Grow and Expand with STRADA

Are you looking for new ways to expand your business? Or to grow your revenue through more government awards? Are you looking for funding that will enable you to develop new technologies?

Have you wondered about how to find more award opportunities and how to move more easily through the pre-award process to yield higher win-rates?

The STRADA team can help! The Department of Defense (DoD) budget for fiscal year (FY) 2024 is the most strategically driven yet and provides for an array of quickly evolving technologies and innovative applications that support national interests. The total DoD discretionary budget request allots for $842 billion and has allotments for all types of businesses in defense-related activities, including feasibility studies, research and development, high-risk innovation efforts, and commercialization activities.

Our team understands the funding goals of the DoD agencies and can identify funding opportunities suited for you, whether that is SBIR/STTR, DARPA, IARPA, and more. We specialize in identifying agencies and award and contract types that support your specific business goals and capabilities.

For example, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) for programs such as high-risk R&D efforts that redefine what is possible for air, ground, maritime, and space domains (see https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities). And the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide funding specifically to support small business innovation by meeting federal R&D needs and to increase private-sector commercialization of new technologies (https://www.sbir.gov/).

What goes into winning an award? Three main steps.

1) Identify an opportunity and make the decision to pursue it. In identifying opportunities, it’s important to understand the goals of the funding agency and to understand the types of funding vehicles that are available through that agency or BAA.

2) Write and submit a proposal. This is where you need to be really clear on how you are adding value for the government customer and make sure that comes through clearly in your writing. Develop a reasonable cost budget (not too high or too low) and, if you can, identify how much funding is available for that particular opportunity. Throughout the process, always make sure you are in compliance with the BAA; otherwise, that becomes an easy point for rejection.

3) Contract negotiations. The program manager may negotiate with you on items such the final budget, contract type, and program deliverables. It’s useful to be prepared and ready to respond in a way that meets everyone’s interests.

Our team helps with all three of these steps (finding opportunities, writing/submitting proposals, and contract negotiations). We specialize in compliance, budgets, teaming considerations, negotiations, and developing and writing value-added proposals for the government. Contact us to talk about how we can help grow your business.

STRADA Team & Advisors