Frustration and Achievement

I’m a little frustrated today so I thought I would share.

Today I find myself “stuck.” I have a lot of loose ends to still tie up and my mind is just racing in circles right now.  Things have been going well for E9 to date. I applied for my DBA on April 4th on a whim because a contracting officer at the base offered me some work when I told him what I was doing with the company. Since then, we’ve bid on five jobs, and won three, one is still being written up and one we lost. I submitted one bid yesterday and we also have two more jobs with bids due this week. Not a bad start I would say. I am currently in the process of applying for the following certifications; HUB, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Woman Owned Business (WBO), VOSB, and I’m waiting for my rating letter from the VA to apply for the SDVOSB. I’m stalled on each of these because the applications for all of these certifications require for the business to actually have a storefront office. So, with that being said, I’m also on the hunt for an office space located in a HUB Zone that qualifies me for the HUB certification.

My days have been full lately, as I sit down to start working on a new bid or research bid opportunities, I get a random phone call from our local Joint Reserve Base about a Government Purchase Card Project or a job-site visit for a new project coming up.  Of course I pack up and race out the door if they ask me to come out right away.

Not only do I want to talk about the things I still need to do, I should shed some light on the things I have done so far. So far, I’ve applied for and received my EIN Number, DUNS Number, CAGE Code, and I’m registered in SAM so I’m eligible for work on military installations and with the Federal Government. I plan on calling my local SBA today to set up an appointment with one of their counselors in efforts to assist me in the Government Contracting pursuit.

It hasn’t been easy, but I will say that it has been FUN! I’ve enjoyed being my own “boss” and although it seems like the work day never actually ends, I’ve enjoyed being able to set my own schedule (even though my hours are longer then when I had a full time job) and not feel the pressure of constantly being reminded of all the tasks needed to be done that day like I had when I was someone’s employee. I think the freedom of knowing that this is my baby is a feeling that is indescribable. However, I do realize that we can only be as successful as the amount of work that I put in, especially now, and this is the main driving force for me right now!