For an emerging defense technology company, winning a government contract can be a major milestone. But becoming truly ready to compete for and execute that contract starts well before an opportunity is released.
Your technology may be innovative. Your team may understand the mission. But government buyers, primes and other partners need more than a promising solution. They need to understand what problem you solve, why your company is different and whether your organization is prepared to deliver.
That was one of the central themes discussed at Mission Ready: Compliance, Comms & Capital for Defense Tech, part of the Dual Use Academy at STATION Austin. Badger Director Ashley Landes, CPA joined Joy Schoffler and Samantha Brown of Distinctive Edge Partners, along with Amanda Merced, Partner at Berry & Partners, to discuss what growing defense companies need to consider as they pursue opportunities in the federal market.
Across those different disciplines, one message was consistent: Being ready to win starts with building the right foundation.
Here are five areas dual-use and emerging defense companies should consider as they prepare for growth.
1. Know the Problem You Solve and Be Able to Explain It Simply
Defense technology is often complex. Your explanation of it should not be.
Founders and technical teams can become so immersed in their technology that their messaging focuses on features, technical specifications or the larger vision rather than the practical problem being solved.
What does your product actually do? Who needs it? What problem does it solve? Why does that problem matter to the mission?
The person evaluating your company may not share your technical background. If it takes a lengthy explanation to understand why your technology matters, you may lose an opportunity before you have a chance to demonstrate its full value.
Having someone on your team who can translate highly technical concepts into clear business and mission language can be invaluable. Clarity does not make your technology seem less sophisticated. It makes its value easier to understand.
2. Build Visibility Before the Opportunity Is Released
One of the biggest mistakes growing government contractors can make is waiting until an opportunity is formally announced to start positioning themselves. By then, important conversations may have already happened.
Defense companies should think about visibility as an ongoing strategy rather than something that begins with an RFP. That means understanding the organizations you want to work with, identifying the appropriate decision-makers and building relationships within the defense ecosystem.
Before reaching out, understand the organization, its mission and the specific challenges it is trying to address. A highly targeted conversation about a known problem will generally be more meaningful than a broad pitch about everything your company can do.
Your digital presence matters here, too. LinkedIn, your website, thought leadership and other online content can help potential partners and decision-makers understand your expertise before you ever speak with them directly. Increasingly, that content can also influence how companies are surfaced and understood through AI-driven search and referral tools.
Do not wait for an opportunity to introduce yourself. Build credibility before you need it.
3. Differentiate How You Deliver, Not Just What You Built
Having differentiated technology remains important, but technology alone may not always provide a sustainable competitive advantage.
AI and other emerging technologies are accelerating how quickly certain capabilities can be developed, replicated or adapted. Defense technology companies should therefore ask a broader question: If another company could build something similar, why would a customer still choose us?
The answer may be found in how you deliver. Implementation, customer support, domain expertise, speed, security, integration capabilities, partnerships and the ability to successfully operationalize technology can all become meaningful differentiators.
Your proposal should communicate not only what makes the product different, but what makes your company uniquely equipped to solve the problem. This becomes increasingly important as a company grows. The organizations that successfully scale are often those that can turn innovative technology into a repeatable, reliable capability for their customers.
4. Use AI Thoughtfully in Proposals and Positioning
AI is quickly becoming part of the business development process, including research, proposal development, capability statements and marketing. Used well, it can help teams work faster. But speed should not come at the expense of accuracy or differentiation.
AI-generated proposal language can easily become generic. More importantly, without careful human review, it can create language that overstates a company’s capabilities, understates an important differentiator or simply does not accurately reflect how the company operates.
For government contractors, accuracy matters. Use AI as a tool to support your team, not as a substitute for subject-matter expertise. Technical leaders, business development teams, accounting professionals and compliance advisors should still validate the claims being made.
The strongest proposal is not necessarily the one with the most polished language. It is the one that clearly and accurately demonstrates why your company is equipped to solve the problem.
5. Make Sure Your Financial Infrastructure Is Ready for the Contract You Want to Win
Winning a defense contract is exciting. Winning one your back office is not prepared to support can create an entirely different set of challenges.
As companies move into government contracting, accounting requirements can become significantly more complex. Labor distribution, timekeeping, indirect cost allocation, job costing, documentation and internal controls can all become critical components of contract performance and compliance.
These systems should not be an afterthought once a contract has already been awarded.
For example, if a prime contractor or government agency asks your team to substantiate labor costs, can you reconstruct the records accurately? Do employees understand timekeeping requirements? Are direct and indirect costs being classified consistently? Can your accounting system provide visibility into the actual cost and profitability of a contract?
For companies pursuing opportunities where DCAA requirements may apply, these questions become even more important. The DCAA Pre-Award Survey of Prospective Contractor Accounting System Checklist provides a useful view of the processes and controls contractors may be expected to document. In addition, FAR Part 31 outlines federal contract cost principles, including the treatment of direct and indirect costs and requirements around cost allowability and supporting documentation.
A strong accounting infrastructure helps accomplish two things at once: support compliance and give leadership better information to manage growth.
Contract-level financial visibility allows leaders to understand margins, manage cash flow, plan hiring and determine whether growth is actually creating profitability.
That is why financial readiness should begin before the contract is awarded, not after.
| MISSION-READY QUESTION
If you win the contract tomorrow, can your accounting, compliance and operating systems support it? |
Mission Readiness Is a Business Strategy
For emerging defense and dual-use companies, readiness is bigger than compliance. It is the combination of having a compelling solution, communicating its value clearly, building the right relationships, establishing credibility and creating an operational foundation capable of supporting growth.
Before pursuing the next opportunity, leadership teams should ask:
- Can we clearly explain the problem we solve?
- Do the right people know who we are?
- Is our differentiation bigger than our technology?
- Are we accurately representing our capabilities?
- If we win the contract tomorrow, are our accounting systems and processes ready to execute it successfully?
Winning the contract is an important milestone. Building a company capable of delivering on it is what creates sustainable growth.
How Badger Supports Growing Government Contractors
Badger works with government contractors at different stages of growth to build and strengthen the financial infrastructure behind their contracts.
Our GovCon accounting team helps companies navigate areas including DCAA and FAR compliance, indirect rates, labor distribution, job costing, accounting system design and ongoing financial management.
The goal is not simply to help companies remain compliant. It is to give leadership the financial visibility and infrastructure needed to make better decisions as the business grows.
Preparing for your next government contract? Talk with Badger about whether your accounting systems and processes are ready to support it.