August 13, 2025 • 57 mins
Have you ever wondered if there's a more stable revenue stream waiting for your blue collar business? In this eye-opening episode, Eric Knellinger, president of US Federal Contractor Registration, reveals the largely untapped world of federal government contracts and how they can transform small businesses in the trades.
Did you know that 23% of all federal contracts MUST be awarded to small businesses? That's billions of dollars in potential work for companies just like yours. Eric shares the inspiring story of how personal tragedy led him to create USFCR, and how his company has since helped countless contractors navigate the complex world of government procurement.
The conversation dives deep into practical strategies for blue collar businesses to access this market. Eric explains the registration process, how to market effectively to procurement officers, and the game-changing concept of "teaming" with other small businesses to bid on larger contracts. He addresses the common barriers holding contractors back, from lack of capital to fear of complex paperwork, and outlines clear solutions for each.
What sets this episode apart is the actionable advice for businesses at every stage. Whether you're a "Chuck in a truck" just starting out or an established contractor looking to diversify revenue streams, you'll gain insights into how federal contracts can provide stability and growth opportunities. Eric's passion for helping small businesses succeed shines through as he challenges listeners to ask themselves, "What's next?" and consider federal contracting as their answer.
For Blue Collar Business Podcast listeners, Eric offers an exclusive opportunity: mention this episode when contacting USFCR to receive a free market analysis and coaching session, a $1,200 value that could map out your path to federal contracts. Visit USFCR.com today to learn how your business can tap into the world of government contracting and take your operation to the next level.
Click the link above for a free marketing audit with insights to boost your blue collar business!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey guys, welcome to the Blue Collar Business Podcast
, where we discuss the realest,rawest, most relevant stories
and strategies behind buildingevery corner of a blue collar
business.
I'm your host, cy Kirby, and Iwant to help you in what it took
me trial and error and a wholelot of money to learn the
information that no one in thisindustry is willing to share,
whether you're under that shadetree or have your hard hat on.
(00:30):
Let's expand your toolbox, guys.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Blue Collar Business
Podcast, brought to you andsponsored by the wonderful
podcastvideoscom team sittinghere in their solo pod room
today with a gentleman that I'mvery excited to bring to you
guys has a very unique topicthat can affect every single
(00:50):
trade tradesman and woman outthere, and if you're trying to
either build a different avenueof your business or you're
listening to this and go, hey,man, I could tell my boss about
this, I've heard about this, sostay tuned for that, guys.
Uh, podcast videos been withthem.
Uh, just a little over a yearnow and we have got some big
(01:12):
things coming here heading intothe winter and fall.
So check out um blue collarbusiness podcastcom for all the
upcoming news and subscribe tothat newsletter Every episode.
Um, you may not have time tocatch every episode.
I really appreciate it if youdo, and uh, but that newsletter
will send you an email inboxbasically a rundown of the show,
(01:32):
tell you if that episode'ssomething that would match what
you're looking for, guys.
Uh, also, too, just wanted totake a quick side note and tell
everybody.
Thank you so much for thedirect messages and the emails
I've received here as of late.
It's been kind of overwhelming,it's been amazing.
The vibes have been unreal,guys, and it's the reason I'm
(01:56):
doing it Myself and Sarah's kindof four-part mini series at
this point probably isconcluding, but we really put
ourselves out there and theresponse has been awesome.
And I just wanted to take asecond and tell you, guys, how
much I appreciate the every weeksupport Catching the show,
whether you're on Spotify,whether you're on Apple Podcasts
or just listening and watchingfrom the website, totally free
(02:17):
or by itself.
I just wanted to say thank you.
So, furthermore, guys, to thetopic of the day, we're heading
off into the contractual land,but we're going to be talking
about government contracts and Idid get some really good
response.
We've had one other guest onthe show dealing with these kind
of direct parameters.
(02:38):
But this gentleman has over 30years of direct experience in
registration how to get yourname out there, how to not just
present your company.
He's already picking Saigonapart and I really appreciate it
because he's like, hey, you'veonly got this and you've only
got that.
This gentleman knows how to setyour company up as a spotlight
(02:59):
to get in front of some of theseproject managers and
procurement officers that arelooking for qualified sub and
prime contractors.
So for anymore, I have EricNellinger, president of US
Federal Contractor Registration.
Sir, thank you so much forbeing here.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Thank you so much Cy for having me Excited.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Absolutely, we're going to be walking off.
He has an incredibleentrepreneurial story.
Absolutely, we're going to bewalking off.
He has an incredibleentrepreneurial story.
He's a founder of the companythat he worked for, currently
right now and still actingserving president, and it's a
very moving story, and I'm goingto let him have the floor.
But we're also going to diveoff into the world of how this
can help you directly and maybealleviate some ups and downs of
(03:43):
the private world or thecommercial world or whatever
world you're chasing, maybe theresi world and you're trying to
maybe step off into somethingdifferent, and commercials may
be not your lane.
This is something you need totune in for.
So, furthermore, sir Eric,start us from the beginning.
(04:04):
I understand, not everybodydoesn't just jump into the
registration part of the world.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, I tell you the beginning for USFCR US Federal
Contract Registration started 15years ago and it was sort of a
tragedy how our company wasstarted.
I was working in advertisingand I got a phone call that my
(04:30):
wife was rushed to the hospitaland found out that she had a
glioblastoma brain cancer.
So I quit my job and take careof her and during the course of
that time all my friends youknow because it's a hard thing
to get over those Goliathblast-ups and all my friends and
(04:53):
family, everybody was comingtogether.
And one of my great friendsthat I fish and hunt with his
name is Stan and he was aprocurement officer at McDill
Federal or, I'm sorry, at McDillAir Force Base, and so he was
the head of Coons Creek Marinathere.
(05:14):
He was a purchaser there and hekept coming in and telling me
he said, eric, I don't know whatyou're going to do, you know
when all this stuff ends, butyou should teach people how to
work with federal government.
And I'm like what are you crazy?
You know that I mean you wantme to start a business teaching
people how to get registered towork with federal government.
(05:37):
And he said it's trulysomething that really needs to
happen.
The government doesn't have,you know, a really good, clear
roadmap on how this all getsdone.
So we were sitting in thekitchen.
We were sitting there, just twogood friends talking, and my
wife at that time was awheelchair belt and she really
(06:01):
couldn't speak.
And she walked into the kitchenand leaned up against the door
frame in the kitchen.
We're both looking at her and Igo what are you doing?
She looked at me and she goesyou can't save me, but you can
save our family.
You get to work when you startthis company because people like
(06:25):
listening to you.
You make sense.
No business and all yourentrepreneurial experience can
really help business owners allover the world like you are in
advertising and if that's not amotivational speech, okay that.
Second I looked at Stan and Isaid, okay, I'm starting the
(06:46):
business Now, literally.
I mean we were at our last leg,last dime.
You know everything that we hadand I started this on a hope
and a prayer.
But I knew that open a prayer.
(07:08):
But I knew that smallbusinesses I mean the key for
any small business owner is theyhave to understand how to make
money.
You know they're in it to makemoney, so can they work for the
federal government to make moneyOne of the things I understood
from all my experience thegovernment buys everything, from
staples to spaceships.
They buy everything.
They buy every service inbetween.
(07:29):
There's nothing that thefederal government doesn't buy.
So once I started thinkingabout that, I'm like you know,
this is really cool, becausethere's not any business in the
world that I can't help.
Now, 15 years ago, the processwas completely different and we
were a registration company only.
(07:50):
We help people just getregistered.
Well, 23% of all federalcontracts must be awarded to
small businesses.
Okay, so 23% of all federalcontracts must be presented to
small businesses.
Now there's also what we callset-asides.
So if you're a veteran, you'rea set-aside.
(08:13):
You're a disabled veteran, awoman, minority-owned business.
There's all kinds of differentset-asides, hump zone, etc.
So depending on who you are,where you are in, even what
state or what town that you'rein, you can qualify for
different types of programs withfederal government.
So through the first five yearsof us getting people registered
(08:37):
, registration was only thebeginning, you know, and I
started realizing that theregistration wasn't getting
people contracts.
It was giving them a driver'slicense to try, but the
registration itself was notgoing to get them a federal
contract.
They needed to market themselvesdirectly to the federal
(08:59):
government.
So over the last 10 years wereally honed our skills in
understanding how to market tothe federal government.
So we do all kinds of things topush our clients directly in
the path of contractors and oneof the most important things,
(09:20):
like right now, today, is tuning.
So if we use your excavationutility company as an example,
okay, let's say I've got a largeprime contractor out there that
has a $10 million contract or$100 million contract, well, 23%
(09:42):
must go to small businesses.
So if you qualify for a smallbusiness, then we can fill you
up, as long as you're registered, registered properly, and you
have all your ducks in a row, wecan go to that crime and say,
hey, we have a qualifiedsubcontractor, they love it.
They love it because I'mbringing in a vetted contractor,
(10:04):
yeah, someone that has alreadygone through all the paperwork,
already gone through all theheadaches, already gone through
all that stuff to be able towork for the federal government.
I'm handing them this on aplatter.
So those prime contractors loveit.
But let's say you got, okay, abunch of small guys together.
(10:25):
You have a landscaper, arooster, you've got an
excavation company, you've got10 friends that have different
types of businesses.
What we do is get all thosebusinesses registered to work
with the federal government andthen what happens is they can
team with each other.
And then what happens is theycan team with each other.
All of a sudden one wins acontract and then they're
(10:48):
bringing in their friends, othercontractors, to be able to help
them throughout the project sothey can actually go in and bid
on a much larger contractbecause they have a plan, they
have a subcontractor plan, soI've got all these
(11:09):
subcontractors that'll work withme.
So when you go after we bid onthat contract, there might only
be, you know, half of thecontract that you would be going
after.
You would be farming out theother half, because that's not
what you did.
But, when you take that to thegovernment, they see you have a
team of contractors.
It's a team, okay, not justyour company, but you have a
(11:33):
team.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And then they see that you have us behind you,
right?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
So all of a sudden, as a small business owner,
you're able to compete in amarket in which you weren't able
to compete before.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I really like that part.
And not only that, you're right,you're not having to.
You got my wheels spinning here.
My gears are spinning becausebeing able to team up with a
prime a lot of these guys,especially in the commercial,
you know, hey, how do you, howdo you scale and grow and get
into the commercial world,especially in our lane takes a
(12:12):
lot of equipment.
It takes a lot of things thatyou have to acquire over time.
But at the same time, if youcould take baby steps there and
these contracts, you know a lotof guys, when they're first
starting out, think thatcontracts are the devil.
You know what I mean.
And then they.
But it's what protects you guys.
It's clearly stated what needsto happen for you to get x
(12:35):
amount of dollars and if I wouldhave figured that out, as you
guys know, earlier on, itwouldn't have been as big of an
experience roller coaster.
But we're very heavy on itbecause, honestly, we're
offering clear expectations, butright up front, and that
Brian's sitting there knowingthat we already know the
(12:57):
expectations that are going tobe laid out because we've been
vetted through this registrationprogram and it's more than just
SAMgov Talk a little bit aboutthe actual registration process
for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, sam is just a little piece.
Okay, sam, it used to be thewhole piece, you know, a long
time ago, but now it's just avery, it's a formality, okay,
Like I say, it's almost likegoing out and getting your
driver's license.
It doesn't mean you can doanything and you have a car, you
can't get anywhere.
You just got the driver'slicense.
You have the license to be ableto at least try to work with
(13:35):
the federal government.
There's a lot of otherregistrations, like set-aside
registrations.
So if you're a veteran-ownedbusiness, there's a whole new
set of paperwork that we need todo to submit in order for you
to get that status.
If you're a woman-ownedbusiness, it's the same thing.
So, depending on who you are,what you are, there's different
(13:56):
paperwork that we're going tohave to do to make sure that you
get what you deserve from thefederal government.
Okay, Then they just come downthe pipe with new requirements
and there's one new requirementthat's coming out in October.
It's been around forever, butthe government hasn't, you know,
(14:17):
put their foot down and saidwe're going to go ahead and make
this.
You know something thateverybody has to have.
It's called CMMC and it's forsecurity purposes and every uh
DOD contract starting in Octoberwill have that registration as
a requirement in uh uh the bids.
(14:38):
So if somebody is looking towork with the DOD and they have
been working with them for yearsand they don't have that
registration, they're not goingto get that next contract and
that's what we as a company,nobody.
If you're in the business, youknow that it's coming up, okay,
(14:59):
but in most cases small tomedium-sized businesses can't
afford to hire somebody in theircompany for $100,000 a year.
That's going to keep them incompliance with the federal
government and keep up on allthe news and all the things that
come up.
The government changes theirprograms and systems like we
(15:20):
change our clothes every day.
There are programs and systemslike we change our clothes every
day.
So if you're not keeping up onall that stuff, all of a sudden
you fall out of compliance.
Okay, and if you fall out ofcompliance you don't get a
contract.
Now, I told you I looked up yourcompany.
Okay, your registration ends inNovember.
(15:42):
Okay, so your SAM registrationneeds to be renewed before
November.
Now, this month you've got what?
August, september, october,november.
So you've got four months, allright, before your registration
is enacted.
Well, I hate to tell you but 90days before your registration
(16:09):
expires.
Now you think you're good allthe way through November, but
you're not.
It's just like a passport.
Okay, you can't travel the lastsix months on your passport.
Okay, you can't get a federalcontract within 90 days of
expiration so even if you youassume you don't know this, you
(16:32):
have no idea.
No, no no idea and nobody does.
Everybody looks at me and says,well, my registration is good
till november.
And I said that doesn't do youany good, because we're going to
go after this contract and thegovernment wants to see that
your registration is active,because you might not even be
starting that contract untilDecember.
(16:52):
So they want to make sure thatyou are in compliance for a
longer period of time.
So that's what we do.
We keep you in a position toalways be able to win.
We don't want to give thegovernment any reason to say no
to you.
Okay, and that is just onelittle example that most
(17:15):
contractors have no idea.
And they'll call me and say webid on this thing and we didn't
win it.
And we didn't win it.
And I said well, did you get acontractor debrief?
You know why?
And when they find out they go.
We were, you know, 90 days frombeing expired or we were two
weeks from being expired, but wewere still active.
(17:37):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Doesn't matter, it's always those fine little details
.
Yeah, I mean ContractorsLicensing Board here in Arkansas
.
I know of out-of-towners thatcome in here and they get kind
of slapped around.
They're not quite used to astate-level licensing board and
all the hoops and the parametersthat they set.
(18:00):
It's fully involved and it'snot just a oh, throw everything
together.
No, it takes time to approveall these documents and make
sure you're legal and make sureyou've got to be a month ahead
on the board committee in orderto get your approval to make
sure.
And that's the only you knowminute registration, license
(18:21):
registration that I've everexperienced with.
And don't get me wrong, I, likeI was telling you earlier, I've
got my distribution licensethrough the state of Arkansas
health department as well and Ikeep active with continued
education yearly.
But nothing from a way to helpmy business with.
(18:42):
You know, it's just the thingsthat you have to have and I know
those irregularities I guesswould be the word that would
come with that licensingstructure.
But presenting your 23% ofgovernment contracts have to go
to small business, that's insane, that's kind of insane really,
and it sounds like opportunity.
(19:03):
somebody wanted to get yeah,like literally in a way to and
and come, come, get to you andgo.
Hey, I want to present myselfand say, you know, use psycon as
an example.
Say, if I came to you and Isaid, eric, I want to present
myself for more waterline,federal earth moving contractors
(19:24):
, demo contracts, whatever itmay be, maybe kind of use us as
an example about what you wouldprobably step one from there to
how long would you say thatyou're fully presentable?
And then maybe a little hey,this is what we do extra to
ensure that you get out in frontof these right people.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Okay, that's a great question, number one, on your
company.
All right, tremendous amount offederal and state contracts
available.
Okay, now, a lot of your big,large primes okay, they're the
ones that eat those contracts up, but again, they've got to
share, okay, which makes a hugeopportunity for your company,
(20:09):
all right.
So the first thing we have todo is make sure your
registration is compliant.
So we go through and we look ateverything and we say, hey, you
know, you only got one NorthAmerican industry classification
code here.
Maybe we should add this one orthis one.
Okay, maybe add it and beef upyour look to your business and
(20:32):
then make sure that yourregistration is not going to be
expired anytime soon.
Okay, so we can actively startgoing after federal contracts
for you.
Okay, we go through inducedcoaching.
We're going to sit down withyou and your wife, whoever is
involved in the business, and domaybe an hour a week.
(20:54):
Okay, we get on phone with youand we have Zoom calls and we
take you through the initialprocess on how to go about
setting your business up forsuccess with the federal
government.
So that takes about a month,okay, and it's not bad.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
No, everything's 30 days in our world.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
It ensures that number one, your registrations
are all done and done properly.
If there's anything we have toto fix, it, gives us time to fix
it all right.
And then we start going downthe path to marketing yourself
to the federal government.
And then what we do is we startmarketing yourself to the other
prime contractors.
(21:37):
We start looking for, maybe,shows to go to.
Like, there's a navy uh, youthink I'm never going to sell
anything to the Navy.
You might, you might, and thisNavy organization that we're
going to be speaking at inOctober is all about small
businesses.
So how small businesses canwork with the US Navy in gaining
(22:01):
federal contracts?
That's what it's all about.
And it's amazing.
You go to a show like that andyou start meeting the
procurement officers that aregoing to issue contracts and
they say, look, these are thethings that we're looking for,
these are the things that wewant.
(22:22):
And then, all of a sudden, youlook at us and go, wow, dude, we
are right on track.
Okay, we are on track.
Now we need to start soliciting, we need to go, start looking
and trying to find that nichethat we're going to fit into a
federal contract.
So then we actively startsearching for you, all right.
(22:44):
And if we find something all ofa sudden, I send Cy an email
and say hey, buddy, take a lookat this.
Does this look like somethingthat is in your wheelhouse?
And you say heck, yeah it is,say, all right.
Well, first of all, we need tolook at all the parameters and
make sure that you can handlethis part of that contract and
make sure that you can handlethis part of that contract.
(23:05):
And second is I'm going to lookat you and say we need to get
all your contractors that youcurrently work with now, all the
people that you team up with.
We need to bring all thosepeople in and put underneath
your umbrella.
I need to build your company upto where it looks like a small
(23:25):
business juggernaut for thefederal government.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
That we can show that Cy has maybe 10 other
contractors that he's currentlyworking with or other
contractors that we can team youup with and put it all together
and submit this as your bid.
So you're not just beingsubmitted yourself in a lot of
cases.
Some cases you are, but somecases we want to build you up
(23:54):
and show you in a differentrealm, and there's a lot of
cases where you say, man, I cando that contract, but I can't do
that one piece and I don't haveanybody that can do that piece.
All right, well, that wouldeliminate you from going after
that contract, right?
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Most generally yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
No, because I have the largest database of verified
contractors, small businessesin the world.
So now I'm going to go in thereand say, hey, who can do this
piece of this contract and hookthem up with you teaming that
teaming part that I told youabout, team you and him up.
(24:36):
And then the next thing youknow you guys are talking and
landing a federal contract andthat happens every single day,
and I'll give you an examplethat just happened.
And it was actually a company.
I didn't know if we would everbe able to help.
Okay, this paint company was apainting manufacturer that
(24:57):
manufactured paint and we knewwe could get them a contract,
but they couldn't put the label.
They didn't have the labels.
They just sold their paint inthese 50 gallon drums.
Well, the government couldn'tbuy it that way.
They had to buy it in smallerpackages.
So we worked out a deal.
(25:18):
They were going to buy them inthese five gallon buckets, like
you and I would go down and buyit at Sherwin-Williams.
Well this company had no abilityto put a label on the bucket.
Well, we actually had alabeling company.
Okay, and honestly neither oneof them had ever gotten a
(25:39):
federal contract before.
Okay, and the labeling guy wasa brand new client.
The paint guy was probably sixto eight months old in his
process and we hooked them upwhere they were able to.
The one guy supplied the labelsto the federal contract, all
the stuff that the federalgovernment wanted on there, the
(26:00):
paint for the disclosures andthe paint contract.
You know the manufacturer putthem all together and they were
able to do I think it was threeor $400,000 in paint and that
was the first contract.
So you know what happens wasthe first contract.
So you know what happens whenthe first one comes.
Second, third, all of a suddenyou have what we call past
(26:22):
performance, and pastperformance is history.
And you know when you go outand do a good job for somebody,
who are they calling.
They're calling Syback.
You bet, because they can trustyou and they realize how good
you are and that you can handlethe job.
And that's all what federalcontracting is all about.
(26:42):
In all usfcr, it's all aboutteaming.
Okay, you can't do this on yourown, or you could, but it's a
nightmare it really is, and mostof my small businesses.
They couldn't succeed to thelevel that we put them at.
(27:04):
Now they're able to go in andcompete on a level that they've
never been able to competebefore.
Which is incredible to me it is,it is.
It gets me excited.
I get so excited when my guyscall me up and say you won't
believe this man, I justhammered a, you know, a $30
million contract and I changedpeople's zip code.
(27:29):
You know, and that's cool.
You know, and that's that'scool, that is.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That is absolutely cool.
It's mind boggling and mindblowing to a guy like me because
, you know, we hear when we hearwe call it public works in our
local market and it's more justthe municipal, local level
contract Right, contract rightand these cities have a very
(27:58):
certain set of requirements, setparameters, whether it's
bonding, whether it's spec,whether whatever it may be, but
they're all different.
But that's literally the onlyeven a little bit of jargon that
gets.
Spoke about contracts at thegovernment level for a guy like
us and there may be a guy likeus and there may be a concrete
guy sitting out there, there maybe a steel guy, it may be a
(28:22):
data contractor, who knows whatit could be but to even have the
remote chance, I mean $300,000to a guy that's just barely
getting started, that's a lot ofrevenue to come out of nowhere,
exactly, and that couldjumpstart and I could only
assume what these guys don'tneed to understand.
(28:43):
They hear federal government andthey hear our local government
or state government contract andthey just feel like they're
going to get took immediately.
I mean, honestly, it's thatstigma, but what they need to
learn and lean on and I thinkthat's probably where you
struggle with the small guy andyou would know more than I would
, eric, but honestly, it's thestigma of it going.
(29:05):
Well, if I sign up for this,how are they going to?
You know, how is it going toget me?
But lean into these contractswould lean into these contracts
and I'm hoping that you know,say, we did land a contract with
you know, usfcr, that we couldturn around and go, hey, let's
walk through this contracttogether and understand what
(29:25):
you're signing, and go, hey,you're signing to this scope of
work.
If you can't do all of theseitems, speak now and we can do
something before we sign up onthe dotted line.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
That's right, and and if you're just honest with us
and we walk you through all thatstuff, it doesn't matter if you
can do it or you can't eitherway is fine because we have
options to be able to go inthere and fill that with other
contractors and you still getthat credit.
(29:59):
It's still your contract whereyou're just subbing a piece out,
or you are a subcontractor to aprime that's getting this piece
.
So if you can't handle thewhole piece, you handle what you
can handle and we'll getsomebody else to handle the
other.
The idea is working together toreach the goal.
The primes want to work withyou.
They do because they have tohit their 23%.
(30:21):
It's called their set-asidegoal.
If they don't meet it, they canlose revenue for the following
year.
So they're always trying topush these contracts out to
small businesses.
Always trying to push thesecontracts out to small
businesses.
It's imperative that you getregistered, and registered
(30:42):
properly.
Every small business has issueswhen they start.
Think about the day you startedyour company.
I think about the day I startedmine and one of the first
things that come to mind iscapital.
My God, I got to have money.
I got to start this thingsomeplace.
(31:03):
I got to buy equipment.
I mean, just think of all theequipment you had to buy.
I had to buy some computers andphones.
You had hundreds of thousandsof dollars in outlay and
equipment and things of thatnature.
But in the federal market space, if you can land that contract,
those outlays are nothing,absolutely nothing.
(31:27):
The return on investment on agovernment contract is there is
no.
I mean, the return oninvestment is stupid, you know,
for the time and effort that youput into it.
By winning it you're thrilled.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
That's the hardest part.
It seems like Absolutelythrilled.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
But I know that capital was one of my biggest
problems that I had when Iopened up and I hear that all
the time from small businesses.
You know that, hey, I justdon't have enough capital to do
all these registrations.
You know, I like getting amanufacturer that I know can
sell a lot of stuff on thefederal government level but he
(32:09):
needs to be on GSA Well, gsa todo that and to do it right, to
market it, all those thingsthey're going to make him
successful.
I got to make him successful.
I don't want to just do it andhim not be successful.
I want to do it and have himactually make money from the
federal government.
(32:29):
So that might end up costinghim a capital of, say, 10 or
$15,000, you know, for all theregistrations and all the stuff
that we have to do to geteverything prepared.
But the small business hell, hejust opened up, he doesn't have
$15,000.
So what I did is I said youknow what, we've got to come up
(32:51):
with a way to be able to helpall these companies with their
capital.
Now what we do is I've workedout a deal with my bank that I
actually finance all these smallbusinesses that come in.
So if that business doesn't haveI mean most businesses that
really want to be successfulwith the federal government
(33:13):
they've got to have capital.
So they have to have all theregistrations Okay.
They have to have a governmentformatted website and a website
for their commercial residentialbusiness, right, okay.
If you don't have a website,you know they look at you as a
non-factor.
So we have to make sure thatyou look good in all those
(33:35):
lights.
And in most cases, a lot of thebusinesses that come to us
don't have any of that.
So they're a startup landscapecompany, you know, and the guy's
got we call him Chuck in atruck.
He's got a chainsaw and he's gota pickup truck and he's got a
trailer and they're out therecutting down trees after storms
or whatever you know, doing landclearing, and he's really just
(33:58):
trying to make it work.
Well, with this program.
He doesn't have $10,000 or$15,000 to lay out.
Well, I finance him and do allhis stuff with just a little
down payment and I'm able tohelp build this credit because I
report everything to DunBradstreet.
This is so important to smallbusinesses.
(34:19):
Okay, no way can they build agood credit profile to be able
to work with anybody local,state municipalities or the
federal government withouthaving a good credit report for
their business.
Okay, and we ensure not only dothey have that but they have
all their registrations andeverything in line.
So when they do go after acontract and win, it's easy.
(34:46):
It's easy, it's not hard andit's not putting the burden on
them.
I've given them the credit thatthey deserve as a small
business today to get started.
It's a way for me to give back,just like you give back on your
podcast.
Okay, after 15 years, thenumber one thing that holds
(35:06):
small businesses back is capital.
You know, oh, I do.
I do brother, I'm far away, faraway, you know.
And then let's say you win thathundred thousand dollar or five
hundred thousand dollarcontract and you call me up and
say I won that thing.
I said all right way to go.
And you say I need this pieceof equipment to do that contract
(35:31):
.
You don't have that?
No, I don't, and we gotta haveit, no problem, we're gonna do
that contract.
You don't have that?
No, I don't, and we got to haveit, no problem.
We're going to take thatcontract to our lenders, walk in
and use that as collateral, asa government contract, and get
you the equipment you need to beable to be successful.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
My God one-stop shop sir.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
When I tell you I have fun.
Okay, I have righted 100employees.
Our company grew from three torighted 100 employees and all we
do every day is fight for thelittle guys, help the big guys
and teach everyone in between onhow to be successful.
You know, I tell everybodybusinesses are around for three
(36:17):
piece Okay, they purchase andbuy Okay.
One is profit Okay, if they'regoing to do anything, one's got
to be profit.
The next is prestige Okay.
And the other one is protection.
And companies go through thesethree phases.
The first phase if you're abrand new business, you don't
(36:38):
care about prestige, you're notprotecting anything, you just
need to make money.
So we know how to do that,that's easy.
Well, then, all of a sudden,you become a $20 million company
, $10 million company, and nowyou're trying to expand your
reach Okay, and now you're afederal contractor.
(36:58):
Now you walk into a residentialor a commercial job and you're
competing against othercontractors that aren't
registered with the federalgovernment and you show them,
say, well, Mr and Mrs Jones orABC company, we're registered to
be able to work with thefederal government.
Yeah, we are a little bit moreexpensive, but we have been
(37:21):
verified and we can work onmilitary bases.
We can do things.
You can trust us.
And I tell you what that isamazing how strong a statement
that is that allows contractors.
I've had guys call me up andsay I was 10% higher than anyone
else but because I wasregistered to work with the
federal government I got the job.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Yeah, man, I can see.
I mean vetting subcontractorsis everything yes.
And to the major prime contractholders yeah, vetted
subcontractors, because it coststhem money to go.
Vet you it costs them money.
(38:05):
You know what I mean, so you'renot just saving their time wagon
, but you're also saving themoney wagon and you're saving
the labor wagon and you'rebringing them to them and go
look, they can do the job.
And here's why that's right.
And so it really sounds like ifyou guys are sitting there and
you're wondering how to startgetting with you, Mr Eric, how
would be the best way?
(38:26):
What's your website?
What are some ways we can findmore?
Speaker 2 (38:30):
What's usfcrcom?
And I tell everybody you needto do your homework before you
branch into anything.
Okay, go on to USFCRcom.
The website's pretty intense.
Okay, it has a lot ofinformation to it.
Also, go on togovernmentcontractingtipscom.
(38:51):
Okay, it's a free website thathas tips for contracting with
the federal government.
I always tell everyone to gothere.
It's free and it's a lot ofinformation.
But they can always call us.
They go onto the website, theycan click the call or email us.
Anyway, we're more than happyto help anyone with questions
(39:15):
and guide them, uh, to wherethey need to go, but every
company is different.
Every company is on a differentjourney.
You know, and I guess that'swhat is so exciting about
working in this field is I cantake anyone from a Chuck in a
truck to a $600 million businessAmazon.
(39:39):
You know we do registrationsfor the federal government for
their own people.
You know it doesn't matter whoyou are.
If you want to work for thefederal government, you have to
be registered and registerproperly.
That's the first step, you know.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Well, I'll be.
Uh, I will be sending an emailover shortly after you're here.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
I've already got the guys working on you.
I've already got the guysworking on you.
I said, hey, let's all, let'sblow size mind.
Let's, let's show them what'sout there, and, uh, and and and,
and just open your eyes tosomething that may not be there.
You know that.
You just never had experience.
That's all you know.
(40:20):
You don't know what you don'tknow.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
I say it on the show all the time.
But the other thing that I,before we close out here, that I
also, literally you hit it nailon the head about the
procurement officers and puttingyourself, just putting yourself
out there.
Yeah, you're right, you wouldbe.
Eric calls you up and goes hey,man, you know, you just got
registered.
But the Navy over here and itmay sound like what in the hell
(40:47):
is he talking?
I ain't going to go work forthe daggum old Navy.
It's not about the Navy, it'sabout the people that are in the
room working for the Navy.
It's not about the Navy, it'sabout the people that are in the
room working for the Navy.
And once you start shaking Jamesand Joe and all these
recruitment officers and you puta name to face and you go hey,
I'm Cy Kirby with CyCon.
Yeah, we handle all, basicallyeverything civil infrastructure
(41:09):
and below underground earthwork,whatever you need.
And they go really, becauseI've been.
How far will you go?
Where are you at You're youneed?
And they go really, cause I'vebeen.
How far will you go?
I'm where you at You're inArkan, and they'll just update.
They've already got threeproblems waiting just to meet
you and shake your hand.
So I talk about on the show, Ithink just about every episode,
but truly how importantrelationships and nurturing
(41:29):
those relationships, um gettingin front of the right people.
But yeah, man, mr Eric, we have.
Most of us have no idea aboutyour world and so.
I appreciate your time jumpingon here.
And number one, I think you'vedone her very proud because the
motivation you've had is verysimilar in mind where my wife
was.
(41:49):
We were pregnant and it was doit.
It was I had to go, I had nooption of failing and she
entrusted in me fully.
And here we are today and trulyI appreciate you, sarah, and
that personal story with how thebusiness got started and just
to see what you're doing andjust your continued passion 15
(42:09):
years in, and you can tellthrough this lens that you're
passionate about helping the youknow, the psychons of the world
, the Chuck and the trucks ofthe world trying to level up
their understanding of theirgame.
Yeah, you got to have a fewducks in a row, yes, you got to
have the basic businessunderstandings out of the way.
But if you're coming in fromthat approach and you don't want
(42:29):
to go down this commercialrailroad local market that you
hear the horror stories aboutnot getting paid on and chasing
your money down, maybe startover here with mr eric and keep
this residential cash flowrocking and rolling.
But you want to take a look atsomething else.
It sounds like this is theplace to be, and then it's
really cool that you've evengone a little step further and
(42:52):
gone okay, five hundred thousandcontract.
You don't have the $150,000piece of equipment.
Well, you got a $500,000 pieceof paper worth of revenue.
Let's go over here to this guythat deals with this and it's
all about those relationshipsand knowing about.
He knows the federalgovernment's going to pay, that
lender knows the federalgovernment's going to pay, you
(43:12):
know that lender's going to payand you guys know how to get the
money.
So it's kind of a real safestop shop.
I am kind of kicking myself andgoing why have I not registered
more yet?
Speaker 2 (43:24):
It's okay, you didn't know it.
You were doing exactly what youknew to be successful and
you've been successful.
Okay, now maybe you takeanother step and say, hey, I
want to go down this rabbit holeand it's all about learning
something new.
You know, you and I have tolearn every single day.
We don't know it all, and ifyou're not in a room that you're
(43:52):
uncomfortable in, you're in thewrong room.
Okay, if you're in a room thatyou know everything, you're in
the wrong room.
You need to get into rooms andinto situations that make you
uncomfortable as a businessowner and as an entrepreneur.
If you do that, you will besuccessful.
(44:13):
If you don't, you're only goingto be trapped in the little
segment that you're in.
You know you can be safe inthat little pond and swim around
and have your white picketfence and a little house.
Okay, Is that what you want?
Is that where you really wantto be?
I mean entrepreneurs likeyourself and like me, we don't
(44:34):
want that.
Okay, we would rather doeverything we can to be able to
fight the establishment and makeour own way.
Okay, and we're going to fightthrough it and we're going to do
it, and that's what being anentrepreneur is and I give
people with that want anopportunity to get there.
(44:56):
Okay, we coach them, we trainthem and we have fun with them.
And I tell everybody come tothe boot camps.
And we have business boot campsall the time.
I got people flying in from allover the world that just want to
come in and get some businessstrategies.
You know and understand what Pthey're in profit, prestige or
(45:16):
protection.
What mode are they in?
What do they need to do to taketheir business to that next
level?
And you know what is exciting?
Because I get to go on with youand that's what you bring to
entrepreneurs every singlepodcast.
You bring other things thatthey get to think about and
(45:37):
that's why I was really excitedabout coming on with you today
and having this great friendshipand it's something that you
know.
It's not what you know, it'swho you know and uh no truer
statement in business.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Let's just go have fun every single day.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
If we do the right thing every day, we never have
to worry about our job or ourpay.
You know we're honest in ourapproach and do that right thing
, You're going to be successfuland just bringing those
opportunities like you bringevery day we try to do the same
thing, the challenge you havelaid before us, sir, is.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
I really appreciate the challenge you just laid out.
For everybody in the audiencelistening today, it sounds like
if you could be a brand newstartup in three to six months,
you could be in the one to threeyear realm figuring out okay,
winter's coming, what's mystrategy to grow through winter
and maybe you take the timethrough winter and navigate and
(46:37):
get and get registered.
But no, Mr Eric, I appreciatethe kind words for sure, and
that is the whole design of thepodcast is I'm sitting here
learning with this audience?
You know I don't know half ofthe crap that we start talking
about on the show.
But if I'm going to sit here andlisten and take an hour or two
of our time, let's, let'sbroadcast this and let's have
(46:59):
others learn along the way, andhopefully they.
You know I can't wait, it'salready happened but I can't
wait for the two or three yearsdown the road with this show and
go, man, you affected mebecause of this one episode
about how Mr Eric said and it'sjust crazy the entire perception
that we just haven't perceivedyet.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
Well, I have something that I want to put out
there to everyone.
Okay, anybody who's listening,don't listen to these podcasts
and not do anything.
Okay, ask yourself every singletime, every single day what's
next?
What can I do?
(47:41):
What is the next step that Ineed to take?
I mean, get out a pad of paper.
If you're an entrepreneur, getout a pad of paper and sit down
and write out what you're doingwell, what you're not doing well
and what's next.
You better have something ofwhat's next.
What is next?
Is next buying a new truck?
(48:02):
Is next going out and trying tohire more people?
What is next for you?
And I get excited when theycall me and go well, what's next
?
And it's fun to walk throughthat and find out that answer.
So I ask all your people what'snext for you?
Speaker 1 (48:21):
guys out there, Eric, I think what's next for you is
you need your own podcast, sir.
I think we need this vibrance,this go-getter attitude once a
week, talking about, you know,maybe diving a little bit more
into detail about governmentcontracts weekly, and maybe all
these things that you know, wedon't know, that are changing
(48:43):
and you want to bring awarenessto, to guys like me.
You know we're we're lookingfor podcasts always.
So, uh, it sounds like Mr Ericneeds to have a podcast.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
I'm learning from the very best.
I don't know, I tell youeverything.
I started watching all yourpodcasts and I'm like what an
awesome platform and an honestplatform.
One thing I can say is you justlay it out there and I love
(49:13):
that.
You just say it the way it isand whether they like it or they
don't like it, it's the truth,you know.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Man.
I couldn't.
When I started on thismarketing campaign, brother, I
couldn't try and be somethingthat I'm not, and you know what
A lot of times I kind of kickmyself, you know, and I'm like
man, you've got to put on abetter smile, you have got to.
You know, live a little bit.
A lot of times, 15 minutesbefore here, I'm either getting
yelled at on the phone or itcould be a.
It could be a greatconversation when, whatever it
(49:44):
could be, you know, um, butsometimes you know, running a
business, being a family man,it's, it's.
And then trying to keep up withwith all of this, and and it's,
it's so easy to just throw aface on and but no, I have tried
to be very.
A lot of folks would tell me I'mtransparent to a fault, but you
know at the same time um,honesty has usually been the
(50:07):
best policy to get to get whereI'm at, and if I'm honest and
open, I know if I can do this.
I know there's probablythousands of folks that are
listening and going man, I wishI could do that, but I'm so glad
he is and they are trying to gofind the resource, like I was a
couple of years ago.
If we don't have a resourcelike this show, we're in big
(50:28):
trouble in five to 10 years fromnow with our, with my
generation and below, like we,if we don't get in front of them
on YouTube or TikTok or podcastor social media in general.
We've got to go speak theirlanguage Everybody's like.
Well, I just can't keep nobody.
These new guys, these newgenerations well, maybe it's not
how you're talking, maybe it'show they listen and maybe we
(50:51):
need to change it up a littlebit.
If you want to go get the rightpeople, you got to get in front
of the right people.
Blue Collar PerformanceMarketing's passion is to bring
attention to the honest workdone in blue collar industries
through effective,results-driven marketing tactics
.
They specialize incomprehensive digital marketing
services, from paid advertisingon Google and Facebook to
website development and contentstrategy.
(51:13):
I started working with Ike andthe team earlier this year and
they've had a huge impact on ourspecific marketing campaign and
trajectory of our overallcompany.
Their expertise in digital admanagement, website development,
social media and overallmarketing strategy has been an
absolute game changer for oursales and marketing at Sycon.
To work with a marketing teamwho does what they say, does it
(51:40):
well and is always looking forways to help your company grow.
Book a discovery call with Ikeby going to
bcperformancemarketingcombackslash bcbpodcast, or click
the link in the show notes slashdescription below.
Thanks, guys.
Anyways, the one big takeawaythat I, if you've been watching
the show, I ask everybody andyou've kind of already has set
us some challenges out there.
But I ask everybody that comeson the show, what's the takeaway
(52:03):
for that blue collar worker whois sick and tired of being
stuck in the mud, and it may bethat guy physically sitting
there stuck in a water ditch andit's 112 degrees, but it also
could be that emotionally andthat metal guy that needs a
check.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
You know again what's next?
Yeah, what's next in my life,what's next in his life and
their life?
You know, do you want to make achange?
You know, I ask all myentrepreneurs.
I said look, man, you want tobe right where you are.
If you want to be right whereyou are, then continue to do the
same thing.
(52:38):
But if you're sick and tired ofbeing sick and tired and you
want some opportunity and youwant a better life for yourself
and your family, do something.
Pick up the phone, call us, askus to do some research for you.
You know, just damn it, dosomething.
(53:00):
Do something.
It's what's next.
You know, and that's.
I ask every single one of myentrepreneurs when they walk in
the door and they go through ourboot camps.
I say what's next for you?
So my takeaway to all yourpeople is to ask what's next for
them and if you're sick andtired of being sick and tired,
pick up the phone, give us acall, do something that's going
(53:23):
to change their life forever.
And federal contracting issomething that I can tell you.
I've seen it change lives everysingle day, because the
government checks don't bounceand the government is getting.
Regardless of what party you'reon or anything else you know,
they're always spending money.
(53:44):
They always buy everything fromstaples to spaceships every
single day, and if you'reanywhere in between, guess what?
There's a job out there waitingfor you and all you have to do
is go get it.
It will help you do it.
Speaker 1 (54:00):
Well, one more time on your website, brother.
Speaker 2 (54:03):
USFCRcom the best way to get ahold of us.
Speaker 1 (54:08):
It sounds like the place to be and I'm excited to
start getting our profile built.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
I'm working on it, buddy.
You just wait, I'll give youabout a week and you're, you're
gonna go.
What the hell's all this?
Speaker 1 (54:22):
no, it's exciting I am truly it is exciting.
It's exciting for me to sithere and go.
I just learned of a wholenother business market uh,
that's not, you know, maybeoutside of my local and it kind
of, yeah, pinged me a little bit.
But I truly hope that you see afew.
Let them know if you're comingfrom the show, let them know.
You heard them here, heard ithere first and truly hope that's
(54:46):
the start of something new.
It sounds like they're there tohelp you.
I can't wait to be the firstguest on Mr Eric's first podcast
show after going through thewhole product of it.
But I got a feeling, mr Eric,that's my challenge to you.
People need to hear yourvibrancy and to spread this word
.
And yeah, it may get a littleredundant about government
(55:08):
contracts, but it's for that guythat tunes in for the first
time every single time and itchanges his life.
And so I appreciate you andwhat you've built and how you've
gone about it, sir, and I cantell you care I actively care
about the customers.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
Yeah, my people care and if anybody calls up and they
say they heard this on thisshow, okay, I will give them a
free market research, which isactually so vital because it is
an absolute roadmap for them tofollow.
We sell that in our services,for I think it was $1,200.
(55:48):
Okay, I'll give it to them forfree and all it is is a free
roadmap to where they can go inthe federal marketplace, state,
local.
It really breaks down theirbusiness and everyone should
have one because it's a roadmap.
So you have that.
They call in.
You just tell them that youknow we heard it on the show and
(56:11):
I'll make sure that they gettheir market analysis and a free
coaching and get these guysmoving in the right direction
man.
Speaker 1 (56:22):
what an exclusive way to end the show here.
Guys, you heard it here first.
I wanted to give you guyssomething.
Speaker 2 (56:27):
I wanted to give you something so they have no dang
excuse about what's next.
Okay, pick up the blasted phonecall and get started.
That's right, get started,don't sit on your butt.
Get out and start.
Whatever you do, let's do moreof it, okay, yeah, spread the
(56:48):
wealth, spread the knowledge.
Thank you so much, cy, for allthat you do for all of the blue
collar businesses out there, andI'm just excited to be on your
show.
Speaker 1 (56:58):
Thank you so so much.
Thank you, brother.
Thank you so much for spreadingthe knowledge and the wealth
and the awareness for everybodyhere on the show and man.
I learned a lot today too, andlook forward to the future.
Till then, we'll see you, guys,next time you got it.
Have a great day.
If you've enjoyed this episode,be sure to give it a like,
(57:19):
share it with the fellers.
Check out our website to sendus any questions and comments
about your experience in theblue collar business.
Who do you want to hear from?
Send them our way and we'll doour best to answer any questions
you may have.
Till next time, guys.
Hey guys, welcome to the Blue Collar Business Podcast
, where we discuss the realest,rawest, most relevant stories
and strategies behind buildingevery corner of a blue collar
business.
I'm your host, cy Kirby, and Iwant to help you in what it took
me trial and error and a wholelot of money to learn the
information that no one in thisindustry is willing to share,
whether you're under that shadetree or have your hard hat on.
(00:30):
Let's expand your toolbox, guys.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Blue Collar Business
Podcast, brought to you andsponsored by the wonderful
podcastvideoscom team sittinghere in their solo pod room
today with a gentleman that I'mvery excited to bring to you
guys has a very unique topicthat can affect every single
(00:50):
trade tradesman and woman outthere, and if you're trying to
either build a different avenueof your business or you're
listening to this and go, hey,man, I could tell my boss about
this, I've heard about this, sostay tuned for that, guys.
Uh, podcast videos been withthem.
Uh, just a little over a yearnow and we have got some big
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So check out um blue collarbusiness podcastcom for all the
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Uh, also, too, just wanted totake a quick side note and tell
everybody.
Thank you so much for thedirect messages and the emails
I've received here as of late.
It's been kind of overwhelming,it's been amazing.
The vibes have been unreal,guys, and it's the reason I'm
(01:56):
doing it Myself and Sarah's kindof four-part mini series at
this point probably isconcluding, but we really put
ourselves out there and theresponse has been awesome.
And I just wanted to take asecond and tell you, guys, how
much I appreciate the every weeksupport Catching the show,
whether you're on Spotify,whether you're on Apple Podcasts
or just listening and watchingfrom the website, totally free
(02:17):
or by itself.
I just wanted to say thank you.
So, furthermore, guys, to thetopic of the day, we're heading
off into the contractual land,but we're going to be talking
about government contracts and Idid get some really good
response.
We've had one other guest onthe show dealing with these kind
of direct parameters.
(02:38):
But this gentleman has over 30years of direct experience in
registration how to get yourname out there, how to not just
present your company.
He's already picking Saigonapart and I really appreciate it
because he's like, hey, you'veonly got this and you've only
got that.
This gentleman knows how to setyour company up as a spotlight
(02:59):
to get in front of some of theseproject managers and
procurement officers that arelooking for qualified sub and
prime contractors.
So for anymore, I have EricNellinger, president of US
Federal Contractor Registration.
Sir, thank you so much forbeing here.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Thank you so much Cy for having me Excited.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Absolutely, we're going to be walking off.
He has an incredibleentrepreneurial story.
Absolutely, we're going to bewalking off.
He has an incredibleentrepreneurial story.
He's a founder of the companythat he worked for, currently
right now and still actingserving president, and it's a
very moving story, and I'm goingto let him have the floor.
But we're also going to diveoff into the world of how this
can help you directly and maybealleviate some ups and downs of
(03:43):
the private world or thecommercial world or whatever
world you're chasing, maybe theresi world and you're trying to
maybe step off into somethingdifferent, and commercials may
be not your lane.
This is something you need totune in for.
So, furthermore, sir Eric,start us from the beginning.
(04:04):
I understand, not everybodydoesn't just jump into the
registration part of the world.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Well, I tell you the beginning for USFCR US Federal
Contract Registration started 15years ago and it was sort of a
tragedy how our company wasstarted.
I was working in advertisingand I got a phone call that my
(04:30):
wife was rushed to the hospitaland found out that she had a
glioblastoma brain cancer.
So I quit my job and take careof her and during the course of
that time all my friends youknow because it's a hard thing
to get over those Goliathblast-ups and all my friends and
(04:53):
family, everybody was comingtogether.
And one of my great friendsthat I fish and hunt with his
name is Stan and he was aprocurement officer at McDill
Federal or, I'm sorry, at McDillAir Force Base, and so he was
the head of Coons Creek Marinathere.
(05:14):
He was a purchaser there and hekept coming in and telling me
he said, eric, I don't know whatyou're going to do, you know
when all this stuff ends, butyou should teach people how to
work with federal government.
And I'm like what are you crazy?
You know that I mean you wantme to start a business teaching
people how to get registered towork with federal government.
(05:37):
And he said it's trulysomething that really needs to
happen.
The government doesn't have,you know, a really good, clear
roadmap on how this all getsdone.
So we were sitting in thekitchen.
We were sitting there, just twogood friends talking, and my
wife at that time was awheelchair belt and she really
(06:01):
couldn't speak.
And she walked into the kitchenand leaned up against the door
frame in the kitchen.
We're both looking at her and Igo what are you doing?
She looked at me and she goesyou can't save me, but you can
save our family.
You get to work when you startthis company because people like
(06:25):
listening to you.
You make sense.
No business and all yourentrepreneurial experience can
really help business owners allover the world like you are in
advertising and if that's not amotivational speech, okay that.
Second I looked at Stan and Isaid, okay, I'm starting the
(06:46):
business Now, literally.
I mean we were at our last leg,last dime.
You know everything that we hadand I started this on a hope
and a prayer.
But I knew that open a prayer.
(07:08):
But I knew that smallbusinesses I mean the key for
any small business owner is theyhave to understand how to make
money.
You know they're in it to makemoney, so can they work for the
federal government to make moneyOne of the things I understood
from all my experience thegovernment buys everything, from
staples to spaceships.
They buy everything.
They buy every service inbetween.
(07:29):
There's nothing that thefederal government doesn't buy.
So once I started thinkingabout that, I'm like you know,
this is really cool, becausethere's not any business in the
world that I can't help.
Now, 15 years ago, the processwas completely different and we
were a registration company only.
(07:50):
We help people just getregistered.
Well, 23% of all federalcontracts must be awarded to
small businesses.
Okay, so 23% of all federalcontracts must be presented to
small businesses.
Now there's also what we callset-asides.
So if you're a veteran, you'rea set-aside.
(08:13):
You're a disabled veteran, awoman, minority-owned business.
There's all kinds of differentset-asides, hump zone, etc.
So depending on who you are,where you are in, even what
state or what town that you'rein, you can qualify for
different types of programs withfederal government.
So through the first five yearsof us getting people registered
(08:37):
, registration was only thebeginning, you know, and I
started realizing that theregistration wasn't getting
people contracts.
It was giving them a driver'slicense to try, but the
registration itself was notgoing to get them a federal
contract.
They needed to market themselvesdirectly to the federal
(08:59):
government.
So over the last 10 years wereally honed our skills in
understanding how to market tothe federal government.
So we do all kinds of things topush our clients directly in
the path of contractors and oneof the most important things,
(09:20):
like right now, today, is tuning.
So if we use your excavationutility company as an example,
okay, let's say I've got a largeprime contractor out there that
has a $10 million contract or$100 million contract, well, 23%
(09:42):
must go to small businesses.
So if you qualify for a smallbusiness, then we can fill you
up, as long as you're registered, registered properly, and you
have all your ducks in a row, wecan go to that crime and say,
hey, we have a qualifiedsubcontractor, they love it.
They love it because I'mbringing in a vetted contractor,
(10:04):
yeah, someone that has alreadygone through all the paperwork,
already gone through all theheadaches, already gone through
all that stuff to be able towork for the federal government.
I'm handing them this on aplatter.
So those prime contractors loveit.
But let's say you got, okay, abunch of small guys together.
(10:25):
You have a landscaper, arooster, you've got an
excavation company, you've got10 friends that have different
types of businesses.
What we do is get all thosebusinesses registered to work
with the federal government andthen what happens is they can
team with each other.
And then what happens is theycan team with each other.
All of a sudden one wins acontract and then they're
(10:48):
bringing in their friends, othercontractors, to be able to help
them throughout the project sothey can actually go in and bid
on a much larger contractbecause they have a plan, they
have a subcontractor plan, soI've got all these
(11:09):
subcontractors that'll work withme.
So when you go after we bid onthat contract, there might only
be, you know, half of thecontract that you would be going
after.
You would be farming out theother half, because that's not
what you did.
But, when you take that to thegovernment, they see you have a
team of contractors.
It's a team, okay, not justyour company, but you have a
(11:33):
team.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And then they see that you have us behind you,
right?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
So all of a sudden, as a small business owner,
you're able to compete in amarket in which you weren't able
to compete before.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I really like that part.
And not only that, you're right,you're not having to.
You got my wheels spinning here.
My gears are spinning becausebeing able to team up with a
prime a lot of these guys,especially in the commercial,
you know, hey, how do you, howdo you scale and grow and get
into the commercial world,especially in our lane takes a
(12:12):
lot of equipment.
It takes a lot of things thatyou have to acquire over time.
But at the same time, if youcould take baby steps there and
these contracts, you know a lotof guys, when they're first
starting out, think thatcontracts are the devil.
You know what I mean.
And then they.
But it's what protects you guys.
It's clearly stated what needsto happen for you to get x
(12:35):
amount of dollars and if I wouldhave figured that out, as you
guys know, earlier on, itwouldn't have been as big of an
experience roller coaster.
But we're very heavy on itbecause, honestly, we're
offering clear expectations, butright up front, and that
Brian's sitting there knowingthat we already know the
(12:57):
expectations that are going tobe laid out because we've been
vetted through this registrationprogram and it's more than just
SAMgov Talk a little bit aboutthe actual registration process
for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, sam is just a little piece.
Okay, sam, it used to be thewhole piece, you know, a long
time ago, but now it's just avery, it's a formality, okay,
Like I say, it's almost likegoing out and getting your
driver's license.
It doesn't mean you can doanything and you have a car, you
can't get anywhere.
You just got the driver'slicense.
You have the license to be ableto at least try to work with
(13:35):
the federal government.
There's a lot of otherregistrations, like set-aside
registrations.
So if you're a veteran-ownedbusiness, there's a whole new
set of paperwork that we need todo to submit in order for you
to get that status.
If you're a woman-ownedbusiness, it's the same thing.
So, depending on who you are,what you are, there's different
(13:56):
paperwork that we're going tohave to do to make sure that you
get what you deserve from thefederal government.
Okay, Then they just come downthe pipe with new requirements
and there's one new requirementthat's coming out in October.
It's been around forever, butthe government hasn't, you know,
(14:17):
put their foot down and saidwe're going to go ahead and make
this.
You know something thateverybody has to have.
It's called CMMC and it's forsecurity purposes and every uh
DOD contract starting in Octoberwill have that registration as
a requirement in uh uh the bids.
(14:38):
So if somebody is looking towork with the DOD and they have
been working with them for yearsand they don't have that
registration, they're not goingto get that next contract and
that's what we as a company,nobody.
If you're in the business, youknow that it's coming up, okay,
(14:59):
but in most cases small tomedium-sized businesses can't
afford to hire somebody in theircompany for $100,000 a year.
That's going to keep them incompliance with the federal
government and keep up on allthe news and all the things that
come up.
The government changes theirprograms and systems like we
(15:20):
change our clothes every day.
There are programs and systemslike we change our clothes every
day.
So if you're not keeping up onall that stuff, all of a sudden
you fall out of compliance.
Okay, and if you fall out ofcompliance you don't get a
contract.
Now, I told you I looked up yourcompany.
Okay, your registration ends inNovember.
(15:42):
Okay, so your SAM registrationneeds to be renewed before
November.
Now, this month you've got what?
August, september, october,november.
So you've got four months, allright, before your registration
is enacted.
Well, I hate to tell you but 90days before your registration
(16:09):
expires.
Now you think you're good allthe way through November, but
you're not.
It's just like a passport.
Okay, you can't travel the lastsix months on your passport.
Okay, you can't get a federalcontract within 90 days of
expiration so even if you youassume you don't know this, you
(16:32):
have no idea.
No, no no idea and nobody does.
Everybody looks at me and says,well, my registration is good
till november.
And I said that doesn't do youany good, because we're going to
go after this contract and thegovernment wants to see that
your registration is active,because you might not even be
starting that contract untilDecember.
(16:52):
So they want to make sure thatyou are in compliance for a
longer period of time.
So that's what we do.
We keep you in a position toalways be able to win.
We don't want to give thegovernment any reason to say no
to you.
Okay, and that is just onelittle example that most
(17:15):
contractors have no idea.
And they'll call me and say webid on this thing and we didn't
win it.
And we didn't win it.
And I said well, did you get acontractor debrief?
You know why?
And when they find out they go.
We were, you know, 90 days frombeing expired or we were two
weeks from being expired, but wewere still active.
(17:37):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Doesn't matter, it's always those fine little details
.
Yeah, I mean ContractorsLicensing Board here in Arkansas
.
I know of out-of-towners thatcome in here and they get kind
of slapped around.
They're not quite used to astate-level licensing board and
all the hoops and the parametersthat they set.
(18:00):
It's fully involved and it'snot just a oh, throw everything
together.
No, it takes time to approveall these documents and make
sure you're legal and make sureyou've got to be a month ahead
on the board committee in orderto get your approval to make
sure.
And that's the only you knowminute registration, license
(18:21):
registration that I've everexperienced with.
And don't get me wrong, I, likeI was telling you earlier, I've
got my distribution licensethrough the state of Arkansas
health department as well and Ikeep active with continued
education yearly.
But nothing from a way to helpmy business with.
(18:42):
You know, it's just the thingsthat you have to have and I know
those irregularities I guesswould be the word that would
come with that licensingstructure.
But presenting your 23% ofgovernment contracts have to go
to small business, that's insane, that's kind of insane really,
and it sounds like opportunity.
(19:03):
somebody wanted to get yeah,like literally in a way to and
and come, come, get to you andgo.
Hey, I want to present myselfand say, you know, use psycon as
an example.
Say, if I came to you and Isaid, eric, I want to present
myself for more waterline,federal earth moving contractors
(19:24):
, demo contracts, whatever itmay be, maybe kind of use us as
an example about what you wouldprobably step one from there to
how long would you say thatyou're fully presentable?
And then maybe a little hey,this is what we do extra to
ensure that you get out in frontof these right people.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Okay, that's a great question, number one, on your
company.
All right, tremendous amount offederal and state contracts
available.
Okay, now, a lot of your big,large primes okay, they're the
ones that eat those contracts up, but again, they've got to
share, okay, which makes a hugeopportunity for your company,
(20:09):
all right.
So the first thing we have todo is make sure your
registration is compliant.
So we go through and we look ateverything and we say, hey, you
know, you only got one NorthAmerican industry classification
code here.
Maybe we should add this one orthis one.
Okay, maybe add it and beef upyour look to your business and
(20:32):
then make sure that yourregistration is not going to be
expired anytime soon.
Okay, so we can actively startgoing after federal contracts
for you.
Okay, we go through inducedcoaching.
We're going to sit down withyou and your wife, whoever is
involved in the business, and domaybe an hour a week.
(20:54):
Okay, we get on phone with youand we have Zoom calls and we
take you through the initialprocess on how to go about
setting your business up forsuccess with the federal
government.
So that takes about a month,okay, and it's not bad.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
No, everything's 30 days in our world.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
It ensures that number one, your registrations
are all done and done properly.
If there's anything we have toto fix, it, gives us time to fix
it all right.
And then we start going downthe path to marketing yourself
to the federal government.
And then what we do is we startmarketing yourself to the other
prime contractors.
(21:37):
We start looking for, maybe,shows to go to.
Like, there's a navy uh, youthink I'm never going to sell
anything to the Navy.
You might, you might, and thisNavy organization that we're
going to be speaking at inOctober is all about small
businesses.
So how small businesses canwork with the US Navy in gaining
(22:01):
federal contracts?
That's what it's all about.
And it's amazing.
You go to a show like that andyou start meeting the
procurement officers that aregoing to issue contracts and
they say, look, these are thethings that we're looking for,
these are the things that wewant.
(22:22):
And then, all of a sudden, youlook at us and go, wow, dude, we
are right on track.
Okay, we are on track.
Now we need to start soliciting, we need to go, start looking
and trying to find that nichethat we're going to fit into a
federal contract.
So then we actively startsearching for you, all right.
(22:44):
And if we find something all ofa sudden, I send Cy an email
and say hey, buddy, take a lookat this.
Does this look like somethingthat is in your wheelhouse?
And you say heck, yeah it is,say, all right.
Well, first of all, we need tolook at all the parameters and
make sure that you can handlethis part of that contract and
make sure that you can handlethis part of that contract.
(23:05):
And second is I'm going to lookat you and say we need to get
all your contractors that youcurrently work with now, all the
people that you team up with.
We need to bring all thosepeople in and put underneath
your umbrella.
I need to build your company upto where it looks like a small
(23:25):
business juggernaut for thefederal government.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
That we can show that Cy has maybe 10 other
contractors that he's currentlyworking with or other
contractors that we can team youup with and put it all together
and submit this as your bid.
So you're not just beingsubmitted yourself in a lot of
cases.
Some cases you are, but somecases we want to build you up
(23:54):
and show you in a differentrealm, and there's a lot of
cases where you say, man, I cando that contract, but I can't do
that one piece and I don't haveanybody that can do that piece.
All right, well, that wouldeliminate you from going after
that contract, right?
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Most generally yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
No, because I have the largest database of verified
contractors, small businessesin the world.
So now I'm going to go in thereand say, hey, who can do this
piece of this contract and hookthem up with you teaming that
teaming part that I told youabout, team you and him up.
(24:36):
And then the next thing youknow you guys are talking and
landing a federal contract andthat happens every single day,
and I'll give you an examplethat just happened.
And it was actually a company.
I didn't know if we would everbe able to help.
Okay, this paint company was apainting manufacturer that
(24:57):
manufactured paint and we knewwe could get them a contract,
but they couldn't put the label.
They didn't have the labels.
They just sold their paint inthese 50 gallon drums.
Well, the government couldn'tbuy it that way.
They had to buy it in smallerpackages.
So we worked out a deal.
(25:18):
They were going to buy them inthese five gallon buckets, like
you and I would go down and buyit at Sherwin-Williams.
Well this company had no abilityto put a label on the bucket.
Well, we actually had alabeling company.
Okay, and honestly neither oneof them had ever gotten a
(25:39):
federal contract before.
Okay, and the labeling guy wasa brand new client.
The paint guy was probably sixto eight months old in his
process and we hooked them upwhere they were able to.
The one guy supplied the labelsto the federal contract, all
the stuff that the federalgovernment wanted on there, the
(26:00):
paint for the disclosures andthe paint contract.
You know the manufacturer putthem all together and they were
able to do I think it was threeor $400,000 in paint and that
was the first contract.
So you know what happens wasthe first contract.
So you know what happens whenthe first one comes.
Second, third, all of a suddenyou have what we call past
(26:22):
performance, and pastperformance is history.
And you know when you go outand do a good job for somebody,
who are they calling.
They're calling Syback.
You bet, because they can trustyou and they realize how good
you are and that you can handlethe job.
And that's all what federalcontracting is all about.
(26:42):
In all usfcr, it's all aboutteaming.
Okay, you can't do this on yourown, or you could, but it's a
nightmare it really is, and mostof my small businesses.
They couldn't succeed to thelevel that we put them at.
(27:04):
Now they're able to go in andcompete on a level that they've
never been able to competebefore.
Which is incredible to me it is,it is.
It gets me excited.
I get so excited when my guyscall me up and say you won't
believe this man, I justhammered a, you know, a $30
million contract and I changedpeople's zip code.
(27:29):
You know, and that's cool.
You know, and that's that'scool, that is.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
That is absolutely cool.
It's mind boggling and mindblowing to a guy like me because
, you know, we hear when we hearwe call it public works in our
local market and it's more justthe municipal, local level
contract Right, contract rightand these cities have a very
(27:58):
certain set of requirements, setparameters, whether it's
bonding, whether it's spec,whether whatever it may be, but
they're all different.
But that's literally the onlyeven a little bit of jargon that
gets.
Spoke about contracts at thegovernment level for a guy like
us and there may be a guy likeus and there may be a concrete
guy sitting out there, there maybe a steel guy, it may be a
(28:22):
data contractor, who knows whatit could be but to even have the
remote chance, I mean $300,000to a guy that's just barely
getting started, that's a lot ofrevenue to come out of nowhere,
exactly, and that couldjumpstart and I could only
assume what these guys don'tneed to understand.
(28:43):
They hear federal government andthey hear our local government
or state government contract andthey just feel like they're
going to get took immediately.
I mean, honestly, it's thatstigma, but what they need to
learn and lean on and I thinkthat's probably where you
struggle with the small guy andyou would know more than I would
, eric, but honestly, it's thestigma of it going.
(29:05):
Well, if I sign up for this,how are they going to?
You know, how is it going toget me?
But lean into these contractswould lean into these contracts
and I'm hoping that you know,say, we did land a contract with
you know, usfcr, that we couldturn around and go, hey, let's
walk through this contracttogether and understand what
(29:25):
you're signing, and go, hey,you're signing to this scope of
work.
If you can't do all of theseitems, speak now and we can do
something before we sign up onthe dotted line.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
That's right, and and if you're just honest with us
and we walk you through all thatstuff, it doesn't matter if you
can do it or you can't eitherway is fine because we have
options to be able to go inthere and fill that with other
contractors and you still getthat credit.
(29:59):
It's still your contract whereyou're just subbing a piece out,
or you are a subcontractor to aprime that's getting this piece
.
So if you can't handle thewhole piece, you handle what you
can handle and we'll getsomebody else to handle the
other.
The idea is working together toreach the goal.
The primes want to work withyou.
They do because they have tohit their 23%.
(30:21):
It's called their set-asidegoal.
If they don't meet it, they canlose revenue for the following
year.
So they're always trying topush these contracts out to
small businesses.
Always trying to push thesecontracts out to small
businesses.
It's imperative that you getregistered, and registered
(30:42):
properly.
Every small business has issueswhen they start.
Think about the day you startedyour company.
I think about the day I startedmine and one of the first
things that come to mind iscapital.
My God, I got to have money.
I got to start this thingsomeplace.
(31:03):
I got to buy equipment.
I mean, just think of all theequipment you had to buy.
I had to buy some computers andphones.
You had hundreds of thousandsof dollars in outlay and
equipment and things of thatnature.
But in the federal market space, if you can land that contract,
those outlays are nothing,absolutely nothing.
(31:27):
The return on investment on agovernment contract is there is
no.
I mean, the return oninvestment is stupid, you know,
for the time and effort that youput into it.
By winning it you're thrilled.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
That's the hardest part.
It seems like Absolutelythrilled.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
But I know that capital was one of my biggest
problems that I had when Iopened up and I hear that all
the time from small businesses.
You know that, hey, I justdon't have enough capital to do
all these registrations.
You know, I like getting amanufacturer that I know can
sell a lot of stuff on thefederal government level but he
(32:09):
needs to be on GSA Well, gsa todo that and to do it right, to
market it, all those thingsthey're going to make him
successful.
I got to make him successful.
I don't want to just do it andhim not be successful.
I want to do it and have himactually make money from the
federal government.
(32:29):
So that might end up costinghim a capital of, say, 10 or
$15,000, you know, for all theregistrations and all the stuff
that we have to do to geteverything prepared.
But the small business hell, hejust opened up, he doesn't have
$15,000.
So what I did is I said youknow what, we've got to come up
(32:51):
with a way to be able to helpall these companies with their
capital.
Now what we do is I've workedout a deal with my bank that I
actually finance all these smallbusinesses that come in.
So if that business doesn't haveI mean most businesses that
really want to be successfulwith the federal government
(33:13):
they've got to have capital.
So they have to have all theregistrations Okay.
They have to have a governmentformatted website and a website
for their commercial residentialbusiness, right, okay.
If you don't have a website,you know they look at you as a
non-factor.
So we have to make sure thatyou look good in all those
(33:35):
lights.
And in most cases, a lot of thebusinesses that come to us
don't have any of that.
So they're a startup landscapecompany, you know, and the guy's
got we call him Chuck in atruck.
He's got a chainsaw and he's gota pickup truck and he's got a
trailer and they're out therecutting down trees after storms
or whatever you know, doing landclearing, and he's really just
(33:58):
trying to make it work.
Well, with this program.
He doesn't have $10,000 or$15,000 to lay out.
Well, I finance him and do allhis stuff with just a little
down payment and I'm able tohelp build this credit because I
report everything to DunBradstreet.
This is so important to smallbusinesses.
(34:19):
Okay, no way can they build agood credit profile to be able
to work with anybody local,state municipalities or the
federal government withouthaving a good credit report for
their business.
Okay, and we ensure not only dothey have that but they have
all their registrations andeverything in line.
So when they do go after acontract and win, it's easy.
(34:46):
It's easy, it's not hard andit's not putting the burden on
them.
I've given them the credit thatthey deserve as a small
business today to get started.
It's a way for me to give back,just like you give back on your
podcast.
Okay, after 15 years, thenumber one thing that holds
(35:06):
small businesses back is capital.
You know, oh, I do.
I do brother, I'm far away, faraway, you know.
And then let's say you win thathundred thousand dollar or five
hundred thousand dollarcontract and you call me up and
say I won that thing.
I said all right way to go.
And you say I need this pieceof equipment to do that contract
(35:31):
.
You don't have that?
No, I don't, and we gotta haveit, no problem, we're gonna do
that contract.
You don't have that?
No, I don't, and we got to haveit, no problem.
We're going to take thatcontract to our lenders, walk in
and use that as collateral, asa government contract, and get
you the equipment you need to beable to be successful.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
My God one-stop shop sir.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
When I tell you I have fun.
Okay, I have righted 100employees.
Our company grew from three torighted 100 employees and all we
do every day is fight for thelittle guys, help the big guys
and teach everyone in between onhow to be successful.
You know, I tell everybodybusinesses are around for three
(36:17):
piece Okay, they purchase andbuy Okay.
One is profit Okay, if they'regoing to do anything, one's got
to be profit.
The next is prestige Okay.
And the other one is protection.
And companies go through thesethree phases.
The first phase if you're abrand new business, you don't
(36:38):
care about prestige, you're notprotecting anything, you just
need to make money.
So we know how to do that,that's easy.
Well, then, all of a sudden,you become a $20 million company
, $10 million company, and nowyou're trying to expand your
reach Okay, and now you're afederal contractor.
(36:58):
Now you walk into a residentialor a commercial job and you're
competing against othercontractors that aren't
registered with the federalgovernment and you show them,
say, well, Mr and Mrs Jones orABC company, we're registered to
be able to work with thefederal government.
Yeah, we are a little bit moreexpensive, but we have been
(37:21):
verified and we can work onmilitary bases.
We can do things.
You can trust us.
And I tell you what that isamazing how strong a statement
that is that allows contractors.
I've had guys call me up andsay I was 10% higher than anyone
else but because I wasregistered to work with the
federal government I got the job.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Yeah, man, I can see.
I mean vetting subcontractorsis everything yes.
And to the major prime contractholders yeah, vetted
subcontractors, because it coststhem money to go.
Vet you it costs them money.
(38:05):
You know what I mean, so you'renot just saving their time wagon
, but you're also saving themoney wagon and you're saving
the labor wagon and you'rebringing them to them and go
look, they can do the job.
And here's why that's right.
And so it really sounds like ifyou guys are sitting there and
you're wondering how to startgetting with you, Mr Eric, how
would be the best way?
(38:26):
What's your website?
What are some ways we can findmore?
Speaker 2 (38:30):
What's usfcrcom?
And I tell everybody you needto do your homework before you
branch into anything.
Okay, go on to USFCRcom.
The website's pretty intense.
Okay, it has a lot ofinformation to it.
Also, go on togovernmentcontractingtipscom.
(38:51):
Okay, it's a free website thathas tips for contracting with
the federal government.
I always tell everyone to gothere.
It's free and it's a lot ofinformation.
But they can always call us.
They go onto the website, theycan click the call or email us.
Anyway, we're more than happyto help anyone with questions
(39:15):
and guide them, uh, to wherethey need to go, but every
company is different.
Every company is on a differentjourney.
You know, and I guess that'swhat is so exciting about
working in this field is I cantake anyone from a Chuck in a
truck to a $600 million businessAmazon.
(39:39):
You know we do registrationsfor the federal government for
their own people.
You know it doesn't matter whoyou are.
If you want to work for thefederal government, you have to
be registered and registerproperly.
That's the first step, you know.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Well, I'll be.
Uh, I will be sending an emailover shortly after you're here.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
I've already got the guys working on you.
I've already got the guysworking on you.
I said, hey, let's all, let'sblow size mind.
Let's, let's show them what'sout there, and, uh, and and and,
and just open your eyes tosomething that may not be there.
You know that.
You just never had experience.
That's all you know.
(40:20):
You don't know what you don'tknow.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
I say it on the show all the time.
But the other thing that I,before we close out here, that I
also, literally you hit it nailon the head about the
procurement officers and puttingyourself, just putting yourself
out there.
Yeah, you're right, you wouldbe.
Eric calls you up and goes hey,man, you know, you just got
registered.
But the Navy over here and itmay sound like what in the hell
(40:47):
is he talking?
I ain't going to go work forthe daggum old Navy.
It's not about the Navy, it'sabout the people that are in the
room working for the Navy.
It's not about the Navy, it'sabout the people that are in the
room working for the Navy.
And once you start shaking Jamesand Joe and all these
recruitment officers and you puta name to face and you go hey,
I'm Cy Kirby with CyCon.
Yeah, we handle all, basicallyeverything civil infrastructure
(41:09):
and below underground earthwork,whatever you need.
And they go really, becauseI've been.
How far will you go?
Where are you at You're youneed?
And they go really, cause I'vebeen.
How far will you go?
I'm where you at You're inArkan, and they'll just update.
They've already got threeproblems waiting just to meet
you and shake your hand.
So I talk about on the show, Ithink just about every episode,
but truly how importantrelationships and nurturing
(41:29):
those relationships, um gettingin front of the right people.
But yeah, man, mr Eric, we have.
Most of us have no idea aboutyour world and so.
I appreciate your time jumpingon here.
And number one, I think you'vedone her very proud because the
motivation you've had is verysimilar in mind where my wife
was.
(41:49):
We were pregnant and it was doit.
It was I had to go, I had nooption of failing and she
entrusted in me fully.
And here we are today and trulyI appreciate you, sarah, and
that personal story with how thebusiness got started and just
to see what you're doing andjust your continued passion 15
(42:09):
years in, and you can tellthrough this lens that you're
passionate about helping the youknow, the psychons of the world
, the Chuck and the trucks ofthe world trying to level up
their understanding of theirgame.
Yeah, you got to have a fewducks in a row, yes, you got to
have the basic businessunderstandings out of the way.
But if you're coming in fromthat approach and you don't want
(42:29):
to go down this commercialrailroad local market that you
hear the horror stories aboutnot getting paid on and chasing
your money down, maybe startover here with mr eric and keep
this residential cash flowrocking and rolling.
But you want to take a look atsomething else.
It sounds like this is theplace to be, and then it's
really cool that you've evengone a little step further and
(42:52):
gone okay, five hundred thousandcontract.
You don't have the $150,000piece of equipment.
Well, you got a $500,000 pieceof paper worth of revenue.
Let's go over here to this guythat deals with this and it's
all about those relationshipsand knowing about.
He knows the federalgovernment's going to pay, that
lender knows the federalgovernment's going to pay, you
(43:12):
know that lender's going to payand you guys know how to get the
money.
So it's kind of a real safestop shop.
I am kind of kicking myself andgoing why have I not registered
more yet?
Speaker 2 (43:24):
It's okay, you didn't know it.
You were doing exactly what youknew to be successful and
you've been successful.
Okay, now maybe you takeanother step and say, hey, I
want to go down this rabbit holeand it's all about learning
something new.
You know, you and I have tolearn every single day.
We don't know it all, and ifyou're not in a room that you're
(43:52):
uncomfortable in, you're in thewrong room.
Okay, if you're in a room thatyou know everything, you're in
the wrong room.
You need to get into rooms andinto situations that make you
uncomfortable as a businessowner and as an entrepreneur.
If you do that, you will besuccessful.
(44:13):
If you don't, you're only goingto be trapped in the little
segment that you're in.
You know you can be safe inthat little pond and swim around
and have your white picketfence and a little house.
Okay, Is that what you want?
Is that where you really wantto be?
I mean entrepreneurs likeyourself and like me, we don't
(44:34):
want that.
Okay, we would rather doeverything we can to be able to
fight the establishment and makeour own way.
Okay, and we're going to fightthrough it and we're going to do
it, and that's what being anentrepreneur is and I give
people with that want anopportunity to get there.
(44:56):
Okay, we coach them, we trainthem and we have fun with them.
And I tell everybody come tothe boot camps.
And we have business boot campsall the time.
I got people flying in from allover the world that just want to
come in and get some businessstrategies.
You know and understand what Pthey're in profit, prestige or
(45:16):
protection.
What mode are they in?
What do they need to do to taketheir business to that next
level?
And you know what is exciting?
Because I get to go on with youand that's what you bring to
entrepreneurs every singlepodcast.
You bring other things thatthey get to think about and
(45:37):
that's why I was really excitedabout coming on with you today
and having this great friendshipand it's something that you
know.
It's not what you know, it'swho you know and uh no truer
statement in business.
Speaker 1 (45:52):
Let's just go have fun every single day.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
If we do the right thing every day, we never have
to worry about our job or ourpay.
You know we're honest in ourapproach and do that right thing
, You're going to be successfuland just bringing those
opportunities like you bringevery day we try to do the same
thing, the challenge you havelaid before us, sir, is.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
I really appreciate the challenge you just laid out.
For everybody in the audiencelistening today, it sounds like
if you could be a brand newstartup in three to six months,
you could be in the one to threeyear realm figuring out okay,
winter's coming, what's mystrategy to grow through winter
and maybe you take the timethrough winter and navigate and
(46:37):
get and get registered.
But no, Mr Eric, I appreciatethe kind words for sure, and
that is the whole design of thepodcast is I'm sitting here
learning with this audience?
You know I don't know half ofthe crap that we start talking
about on the show.
But if I'm going to sit here andlisten and take an hour or two
of our time, let's, let'sbroadcast this and let's have
(46:59):
others learn along the way, andhopefully they.
You know I can't wait, it'salready happened but I can't
wait for the two or three yearsdown the road with this show and
go, man, you affected mebecause of this one episode
about how Mr Eric said and it'sjust crazy the entire perception
that we just haven't perceivedyet.
Speaker 2 (47:21):
Well, I have something that I want to put out
there to everyone.
Okay, anybody who's listening,don't listen to these podcasts
and not do anything.
Okay, ask yourself every singletime, every single day what's
next?
What can I do?
(47:41):
What is the next step that Ineed to take?
I mean, get out a pad of paper.
If you're an entrepreneur, getout a pad of paper and sit down
and write out what you're doingwell, what you're not doing well
and what's next.
You better have something ofwhat's next.
What is next?
Is next buying a new truck?
(48:02):
Is next going out and trying tohire more people?
What is next for you?
And I get excited when theycall me and go well, what's next
?
And it's fun to walk throughthat and find out that answer.
So I ask all your people what'snext for you?
Speaker 1 (48:21):
guys out there, Eric, I think what's next for you is
you need your own podcast, sir.
I think we need this vibrance,this go-getter attitude once a
week, talking about, you know,maybe diving a little bit more
into detail about governmentcontracts weekly, and maybe all
these things that you know, wedon't know, that are changing
(48:43):
and you want to bring awarenessto, to guys like me.
You know we're we're lookingfor podcasts always.
So, uh, it sounds like Mr Ericneeds to have a podcast.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
I'm learning from the very best.
I don't know, I tell youeverything.
I started watching all yourpodcasts and I'm like what an
awesome platform and an honestplatform.
One thing I can say is you justlay it out there and I love
(49:13):
that.
You just say it the way it isand whether they like it or they
don't like it, it's the truth,you know.
Speaker 1 (49:21):
Man.
I couldn't.
When I started on thismarketing campaign, brother, I
couldn't try and be somethingthat I'm not, and you know what
A lot of times I kind of kickmyself, you know, and I'm like
man, you've got to put on abetter smile, you have got to.
You know, live a little bit.
A lot of times, 15 minutesbefore here, I'm either getting
yelled at on the phone or itcould be a.
It could be a greatconversation when, whatever it
(49:44):
could be, you know, um, butsometimes you know, running a
business, being a family man,it's, it's.
And then trying to keep up withwith all of this, and and it's,
it's so easy to just throw aface on and but no, I have tried
to be very.
A lot of folks would tell me I'mtransparent to a fault, but you
know at the same time um,honesty has usually been the
(50:07):
best policy to get to get whereI'm at, and if I'm honest and
open, I know if I can do this.
I know there's probablythousands of folks that are
listening and going man, I wishI could do that, but I'm so glad
he is and they are trying to gofind the resource, like I was a
couple of years ago.
If we don't have a resourcelike this show, we're in big
(50:28):
trouble in five to 10 years fromnow with our, with my
generation and below, like we,if we don't get in front of them
on YouTube or TikTok or podcastor social media in general.
We've got to go speak theirlanguage Everybody's like.
Well, I just can't keep nobody.
These new guys, these newgenerations well, maybe it's not
how you're talking, maybe it'show they listen and maybe we
(50:51):
need to change it up a littlebit.
If you want to go get the rightpeople, you got to get in front
of the right people.
Blue Collar PerformanceMarketing's passion is to bring
attention to the honest workdone in blue collar industries
through effective,results-driven marketing tactics
.
They specialize incomprehensive digital marketing
services, from paid advertisingon Google and Facebook to
website development and contentstrategy.
(51:13):
I started working with Ike andthe team earlier this year and
they've had a huge impact on ourspecific marketing campaign and
trajectory of our overallcompany.
Their expertise in digital admanagement, website development,
social media and overallmarketing strategy has been an
absolute game changer for oursales and marketing at Sycon.
To work with a marketing teamwho does what they say, does it
(51:40):
well and is always looking forways to help your company grow.
Book a discovery call with Ikeby going to
bcperformancemarketingcombackslash bcbpodcast, or click
the link in the show notes slashdescription below.
Thanks, guys.
Anyways, the one big takeawaythat I, if you've been watching
the show, I ask everybody andyou've kind of already has set
us some challenges out there.
But I ask everybody that comeson the show, what's the takeaway
(52:03):
for that blue collar worker whois sick and tired of being
stuck in the mud, and it may bethat guy physically sitting
there stuck in a water ditch andit's 112 degrees, but it also
could be that emotionally andthat metal guy that needs a
check.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
You know again what's next?
Yeah, what's next in my life,what's next in his life and
their life?
You know, do you want to make achange?
You know, I ask all myentrepreneurs.
I said look, man, you want tobe right where you are.
If you want to be right whereyou are, then continue to do the
same thing.
(52:38):
But if you're sick and tired ofbeing sick and tired and you
want some opportunity and youwant a better life for yourself
and your family, do something.
Pick up the phone, call us, askus to do some research for you.
You know, just damn it, dosomething.
(53:00):
Do something.
It's what's next.
You know, and that's.
I ask every single one of myentrepreneurs when they walk in
the door and they go through ourboot camps.
I say what's next for you?
So my takeaway to all yourpeople is to ask what's next for
them and if you're sick andtired of being sick and tired,
pick up the phone, give us acall, do something that's going
(53:23):
to change their life forever.
And federal contracting issomething that I can tell you.
I've seen it change lives everysingle day, because the
government checks don't bounceand the government is getting.
Regardless of what party you'reon or anything else you know,
they're always spending money.
(53:44):
They always buy everything fromstaples to spaceships every
single day, and if you'reanywhere in between, guess what?
There's a job out there waitingfor you and all you have to do
is go get it.
It will help you do it.
Speaker 1 (54:00):
Well, one more time on your website, brother.
Speaker 2 (54:03):
USFCRcom the best way to get ahold of us.
Speaker 1 (54:08):
It sounds like the place to be and I'm excited to
start getting our profile built.
Speaker 2 (54:13):
I'm working on it, buddy.
You just wait, I'll give youabout a week and you're, you're
gonna go.
What the hell's all this?
Speaker 1 (54:22):
no, it's exciting I am truly it is exciting.
It's exciting for me to sithere and go.
I just learned of a wholenother business market uh,
that's not, you know, maybeoutside of my local and it kind
of, yeah, pinged me a little bit.
But I truly hope that you see afew.
Let them know if you're comingfrom the show, let them know.
You heard them here, heard ithere first and truly hope that's
(54:46):
the start of something new.
It sounds like they're there tohelp you.
I can't wait to be the firstguest on Mr Eric's first podcast
show after going through thewhole product of it.
But I got a feeling, mr Eric,that's my challenge to you.
People need to hear yourvibrancy and to spread this word
.
And yeah, it may get a littleredundant about government
(55:08):
contracts, but it's for that guythat tunes in for the first
time every single time and itchanges his life.
And so I appreciate you andwhat you've built and how you've
gone about it, sir, and I cantell you care I actively care
about the customers.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
Yeah, my people care and if anybody calls up and they
say they heard this on thisshow, okay, I will give them a
free market research, which isactually so vital because it is
an absolute roadmap for them tofollow.
We sell that in our services,for I think it was $1,200.
(55:48):
Okay, I'll give it to them forfree and all it is is a free
roadmap to where they can go inthe federal marketplace, state,
local.
It really breaks down theirbusiness and everyone should
have one because it's a roadmap.
So you have that.
They call in.
You just tell them that youknow we heard it on the show and
(56:11):
I'll make sure that they gettheir market analysis and a free
coaching and get these guysmoving in the right direction
man.
Speaker 1 (56:22):
what an exclusive way to end the show here.
Guys, you heard it here first.
I wanted to give you guyssomething.
Speaker 2 (56:27):
I wanted to give you something so they have no dang
excuse about what's next.
Okay, pick up the blasted phonecall and get started.
That's right, get started,don't sit on your butt.
Get out and start.
Whatever you do, let's do moreof it, okay, yeah, spread the
(56:48):
wealth, spread the knowledge.
Thank you so much, cy, for allthat you do for all of the blue
collar businesses out there, andI'm just excited to be on your
show.
Speaker 1 (56:58):
Thank you so so much.
Thank you, brother.
Thank you so much for spreadingthe knowledge and the wealth
and the awareness for everybodyhere on the show and man.
I learned a lot today too, andlook forward to the future.
Till then, we'll see you, guys,next time you got it.
Have a great day.
If you've enjoyed this episode,be sure to give it a like,
(57:19):
share it with the fellers.
Check out our website to sendus any questions and comments
about your experience in theblue collar business.
Who do you want to hear from?
Send them our way and we'll doour best to answer any questions
you may have.
Till next time, guys.
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