
| Household consumers/individuals |
X |
X |
39.5 |
0.5 |
||
| All others |
X |
X |
21.2 |
0.4 |
||
| Item not reported |
X |
X |
2.0 |
0.1 |
||
Table 1: Customer Types for SDVOSBs
If conclusions can be drawn from this, Id say that:
- These businesses were 3 to 4 times more successful at contracting at the state and local level
- “Other businesses” were their mainstay…
- Followed closely by individuals.
Of course, there are some other considerations that are not factored into these numbers. Id really like to know if either mentor-protégé programs or teaming arrangements affect the distribution. Also, there is an increasing trend of federal procurement through large, multiple-award “contract vehicles” which could raise the barrier for small businesses.