I won a flooring contract my profit on this is about $1,500 overall the contract itself is like $5,000 contract not in two hours you haven't not even under a set aside just total small business just keep going everything kind of falls into the place at a certain point you have to make yourself uncomfortable do your research but not too much jump in the water and just start swimming we have Leo here today to provide inspiration as well as an amazing story about a government contract win so I'm so excited to have you here today welcome to the channel I appreciate you having me it's feel crazy being on the other side cuz I watch so much of your content well I love that like what was some of your favorite content that you watched from the channel to be honest all of it cuz it was it was straight to the point it wasn't a whole lot of fluff in it I think I started with the very first one you had a whole lot show up but it's like starting government contrac and it took you into like the sam.gov regular rtion and it was like anybody can do it that was my my very first introduction to you I love that and it's true first of how did you hear about Government Contracting and then want to get a cage code through sam.gov so I have PRI military experience I've always been on the employee side of Government Contracting and working for prime contractor subcontractors and so that's how I kind of came into it but I didn't know about government in my mind you have me this Fortune 500 companies I didn't know how to acquire govern government contract I just knew how to work within them when I got into the government contract a lot of stuff started making sense you know when you're Contracting you're on a contract you have these periods where the prime lost the contract and then the sub comes in and they're offering you less and it didn't make sense to me then until I actually got to the government contract in space and seeing that okay they underbed this contract and so that's why they're offering us you know this but I want to say probably last year sometime I went to conference for my employer um because I do still work full-time and my cousin was out there in San Antonio and he started you know talking to me about government contract I said I'm going look into it I work for a government contractor and yeah I looked into it I pulled up this plane said government contractor on YouTube and you were one of the First videos you and Mr White I forgot his first name but yeah you was one of the first videos and I just I went on the tangent from there pretty much man it was all over after that do I love it like you you heard about it you went to the event with the cousin watch the videos and then you're like I'm taking action I'm getting a cage Cod yep that's me wow Leo I love that and how long did it take you to get a cage code was it hard no it wasn't hard mean your video was truly straight to the point it was straight to the point I went on sam.gov I started filling everything out I did not have a virtual address so I didn't go through that headache I want to say it took me maybe two or three weeks when I called the help desk that kind of pushed it along it was I forgot what I was waiting on or what was holding it up but I had heard anything for a couple weeks and then I went in I called them they let me know what they were missing the lady stayed on the phone with me pretty much the whole time and yeah she sent everything up right there I sent it to her right on spot she sent everything up and I want to say within the next couple of days I had my cage code wow so was a really fast process and then you got your cage code and then what did you do cuz there are some people and I understand they get their cage code they wait few years or a decade and then they died no that would me honestly that's probably like it's a blessing and a curse I'm not one of those analysis paralysis type of people like I'mma jump in the pool for get getting your feet wet I'm going to jump in and if if I take a fall I'm just going to take a fall and so initially I got on once I was able to get in S.G I kind of just took the time to kind of just see what everything looks like started learning how to like navigate it and then after that cuz I was already ready waiting for my cage code I mean pretty much I was I was watching Government Contracting all day every day anytime anytime I had time I had a plan in the background when I was driving to work uh so I just already had what I was about to do and so it's uh I hit this state where I didn't know where to start and who to start with like as far as like categories or niches I also hit a point where I felt like I had to have my business all the way built up and I'll never forget and you might not remember this but I actually I hit you up on Facebook I hit you up on Facebook and I you weren't my mentor at the time um but I asked you a question about a solicitation that I find was like I'm just going to try it I asked you and then I asked you like a question I forgot what it was but then you was like U did you look at the evaluation criteria cuz I was like look I I know I'm not one of your mentees I know I'm not part of the program but you was just so personal and you helped me in it I'm not going to lie to you like I had a lot of respect for you from that moment cuz you got some people if you not paying them nothing they don't have nothing for you and it it was wasn't like that at all and so um yeah I asked you that and you you respond you was like uh look at the evaluation criteria and then um I started paying attention to like the set of sides and then my focus directed on trying to get a certification and then you redirected me again it's like why and when I once I kind of dropped all of that and I truly just started focusing on the the evaluation criteria or the basis of award yeah I just I submitted my first proposal it was um I want to say my first proposal I think it was for janitorial services okay I want to say and I was nervous cuz I just wanted to get everything right eventually I shook that off and that was that was probably one of the best changes I could have made is just shaking off that I have to be this upstanding company I have to have this already like I was trying to get all forms the proposals the capability statements and yeah you just keep telling me like evaluation criteria and just submit right and so that's what I did and so which one did you win I won a flooring contract talk to us about the flooring contract and so I'm not going to lie to you when I first came in I did want to like look at things that was more tailored towards me I have a lot of experience with like tactical Communications being in the military it and U I'm really like good with my hands like I'm I'm a worker but I'm very solution based I'm good at trouble shooting you know so I was looking for things like that flooring and like running C that's what I was trying really trying to go into because I I was I felt like I've seen it before it's easier for me like price the numbers I kind of know what they're talking about and uh this came like a year later I'm not going to lie to you cuz I was still balancing like me trying to work and do Government Contracting and so just trying to keep up that persistence cuz at one point I was try to submit one a week I was taking a whole lot longer to build out these proposals because I'll go to work on Monday I call a subc ractor I might not look back at it or hear back from them till Friday next you know the D that is here you know and so I had to find a balance in that and the balance in my pricing and so finally it was last month my birthday month I submitted a proposal for flooring not even under atide just total small business like my service disabl veteran like I haven't even used my set asde yet and uh yeah they wanted it was the National Wildlife refu you know it's a smaller contract they just wanted the flooring the uh the VTC flooring replac the vinyl tile replac and yeah I call the contractor I ask you know how much you know it would be I ask him submit an estimate I kind of usually I go through the scope of work I take out exactly what they need just straight to the point this is what I need to get an estimate for and I sent that over they sent back the estimate I submitted it and I want to say like a week later I received a notification from IP saying my access have been granted but I hadn't heard from anybody but it made me nervous come like what is this and then like next morning I got a call from uh the contrac officer and he was like yeah you you've won this contract and our preconstruction meeting this next week yes I love this and and if you're okay with sharing what's your profit on this so my profit on this is about $1,500 which isn't make it is and you would to say it's a small contract as well I mean over all the contract itself is like $5,000 contract to have that profit on a smaller contract cuz I have some contracts that I bid on where I mean 30% it just depending on whatever the number is you know and so I tacked all 15,500 and they they they gave it to me yeah but that's amazing because how many people that are watching right now have you legally made $1,500 like that you haven't I wish not in two hours you haven't you may have to drive Uber do some type of delivery have some kind of side hustle to make 15 there are people that may not even make $1,500 a month it's a lot of money so I applaud you I appreciate I appreciate it and what has it been like working with this subcontractor honestly it's been really nice I'm not going to lie to we ran into some hiccups I thought this was going to be simple all right but of course with business with anything you have your UPS your Downs you have certain things so we ran into like a couple of isues but just being honest with the Contracting officer you know communica like I said I'm PR military so I'm used to the jargon I'm used to like working around people that's like that you know I communicate well with them I'm pretty transparent like when it comes to my work so we ran into like a couple hiccups like I called I let them know they were very understanding about it and uh as long as you came I I mean I came with a solution I'm a very solution Bas Pur I came with solution and it was just that I love that that having a solution making them aware it's when a vendor tries to hide things from the Contracting officer or doesn't make them aware of the situations until way too late so this is great this is great project management on your end absolutely and they knew I was dealing with the subcontractor as well I did not hide that or try to cover that up they knew I was dealing with subcontractors so they they were very understanding it was just it's truly just some like debris came up under the tile or it it was something small but it just put pushed the construction schedule back and they had they had a u a contract for Porta Poots and so because we had to clothed down the area they had to extend the contract for the Porta poot and so what I did was to kind of make up for that was just basically tell them like hey we'll take care of if we have to go extend past uh the construction schedule too much and it you have to renew the portter Potter rental I will pay for that what did they say oh they love that idea they love that idea they was overjoy that's okay okay thank you thank you appreciate that I I appreciate you letting us know I appreciate you having a solution and so yeah really ni and Leo have you asked them for more work I have not asked him for more work yet I'm trying to get through this first one uncaged to be very honest with you to be very honest with you I want to make sure that their floor is absolutely perfect before I go to listening anymore that's fair yeah it's a conversation for us later dat but I'm I'm definitely you know getting in and uh having those conversations and make sure that that they know me and they know that I'll take care of the issue yeah you'll definitely take care of the issue and what other work are you bidding on any and everything any and everything to be to be very honest with you and that's why I like this space um like I said I'm a I'm a Problem Solver It comes naturally I've always like naturally been being a hustler and then just coming into the the military just with my MOS and like I've always been good with my hands so I'm I'm really good at like that that troubleshooting that process of elimination of just putting things together to make sure it works like I'm good at that portion of things and so to be able to do that across a variety of fields and not having to pick a category stay in the category it's just like okay what is this oh you need some sand removed I can find somebody that can remove some sand you know so if I don't want to do that no more okay you need some show some snow show I can do that so it's it's like a playground that's why I really like this place that's such a great analogy it is cuz if you want to sell glasses you want to sell they were Department of State was looking for dog food in Guatemala you know there's so many reading glasses that they need medical products it is a playground there's so many it is and at first I didn't want to at first I was doing something that was I was more experiencing but after a while I was just like why not why not I'm so glad you shared that because that's the path a lot of people take including myself is you step into what you know which I think there's pros and cons because just because you know in our experience doesn't mean the government wants to buy it right absolutely or if they want to buy it they may not buy it from sam.gov they may buy it on a GSA schedule they may have a current contract for it so then you have to ask yourself are you going to sell one kind of thing or you gonna be like Amazon I want to be Amazon exactly you're being Amazon I'm pretty the Jeff B SS government contract that's that's why I'm at with it love with it what advice do you have for the newcomer the person where maybe this is their first time hearing about Government Contracting maybe they're still skeptical what advice do you have for them simply put and it might sound very cliche but just keep going I kept I kept hearing it I kept hearing keep going you really double down on just being persistent and it wasn't until I I did get to the point where I could I can go an evaluation criteria within like 15 minutes and then you know call subcontract when I started getting fast and looking at what exactly what they need and not getting cuz I used to get stuck on looking at all the paperwork it was intimidating and it it it was a lot you know you get caught up in the fars and all all that type of stuff and you know what they need before you get the contract and and all this stuff and it was very overwhelming at the point and I got to the point where I just got real just black and white cut and dry exactly what I need from from the evaluation criteria so that I I was able to kind of cut that time down from like 2 hours or all day event to maybe like 15 30 minutes I'm calling the subcontractor in about 45 cuz you know I've read over the scope of work cuz that's usually what I do I just get the scope of work pick from it so I can give it to the subcontractor and uh let them give me their estimates once I was able to do that and step away from oh I need a capability statement I got to find a perfect capability statement it needs to say this it needs to look like that I've got to find this template oh they say I need liability insurance I need to go price insure once I got out of all of that like everything became simple and so I just became persistent like you said I went from submitting a proposal once every couple of weeks to once every few days and eventually you submit 10 you at least get one and that's kind of what happened I just kept going I got out of my head once I got out of my head everything became easy at that point I like you gotta get out of your head absolutely and then you won and then I won everything kind of falls into place when I won the contract a lot of the stuff they was asking for I didn't know what it was I didn't know what a construction schedule was it was a lot of things that they were asking for that I I just didn't know but once I got with the subcontractor they were able to kind of fill me in on what that was I sent that to them to fill out chat GPT helped me a lot and I just ask questions whatever gets me closer to the solution I'm a get done type of person just plainly speaking and so yeah but that's how you got to be in this space because if not you would have been like no I don't I don't know what this is I'm not going to submit they're never going to give this to me it's so hard to find a sub but you're like no I'm the kind of person I get things done I have this track record Solutions oriented always have a a solution and you got it done and this is powerful advice because there's always something even if it's Staffing it could be Roofing it could be something around Pew pews there's things you may not understand but it doesn't mean you don't bid on it or you right get scared and say oh I can't do this you just keep going I think there's most definitely a fear I know for me there was a fear that I step into this they have to hold me accountable and it's the government we talk and so I step into this and I step into this the wrong way this could be my death sentence for my company I might acquire bad reputation really early I might cannot fulfill this contract even though I don't want it and so once I I I got past that fear like it's just going to be it's going to be I mean I work for a contractor company I've worked for a few and they were't Perfect by a long shot but yet they have these millions and billion doll contracts and so it's just it was just one of those things where you just have to take a leap of faith at at a point and just be willing that to to accept everything that comes with it right changing that mindset from oh my gosh I'm responsible what if something happens to oh my gosh I'm responsible is is amazing I can win any Clinic contract is is a blessing I get to help our great country and it's true like that fear and that kind of that negativity is something that it's reinforced a lot in our country it is I think there's um I started looking at things as uh I think there are problems and I think there are good problems and I think if you don't go and create good problems you'll never grow I feel like at a certain point you have to make yourself uncomfortable like let's say you own a business and maybe your your business is not bringing in the money you wanted to and that's stopping you from either going and get a brick and mortar business or that's stopping you from hiring or that's stopping you from doing this and I'm just jump into it and you're going to figure it out cuz you have to like you go get the building you're going to figure it out cuz you have to you just created your actual good problem for yourself because if you don't create it for yourself you're not going to learn how to navigate out of this situation but most of the time when it sink a swim you going to swim it not might not be a cute back scroll but you going to swim at some point if you fighting if you don't want to die you gonna swim and so that's how I look at it to be very honest I love that might not be a cute backstroke like but you're still swimming you're not you're not Dr not today not today no not today so Leo how can people get in contact with you because they're going to want to reach out they're going to want to know more so you can contact me and my email which is floors as in f l e r s like the floor delete corporations plural with an S gmail.com my social medias right now are very uh they're they're personally tailored and so until I build my own professional social media I won't be giving those out okay but you can definitely reach me by email yeah that's it well I appreciate that and I am just so grateful to have you on today I do remember our exchanges I remember your Facebook the image on there and I'm just again so proud of you because you learned you applied you adjust you didn't say oh I didn't win these contracts I'm done you adjusted you adjusted your profit you talked about you pivoted into different areas and that's what everybody needs to do and you can learn more here if you want winners wb.com winners wb.com absolutely mine's upstairs I went through it twice I went through it twice but I just want to say I appreciate you too I appreciate you having me honestly I appreciate all the content you get you actually put out really good content for nothing and that means a lot cuz you get a lot of fluff you'll get just enough in order to buy the program but not you and I'm talking about you pumping them out like every day is a K videos I was able to find something and so I truly I appreciate you I respect you thank you for just uh for even communicating with me before you even knew who I was and before I got into your classes I want to say thank you well thank you and I appreciate that compliment so sweet of you and thank you for again taking action for being here to show people it's possible when I talk about everything is possible is no BS like I firmly believe and know this I know this in my deepest being and you are a test M to it so I appreciate you absolutely everything and anything is possible all you got to do is just reach out and grab it I'm from b r Louisiana I'm a hustler hustler serial entrepreneur I mean everything I know is self-taught I don't know everything by a long shot but if if it's out there and it's a problem there is a solution you just got to find it yeah just do your research but not too much jum in the water and just start swimming I love that that is so beautiful thank you again Leo for being here pick up the book If youall haven't gotten it winners way book.com and like subscribe hit the notification button and as always everything is possible until next time thank you absolutely thank you kid