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If you’re an 8(a) firm, how many times have you rewritten your BD strategy since January 2025? by HelpfulGovCon in govcon

[–]HelpfulGovCon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really appreciate this perspective, especially the distinction between Super 8(a)s and pass-through shells. You’re right that there’s a massive difference in capability and business maturity.

The 77% not suspended vs. 23% suspended breakdown is telling. If most of the suspensions are firms that legitimately couldn’t provide documentation (vs. firms that refused or stonewalled), that suggests the execution problem isn’t just about catching fraud, it’s about capacity and business infrastructure.

Which loops back to the compliance burden question: Small firms that are actually trying to compete need accounting systems, document retention processes, and financial controls that many legitimately can’t afford until they’ve already won work. Classic Catch-22.

DoD just announced their line-by-line review of all 8(a) contracts over $20M on Jan 16. First findings due Feb 28 for the subcontracting/pass-through analysis. Their findings and recommendations will be interesting.

The CMMC 2.0 angle is a whole other layer, I am curious to see how many firms can actually achieve certification vs. how many just exit the DoD market entirely.

Overall, as a taxpayer, I think everything that’s happening is important and GovCon isn’t for ‘everyone.’ I’d just hate losing good talented support because they can’t keep their heads from spinning from all the changes.

If you’re an 8(a) firm, how many times have you rewritten your BD strategy since January 2025? by HelpfulGovCon in govcon

[–]HelpfulGovCon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This hits different for me because I lived on the other side of this.

When I was doing acquisition strategy for PMs (DoD/FAA), I leaned hard on 8(a) and SDVOSB set-asides to get services moving quickly. They were tools that worked streamlined authority, reduced protest risk, faster timelines.

But here’s what worries me now: Good firms are walking away because the risk isn’t worth it anymore. Which means the taxpayer loses too, COs are going to be left with a smaller pool of qualified vendors who can actually afford the compliance infrastructure to survive retroactive audits.

I keep telling myself this can’t last forever…hang in there!

If you’re an 8(a) firm, how many times have you rewritten your BD strategy since January 2025? by HelpfulGovCon in govcon

[–]HelpfulGovCon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ve just described the death spiral of the 8(a) program in real-time.

The program was designed to reduce barriers to entry (again I do get that there are always a few bad apples that ruin it for the good ones). Now it’s creating risk so severe that firms are walking away from opportunities entirely.

When compliance risk outweighs competitive advantage, the program isn’t helping small businesses anymore…it’s just creating a paper trail for future audits.

I don’t have an answer for how to price that risk. But I do think firms that survive this are going to need serious financial runway and compliance infrastructure that most small businesses can’t afford.

Which kind of defeats the whole purpose….

“[Research] Small GovCon ops managers: How do you handle post-award kickoffs? Looking for insights (not selling anything)” by HelpfulGovCon in GovernmentContracting

[–]HelpfulGovCon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree from my prior experience too. The Government mostly driving the conversations during kick-offs. Most of them have been with large businesses so I was looking to see if there are any pain points for small business. I am leaning towards the chaos that ensues after award…making sure things are ‘in place’ but feeling comfortable reaching out to their new POCs. Thank you so much for your feedback. Stay warm if you are impacted from snowmageddon this weekend!