Business mentoring is an old business consulting model that has got better with time. Over the years, a range of mentoring and coaching services developed by various government and nongovernmental agencies have offered business owners affordable ways to get help and growth in their business.

Recently, USBE & IT magazine spoke to businesses that are sharing knowledge and experience with some high-technology entrepreneurs under the U.S. Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Program, which has built traction in the corporate world.
 
The goal of the 15-year Department of Defense (DOD) program is to develop and grow business enterprise skills, knowledge, and the confidence to compete for prime contract and subcontract awards by partnering with large companies under individual, project-based agreements.

Since the program was launched, many mentor firms have made the program an integral part of their sourcing plans, says the DOD, while protégé firms have used their involvement in the program to develop much needed business and technical capabilities to diversify their customer base.
 
There are currently 20 active mentor-protégé agreements at Northrop Grumman, says Gloria Pualani, corporate director of Socio-economic Business Programs at Northrop Grumman Corporation. You will find them in all sectors, says the 25-year veteran of Northrop, who is an active member of organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council, National Association of Women Business Owners, The Asian Business Association, The National Center for American Indian Development and other local and national trade associations. 

Whether its in the IT sector, or Integrated systems, which produces network-enabled systems and subsystems for the U.S. government, or Ship Systems – the military ship building sector - these suppliers are growing by figuring out how to provide service and solve problems for the large corporation.

The company that delivered the approved lanterns needed to light up the USS Cole when it arrived back in the shipyard is a prime example, says Pualani.

"We found out on a Friday that we needed to go into the hull of the ship to start repairs," she recounted. After several unsuccessful attempts by large businesses, one small company came through with all the lanterns needed for work to start. "He was there, on the shipyard, at 4 o'clock in the morning. The lanterns were charged and ready. So that by the time the workmen got there they were able to start as scheduled at 5 o'clock on Monday morning."
 
That agility and response is part of the success of partnering with small businesses in order to deliver goods and services to Northrop's civil and international customers.

During the period of October 2005 to March 2006, Northrop contracted $1.8 billion dollars, hitting 37.5 percent of the required target. In 2005, the total figure was 4 billion.
 
 
At the annual DOD Mentor-Protégé conference held March 6-9, 2006, Frank Ramos, director of the DOD Office of Small Business Programs, observed in a letter read by Michael Cacciutto, the administrator for the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs in the Office of Small Business Programs, the spectacular growth in small business prime contract award dollars in the Department over the course of his tenure.
 
In FY 2001, total small business prime contracting award dollars were $28.3 billion. By FY 2004 total small business prime contracting award dollars increased to $44.8 billion.
 
Ramos wrote that estimated FY 2005 prime contracting dollars, when approved by the Small Business Administration and the Office of Management and Budget, may reach an unprecedented $52 billion dollars, amounting to 24 percent of all DOD contracts, a performance that exceeds last year's record and also exceeds the overall 23 percent federal goal. --LD
 
 
General Dynamics' Ralph Whitney, C4Systems director of training, simulation and support systems, has a simple measure of success: Large mentoring companies find small companies that can execute contract after contract after contract.
 
"It is business sense, he says, "As a large company and systems integrator we are always looking for new technology that will help fill gaps in our technology, bring solutions to problems we see with the DOD for our government customers, and that we can bring to market very quickly.”
 
“The relationship,” Whitney explains, “is a multiplier. “It is two to four times what you would get in normal ones.”

 In return for small business set aside credit - which goes to the amount of time, labor, travel, or other costs, and counts towards a large company's small business goals - large companies are supposed to help small businesses grow their processes in contract management, finance management, and software development processes.
 
"We try to help them mature their processes and get them ready to do business with the federal government.”

In August 2006, nFocus Software, a woman-owned business and leading provider of management and tracking software announced an agreement with General Dynamics.
 
isn/TRAX®, nFocus's software billed as helping to improve the "command post of the future," tracks training plans and schedules of more than 1.1 million soldiers, reservists and members of the National Guard. The company's system is also embedded in it's KidTrax product, the largest record keeping system for children participating in programs run by Boys & Girls Clubs, Police Activities League, the Salvation Army, GEAR UP, and Weed & Seed.
 
By September 15, 2006, nFocus Software was three weeks into their DOD qualified mentor-protégé agreement with General Dynamics. They then had a meeting with the quality assurance manager for C4Systems to put together a three-year plan to get help in winning and delivering on more government contracts.
 
"They're going to bring a team of folks into my office and talk to my development team," said Ananda Roberts, president and owner of nFocus Software. "We are building process mapping that will get us to higher level of management and development as far as our product line goes."
 
It took some time to get there. Her search for a mentor protégé relationship started 8 years ago.

Every three months for two years she would drive through Arizona and meet with small business liaison officers as she tried to get her product in front of Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Motorola (now General Dynamics C4Systems).
 
When that failed she said in an interview with Jane Larson for Scottsdale Republic, Roberts ended up going to a medium-sized company. nFocus customized the software for RAM Inc., a midsize defense contractor based in El Paso. The Army bought it from RAM and used it to schedule and manage training in the United States for war fighters.
 
A year ago an opportunity came up that helped Roberts broaden her customer base. A representative at a meeting she presented nFocus technology walked up to her at the end of the session and said, "' I think you need to be speaking to General Dynamics.'"
 
When Whitney got to hear of nFocus Software, he said he "saw right away there was some synergy where they could provide technology needed to solve problems in training and logistics."

Whitney adds that the lessons learned from Roberts' experience and the recommendation to small businesses is:
 
"You've really got to get to the business team that drives the business and the solutions if you want to form a relationship."

The job of a small business liaison officer, Whitney explains, is to "collect information, put it into a database within the company for the business teams to access when a proposal comes up and they need help in a certain area.
 
What then would be the best way for small business owners to get to those teams?
 
"One way is by going to conferences and trade shows which business teams attend," Whitney advises. “But there is no guarantee."
 
"What I couldn't figure out," offers Roberts, "is how to get to the right people. But the biggest thing to understand, she urges, is that "You have to have value that you bring.
Don't think being a small business is enough. That a large business is going to want to partner with you and help grow you. We had a product that was being used by the U.S. Army. It fit directly into a need General Dynamics had, so their ability to help grow us goes hand in hand with them growing their business."
 
isnTRAX is an innovative technology that is compliments General Dynamics' tactical-level training, simulation and logistics software products.

Asked about the challenges, Roberts says the reality can be difficult for a small business.

"We don't have the time, the resources, to pour into trying to develop these relationships.
 
"I was always told, ‘you've got to get inside the company; you've got to find the person who cares about the product or service that you offer.’ But short of sitting on the
parking lot every day as they all left work and finding that person I wasn't getting anywhere.”

Whitney agrees it can be tough. He adds that for a company like nFocus, breakthrough came because "they had had their own intellectual property. They had innovative technology, which to develop on our own would have cost a lot of money. Instead, we are bringing them along with us and it's going to grow our business and it's going to grow theirs."
 
He contrasts what General Dynamics gets out of nFocus Software's capability to a company that builds cables.

"Because we are trying to meet a goal we subcontract to them; they can do the work at a lower cost than we can, but it really doesn't increase our ability to improve our business. "
 
Whitney advises small businesses to have something to offer that is relevant, of value, and timely. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil, he adds, the defense market has changed. The security era "requires small businesses to transform; to take a look at what the war fighter is going to need now and in the future."
 
Once General Dynamics and nFocus agreed to team, the DOD review and approval cycle went through in 90 days.

"It's not a slam dunk," cautions Roberts. "There was a lot from the government side. They had to make sure we were viable. There was a lot of documentation about hitting benchmarks, goals, and targets. And we are required to report back every 6 months."

For A Step-by-Step Approach to Participation in the Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Program visit http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/mentor_protege/participate/index.htm

 
9 IMPORTANT TIPS TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
 
Traditionally, DOD Mentor-Protégé agreements focused on areas such as engineering services, IT, manufacturing, telecommunications, and health care. More recently, agreements have focused on corrosion engineering, information assurance, robotics, circuit board and metal component manufacturing. The DOD hopes future agreements will focus on new technology areas such as radio frequency identification devices and enhanced security assurance.
 
Cathy Usztan-Bedford, director of Supplier Diversity, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, provides expert tips small businesses can use to do business with Lockheed Martin Corporation.
 
Expand industry intelligence and how you do business.
 
Do your homework: Go on the Internet and find out what industry you want to focus on. Go to Lockheed's website and see what Lockheed does.
 
Develop a hit list: Decide what companies you want to focus on. Make sure you know what these companies do. Do they manufacture? Are they in software?
 
Make initial contact: Every company has a small business liaison office that will assist a small business through the first initial contact. This is the point where you submit information. Be prepared to submit capability statements. Register on a Lockheed Martin site. The registration is basically saying: "‘this is what I can do. I am certified as a small business. I deal with other companies. I have qualifications."

Sell yourself: In other words, there are hundreds of machine shops in the U.S. Why is your machine shop better than anybody else? This is where you talk about past performance and your dealings with other large corporations to your advantage. Don't forget to put all the data in the system.

Follow up: Send an email. If they don't call back, call them and remind them. It works.
 
Be responsive: Paper work inundates a lot of small businesses when they get a request from a large corporation. If you don't respond in a timely manner, you get put in the pot that says “They don't want to do business with us.” Instead, send a letter saying, "I am interested in doing business with Lockheed Martin; however the requirements you are writing about are not in our line of business, and as a reminder this is what we do.'"
 
Answering the phone is crucial: If the buyer calls and gets a recorded announcement that says ‘We'll be right back,” he won't call back.
 
Perform: The philosophy of any large corporation is to deliver to the government the best quality possible.
 
Attend small business conferences: Register face-to-face contact with representatives at trade shows. Go out and learn who your potential customer is. Focus on customers you know you have a fit with and don't give up! --LD