Opportunity to Start Your Own Business With Support and Customers

This will be a relatively short post, so take a minute and read it.

I had a medium-sized pharmaceutical company reach out to me seeking a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOSB) to partner with. They would like to sell more into the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and want an SDVOSB to work with to make them more competitive (the VA has a STRONG preference to spend their money on SDVOSBs).

What do they do?

Basically, they buy generic drugs wholesale, package them into individual-size containers, and then re-sell them.

Right now, I am doing some research to see if I can find them an existing business to partner with, but they also expressed interest in helping me (or one of you) start a new business. They would help you get the business up and running and would be there to bid on contracts with you. Considering they already have done a lot of business with the government, that means something.

This Follows a Pattern

Since looking for a small business to buy, I have looked at a lot of small businesses that primarily work with the government. They usually get started in one of three ways:

1. An entrepreneur starts their business as a contractor of one (them). They land a spot as a subcontractor, build up their work, and then land a larger subcontract that enables them to hire more people and grow.

2. They have a high level of expertise and they skip the part in #1 where they have to work by themselves and can get larger contracts because they have enough expertise or clout. This means they are usually coming from the SES or flag officer ranks in the government.

3. A larger business is looking for a small business partner and they directly reach out to the entrepreneur and they start a small business with the larger company’s support.

For what it is worth, I typically see #3 the most. I looked at a small government contractor that got started just like this. The owner was approached by a large company who wanted a woman-owned small business to work with and they helped her get off the ground. When I met her 10 years later and she was selling, she was taking home over $1 million per year from the business and ended up selling for $7-9 million. So this model can work really well.

I am about to start a new venture myself, otherwise I would try this one. Who knows- I still might.

But if this sounds interesting to any of you, respond via email and I can fill you in more.

Go crush it,

Mark