Agent of Wealth Episode 74 – How To Create a Healthy Relationship With Money with Bob Wheeler

The government spends billions of dollars each year on goods and services, and by tapping into this vast marketplace, small businesses can secure lucrative deals, gain steady income and heightened visibility. In this episode of The Agent of Wealth Podcast, host Marc Bautis and guest Richard C. Howard dive deep into the world of government contracts.

As a career military acquisitions officer, Howard oversaw $82B+ in DoD contracts, and has advised and trained over 400 companies as a consultant. He’s the CEO of DoD Contract – which guides, trains, and mentors small business owners and sales executives through the government sales process – and the host of DoD Contract Academy Podcast.

In this episode, you will learn:

The benefits of selling to the US government as a small business.
How small businesses can find opportunities to sell their products or services to the government.
How small businesses can stand out in the government procurement process.
How small businesses and startups can utilize the Small Business Innovation Research Program.
And more!

Resources:

Disclosure: The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity and content. It is not a direct transcription of the full conversation, which can be listened to above.

Welcome back to The Agent of Wealth. This is your host, Marc Bautis. I’m joined by a guest for today’s episode, Richard C. Howard. Richard is a leading authority on US federal government contracts. As a career military acquisitions officer, he oversaw $82B+ in DoD contracts, and has advised and trained over 400 companies as a consultant. Richard is the CEO of DoD Contract, which guides, trains, and mentors small business owners and sales executives through the government sales process.

Richard is the host of the DoD Contract Academy Podcast, and speaks extensively on the nuance of federal contracting strategy. Richard, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me on, Marc.

I don’t think people even realize that government contracts are out there. Can you start off by explaining this market size, and some of the benefits of selling to the government as a small business?

The Benefits of Selling to The US Government as a Small Business

The US government is the single biggest purchaser of goods and services in the world. When people think about government spending, most immediately think of big defense contractors. But in reality, the government buys just about anything you could think of – from defense and weapon-related spending, to tai chi instruction, to commodities, to food. Think about it like this: Every military base is basically a small town, or city in some cases. All of the infrastructure that goes into that town or city is paid for by the government. And they have a mandate to buy from small businesses.

So whether you’re in – cybersecurity, accounting, legal, you’re selling food, you have a franchise, you have a training business – the government is most likely buying in your area. It is very rare that I find an area where the government isn’t spending money, so the spending is vast.

The government has to buy from small businesses, yet less than half of 1% of US small businesses are actually participating in the government contracting process, despite the high spending levels.

Alright, so there’s a lot of opportunity here. How does a small business find the contracts?

How Small Businesses Can Find Opportunities to Sell to The Government

Because we’re talking about the government, there is a lot of regulation that exists to ensure there’s fairness and that the public can see what the government’s doing. So everything the government spends money on – with the exception of a couple classified contracting avenues – is public knowledge.

So, as a small business owner, you should ask, “Does the government buy what I sell?” To find your answer, go to a website like usaspending.gov and begin searching public records to find out what the government spends on.

Whatever you sell, it probably falls under something called a North American Industry Classification Code, or NAICS code. When you go into usaspending.gov, type in what you sell under NAICS – for example, accounting. The website will suggest different codes that you would fall under. You can click on that, and sort it by small business spending.

You can quickly see how much the government spends on small business contracts in your industry and area of focus.

Are these contracts location specific? Does it help if a business is located near a military base, for example, or does it not matter?

It depends on what you’re selling. By the way, government contracts certainly extend past the Department of Defense and military bases. There’s lots of different federal agencies that spend money.

Okay so once a business owner discovers how much the government is spending in their niche, what’s the next step?

Once you know that the government buys what you sell – if it’s local, they buy it in your state, or if not, you can work anywhere – the next step is to register your company. You can do that at sam.gov. That’s where all registering and most of the solicitations take place.

So when you go to sam.gov, you’ll find instructions on the screen for registering. Of course, you need to have a legal business in the United States, and come ready to register with your EIN number.

All in all, the process takes a couple weeks sometimes, but at the end of it you’ll get what they call a CAGE code and UEI number – these are federal identification numbers for your business. Once you have those, you can start bidding on contracts.

By bidding, do you mean writing proposals?

Yes.

How Small Businesses Can Stand Out in the Government Procurement Process

What can a small business do to separate themselves from the others trying to do the same thing?

Good question. This is really where most companies fail in selling to the government…

Once your business is registered through sam.gov, you will begin to see what’s called a request for proposal, or RFP. At that point, a business can begin writing a proposal. But, the government is very regulated in how they buy products and services.

For instance, if I saw an RFP come out that the government is looking to buy a $3 million landscaping contract for base X, I can’t just pick up the phone and talk to someone to get my questions about the contract answered. Now, if it’s a big contract, the government will answer most questions publicly through sam.gov. In those cases, you might get some answers that can inform your proposal.

But otherwise, you won’t be able to set up a meeting with a government worker. You won’t be able to develop a relationship…

So, before the RFP comes out, there’s something called the market research phase. Let’s say you’re a software developer, and the government is putting a command and control platform together, and you have a great user interface for that. Well, it’s during the market research phase that you can engage with the government if you really want to have a shot at landing the contract later on. Meaning, before the RFP comes out, we want to know who is doing the purchase, and we want to know the details of the opportunity ahead of time.

If you want to differentiate yourself from the rest of the herd, you want to look for things like a request for information or sources sought. When those come out, they’re squarely in the market research phase. At that point, you can set up a meeting with the government.

I recommend small businesses to respond to requests for information. They’ll answer questions like:

How long have you been in business?
Do you have past performance?
What do you think of the approach the government wants to take?

And, you’ll be able to suggest things. For instance, when you register your business, there are different certifications. Examples include:

Small business certification
Woman-owned small business certification
Disabled Veteran-owned small business certification

If you happen to have one of those certifications, you do have a leg up, because the government needs to set aside a specific percentage of contracts to those certified businesses.

But, back to the market research phase, you can actually recommend that the government lists the contract for a specific certified group. So, you’re helping the government write the solicitation, and you can give yourself a leg-up if you suggest a certification you have.

Okay, so you’re trying to influence the decision a little bit. Have you ever seen a case where a small business had a product or service that the government isn’t spending on, but they propose it to them?

Yeah, there are a couple of ways to do that. I would say if you take away one tip on selling to the government, it’s to get meetings and build relationships with the people that actually buy what you sell. There’s a lot of ways to do that, but mainly through research.

If your business sells a product or service that the government is not actively looking for, but you want to sell to the government, the government needs two things: A requirement, and funding.

The Small Business Innovation Research Program

If it’s an innovative solution of some kind, for example a patent, you can go after something called the Small Business Innovative Research Program, or SBIR. Any government agency that spends a certain amount of money in research and development has got to contribute to this program. So, the SBIR program spends about $4 billion a year on innovative research and development contracts with small businesses.

This is a way to basically propose your product or service to the government, because they have funding in the SBIR program. If the review panel thinks that what you have is innovative, and that it would achieve a government need, you can win one of those contracts.

Phase one of SBIR is kind of low dollar. Let’s say, for example, you’re creating a VR training system. In that case, phase one might just be a feasibility study. You might propose that the government uses a VR or augmented reality training system to help maintain or fix aircrafts, for instance. Well, that might resonate with the board. That first phase one event is probably going to be somewhere around $100,000-$150,000, which is small for government contracts.

But, what you’re really doing is:

You’re establishing past performance with the government, because now you have a contract.
They’re now going to help you find people in the government that would potentially sponsor you.

Now you can’t totally rely on the government SBIR office, you also need to put yourself out there to find a sponsor. If you find somebody willing to sponsor, but they don’t necessarily have to have money, they just sign a memorandum of understanding for you to go to phase two.

Phase two is to develop a prototype, or set up a demonstration. There could be a lot of different things that you’re recommending, but that’s the phase two piece.

The Small Business Innovative Research Program is really great for getting your feet wet. Even if you have a developed product but you’re modifying it for government use, that would also qualify for the program.

Going back to finding these opportunities, my father actually had a government contract through a larger corporation. He created a pellet that went into 50 caliber ammunition. He wouldn’t get the government contract himself, but General Dynamics or Olin would go through him to create this component of their contracts with the government. Are there opportunities like that out there?

Yes. That’s a really good point. There is a variety of ways the government can buy things from a small or large business owner. For example:

Contracts.
Subcontracting.
Sole source contracts.

As a business owner, you need to understand how the government is buying what you’re selling. That’s something that you can do pretty easily with the research tools the government offers.

Let’s say you own a company that is licensed to do HVAC. Over time, you’ve built a relationship with the government office that purchases contracts in construction. From that relationship, you learn that next year, Hanscom Air Force Base is going to be building an office building, and you have interest in installing the HVAC system. But, you aren’t able to take the full construction contract.

What I recommend you do is look through a website like usaspending.gov to see which construction companies have done that type of work with the government – illustrating past performance – and reach out to them about this upcoming opportunity. The fact that you’re bringing them this opportunity sweetened the pot for them to work with you, involving you in the project.

If you reach out to three companies like that, you’ll get at least one or two bites to form an agreement and go after a large contract together. That’s very helpful for a small business, because the big company can handle the proposal writing, and so on.

Artificial intelligence is all the rage right now. Do you see AI being used to uncover some of these opportunities, or to help small businesses in this process?

It’s interesting that you bring that up. Two of my recent episodes on the DoD Contract Academy Podcast were about AI in the government space.

One of them is called Govly, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable government contractors, OEMs, and distributors to accurately plan for government purchases years in advance

The other is called Rogue, which is an AI tool specifically designed to help businesses write proposals for government contracts. It kind of works like ChatGPT.

Business Financing and Government Contracts

What happens if a business needs financing to fulfill an order from the government?

First, it depends on the contract. If it’s a SBIR contract, where the business is developing something for the first time, then you can win the contract before you have to start development. But those are research and development contracts.

So let’s say you win a small services contract that involves employing 20 people. The small business will have to pay those individual employees before the government pays the small business. That’s because there’s about a 90 day turnaround time on invoicing to the government.

Now, there are certain financing houses set up specifically for government contractors. One thing to know is once you win that government contract, it’s one of the most secure contracts you’re going to have. So a lot of banks know they can count on the government paying the business.

That’s also one of the reasons companies go after government contracts – because it increases the value of your company.

Are Government Contracts Recession-Proof?

In addition to AI, the other thing that we’re constantly hearing about is this looming recession. At a high level, how is government spending compared to other industries?

Government spending is more stable. I always recommend that business owners – small or large – have one stream of income from commercial sales and another stream of income from government sector sales. The government is spending year over year, whether there’s a recession or not.

But I would say that the government experiences difficulties in different ways, and typically at different times.

Usually, if you have a three-year government contract, for example, you’ll receive that funding month over month. Now, there are times when the government shuts down, or when there is sequestration. The government can terminate a contract for convenience. But if they do, there are regulations to protect the companies that held the government contract.

That’s good. Well, we’re just about out of time. Richard, thank you for joining me today. You did a great job explaining how businesses can leverage government contracts as well as how to navigate the government procurement process. What’s the best way for our listeners to contact you or learn more about your advisory coaching services?

Your listeners can go to dodcontract.com to schedule a consultation. On the website, we also have courses available. And of course your listeners can check out my podcast, DoD Contract Academy, on whatever platform they like to listen on.

Great, we’ll link to those resources in the show notes. Thanks again, Richard. And thank you to everyone who tuned into today’s episode. Don’t forget to follow The Agent of Wealth on the platform you listen from and leave us a review on the show.

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Every year, the American Psychological Association surveys people across the United States about stress: its sources; its intensity; and how people are responding to stressors. The 2020 survey found that nearly 2 in 3 adults (64%) said that money is a significant source of stress in their life, and this statistic wasn’t surprising — “Regardless of the economic climate,” APA CEO Norman B. Anderson, PhD said, “money and finances have remained a top stressor since our survey began in 2007.”

In this episode of The Agent of Wealth Podcast, Marc Bautis is joined by Bob Wheeler, a financial expert, motivator, and author of The Money Nerve: Navigating the Emotions of Money. Tune in to learn how to uncover and understand your financial habits, limiting beliefs and emotional blocks around your finances to create a healthy relationship with money.

In this episode, you will learn:

How financial habits, behaviors and emotions come to fruition.
How to have conversations about money with your children and spouse.
How to create and enforce good financial habits, like saving and paying off debt.
Practical tools for improving money management.
And more!

Resources:

Themoneynerve.com | The Money Nerve: Navigating the Emotions of Money | Bautis Financial: (862) 205-5000

Disclosure: The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity and content. It is not a direct transcription of the full conversation, which can be listened to above.

Welcome back to The Agent of Wealth Podcast, this is your host Marc Bautis. On today’s show, I brought on a special guest — Bob Wheeler. Bob’s a financial expert and motivator, a book author, and the founder of The Money Nerve. Bob, welcome to the show.

Thanks a lot, Marc. Great to be here.

I’m excited for today’s episode, because I think the connection between emotions and money is really relevant in today’s world.

Absolutely. Many people think they don’t have emotional attachments to their money, but they do.

So, how did you get started working with people’s relationship to money?

Well, I’m a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). I own a tax practice and have about 1,000 clients. As I was working with my clients, I noticed that they would frequently do the opposite of — what I thought was — sound practical advice. That was interesting to me.

At the same time, when I got my CPA license, my finances were a mess: I was terrible with money. So, I went on a personal journey and started to look at my own financial beliefs. As I started doing my homework, I realized that I had a lot of emotional issues around money that were tied to decisions I’d made as a kid.

Then, I started exploring the topic with clients. I discovered that a lot of them were going through the same thing. Even though they were millionaires or billionaires, there was still emotional baggage that related back to what they grew up in, what they were taught or some experience they had. And that got me really curious. So, I started diving into it more.

Do you think most people’s emotions, or how they react to money, is learned behavior? When I was growing up, financial literacy was not taught in school. In fact, any classes about finance were very limited. So you picked up habits from your parents, which could have been good or bad. Has it gotten any better? Where do people learn about money now?

Where Do Financial Behaviors Come From?

Well, financial literacy is still not taught enough. I guess we’re supposed to learn financial habits through osmosis — it’s just supposed to happen.

“Most people are not having conversations with their kids about money. Most adults are ashamed to have conversations about money.”
Bob Wheeler

When clients come to me, they’ll say, “I’m sure you’re judging me. You must think I’m a horrible person.” I’ll say, “No, I’ve been in the same boat. I’ve made the same mistakes. It’s all good.” What happens is, from a young age, we make decisions based on our environment. I’m talking when we’re five, six, seven-years-old. We start telling ourselves, ‘I’m bad with money’ or ‘I’m good with money.’

Or, maybe, we realize that our mom and dad always fight about money, so we avoid talking about it. Then, we start to internalize it. So there’s a lot of shame. And then we’re the only one, the only one that doesn’t know. Everybody else appears to have it together, except for us.

In today’s culture — with social media — we look at snapshots of other people’s lives and think they have it amazing. People don’t show when they’re filing for bankruptcy, or when they’re grinding through the mud. We’re only seeing a picture of this perfection, and we think that’s the measure.

Yeah, that makes sense. Going back to kids, and is there a right way to teach them about money and creating a positive relationship with it?

How to Have Conversations With Your Children About Money

I think the best place to start is by having a conversation. It doesn’t mean you have to disclose stressful or overwhelming aspects of money — like bankruptcy or credit card debt. After all, you don’t want to terrify your kids. But you can certainly do this: When your child says they want a toy, you say, “Well, we have to make choices. And sometimes we have to choose between eating, paying the rent or buying toys.” Or, if they already have a lot of toys, propose that if you buy the toy, they have to choose two existing toys to give to charity. We can have these kinds of conversations.

Fast forward to when they are adults. Let’s say they’re having trouble with money or their relationship/emotions attached to it. What’s the first step to correcting the issue?

The First Step to Creating a Healthy Relationship With Money

The first thing is to take an assessment. Ask yourself:

Where am I at?
Where am I not?
What am I trying to get to? (I.e. save for college, save for a house, save for a car)
What do I need to get there?
What tools can I utilize?

So, for example, if you are trying to buy a new car, you may need to start putting away $300 a month — depending on the car you want.

That’s what we help people do: Set a goal and figure out the baby steps to get there. These goals and strategies are unique for each person.

In this assessment, do you get into specific habits that people have developed throughout the years? For example, people who spend as soon as they’re income is deposited. Is it challenging for people to correct this kind of behavior?

Absolutely. What I’ve found is that clients tend to spend toward their comfort, and tend to keep their savings where they feel “safe.” For example, a person who is comfortable with $5,000 in their bank account. Let’s say that they receive an inheritance for $50,000. They will spend right back to the $5,000 that he or she had to begin with. That’s our comfort level. Some people are comfortable spending everything in their checking account, as long as they do not overdraft.

What do you think causes that type of financial behavior?

I think a lot of people don’t know any better. While they may know they should be saving, they’re not quite sure how to do it. A lot of people plan on saving eventually, like when they get a bonus or a windfall. This never happens. That moment never comes.

Tip for Saving: Start Small

Just start by saving $5 or $50, depending on your income. Create the habit using baby steps that are digestible and don’t hurt. Then, it makes it easier to increase savings over time. But I think a lot of people just don’t know better.

I see that situation you were describing earlier about inheritances a lot. People revert back to what they know. I’ll see people spend it all very quickly, just because they are used to keeping their bank account at $5,000, for example. If it has $50,000, they’re going to spend $45,000.

Exactly, and 10 years down the line they’re thinking, ‘Oh, I could have bought a house with that money.’ They could have.

The other thing you mentioned is to start with baby steps. I promote that a lot, specifically with saving in a 401(k). I think a 401k is a replacement for pensions that were common years earlier, and they have — like everything — pros and cons. But one thing that’s good about them is they automate savings. So, in addition to implementing baby steps, I do recommend automation [of savings] as well.

I think automation with savings is great, and it’s a way that we can trick ourselves for the better. I used to love using credit cards, I thought it was free money. But I had to pay it back almost double by the time interest is tagged on. But what I did was set up seven different bank accounts with different online banks.

And I started moving $20 to one, $5 to another and $30 to another. And I just had it happen. Eventually, over time I had built up $3,000 in one account from saving small. I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is fun.’ Next, my goal was to save up $6,000. This process changed my mindset, but I had to trick myself into getting started.

Do you use the different bank accounts almost like the profit first methodology, where they have a purpose?

How to Create Purpose Accounts

I do, I have purpose accounts. For example, I have a business account, a guilt-free/play money account, a rental property account, a mortgage account, a household account, etc. I’ve laid it out so that I know each account, what needs to get funded. Then I have all my savings accounts that I like to put money into as expenses. That’s a budget item. Putting money into my savings account is an expense.

That’s like the modern version of the envelope system.

Absolutely.

We’re all digital now, but I’ve talked to people recently who are still using cash in the envelope system. And if that works for them, go for it.

You know what? It works. I sometimes tell some people to use the envelope system for three months just to get the feel of it, if you can’t quite grasp it with the digital.

I see that a lot too, people need structure and discipline. Having multiple online accounts or envelopes gives them a good framework. It’s also useful for taxes. Not the W2 employee, but someone who is self-employed or has their own business. It can be so easy to get behind if you don’t constantly put money aside in that tax bucket — whether it’s on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.

The Importance of Reinforcing Good Financial Habits

The philosophy of baby steps also works with something like paying down debt. Debt can be overwhelming — many people think they’re never going to be able to get out of it. How do you help someone find financial freedom in regard to debt?

First of all, I ask clients to list all credit card and debt balances. Next to the debt amount, list the interest rate on each account. Then, I recommend paying down one or two of the smallest balances first. This way, clients feel like they got some headway.

And then, as you pay off some of the other credit cards, you then take those payments and apply them to the remaining credit card debt or the remaining student loan debt. For my clients, this feels a lot more digestible.

Now, some financial professionals would recommend people pay off the highest interest rate debt first, but paying off small balances really feels like a win. At the same time, I encourage people to save $50-$100. Some people think that’s crazy, because you’re paying interest by not allocating that money to the debt. But, I’m helping clients create a habit of saving. I don’t think solely paying off debt or solely saving curates a healthy relationship with money.

I think you bring up a good point, that it’s not always just about numbers. It makes sense to get some wins by paying off small debt, then take that monthly expense and add it onto the next debt you’re working off. But also, create that habit of saving. Because eventually when you do pay off this debt, you don’t want to start from scratch figuring out how to save. That would create a battle between going back into debt and learning to save, a brand new habit.

Absolutely, we want to keep reinforcing good habits by rewarding ourselves.

What do you do if you’re working with two spouses and they’re on opposite sides of the spectrum, in terms of how they think about money? How do you get them on a good path forward?

How to Have Conversations About Money With Your Spouse

That’s interesting. We all have different beliefs, and they don’t mean that anybody is right or wrong. I just say, look, there’s just different ways that we all approach finance, so let’s get curious about each other’s perspectives. If one of you loves to spend, maybe then you’re not the one in charge of the household budget. Find your strengths.

So I may ask my clients what emotions come up for them when their spouse is out spending left and right. Or, on the contrary, if their spouse is hoarding every dollar. The reality is, both of those extremes are based on fear. So I work with them, through conversation, to find a middle ground that allows each of them to appreciate their strengths and acknowledge their weaknesses. It’s not just compromising, but finding that middle ground.

But I will say that there has to be communication. If you’re with somebody that’s a constant spender, lives on the edge, gambles and blows through money, and you do not have a high tolerance for pain — that may not be a sustainable relationship.

It’s important to have conversations about money and not conflicts or arguments. We must learn to understand where we’re similar and different, and really communicate that. Say, “Hey, it really freaks me out when you pick expensive restaurants, because I’m thinking we could have made that at home.”

It’s probably challenging, because there’s a fine line between a discussion and a confrontation — where one person feels that they’re getting attacked. But I’m sure getting that communication out there is healthy.

A lot of times that I work with couples I’m helping them lay the groundwork for communication. It’s an acquired skill.

You mentioned where your money habits came from, but I know some developed from your trip to Africa as well.

How Gratitude Can Transform Your Relationship With Money

Yeah, I think some people may resonate with this. Prior to my trip to Africa, I was taught that I am my accomplishments: I needed to go to a good college, I needed to get straight A’s, I needed to get awards — my value was in what I could produce. When I was in Africa, I met people whose average income was $100/person per year, but they were extremely happy. They were extremely giving.

Back in the States, I had purchased a Mercedes Benz, because I needed that. So I was looking at all these people and thinking, ‘How can you be happy? Something’s wrong with you.’ They didn’t have nice things or accomplishments, and it really messed with my mind.

I had to do some soul searching and realized that I was working off of a premise that I didn’t really believe either. But I had agreed to it. Being able to let that go and actually come from a place of gratitude made all the difference in my life. My mindset changed to, ‘Wow, I have so much — I have running water, a car that gets me to work, the ability to buy clothes if I don’t like the ones that I have, etc.’ I realized I had a lot of abundance once I shifted my mindset to gratitude.

It was really mind blowing to realize how much I was attached to my accomplishments, and how much pressure that was putting on me.

Yeah. It kind of puts things into perspective when you’re over there and you see how things go. You’re also the CFO of The Comedy Store, right?

Yes, I am the CFO of The Comedy Store.

How did you get into that?

Well, I was doing stand-up comedy to pay the bills — at the time, accounting wasn’t cutting it — and I was performing at The Comedy Store. One of my friends told the owner that I was a CPA. At the time, The Comedy Store had about $100,000 in payroll taxes that they hadn’t paid. Basically, they were getting ready to close the doors.

So, the owner called me up asking for help, and I said yes. I didn’t expect to be there long, but it’s been 24 years now. I love the store.

Nice. Are you still doing stand-up comedy there, as well?

Not as much, because it’s hard to do stand-up and then come off stage to the employees asking me to sign their paycheck. I do stand-up at coffee houses and other little places, like La Jolla Club, where I can be more inconspicuous.

Nice. Okay, we’re just about out of time. Bob, I want to thank you for being on the show today. How best can someone learn more about you and what you do?

Listeners can check out themoneynerve.com. I also have a podcast and a book. On themoneynerve.com, we have an online course called Mastering the Emotions of Money. Also, listeners can feel free to just reach out. I love being a resource to help people learn to have a better, healthier relationship with money.

Great, we’ll link to all that in the show notes.

Awesome.

And thank you to everyone for tuning in to today’s episode.