Practical support for federal pursuit decisions
Contracting Authority helps small firms evaluate federal opportunities, prepare capability evidence and review proposals against published requirements.
Each engagement has a defined deliverable and published pricing. A recommendation can be to bid, resolve a specific uncertainty or stop a pursuit.
What we do
Three things, in the order a firm usually needs them. We assess whether a specific solicitation is winnable for you and put the verdict in writing. We position a firm so that the next solicitation is one it can answer — codes, capability statement, past performance framing. And we work a live bid alongside the people writing it, building the compliance matrix and scoring the draft the way an evaluation board will.
What we do not do is write the proposal for you. The technical approach has to come from the people who will perform the work; a response written entirely by a consultant reads like one to the board scoring it.
Who this is for
Owners of small firms going after a first federal award — most often service-disabled veteran-owned and veteran-owned businesses, registered in SAM or close to it, and not yet converting any of it into contracts.
The common factor is that you can already perform the work if you win it. Everything here is about arranging what your firm can already do so that a federal buyer can see it. None of it manufactures a capability you do not have, and none of it will make a firm ready that is not.
How we read a solicitation
The method is published rather than described, because a method you cannot inspect is a claim. Every solicitation goes through the same three gates before anything else happens.
- Gate 1 — Is the door actually open
- Set-aside type, size standard, certification requirements, and the registration state you have to be in on the day of award. A firm that fails Gate 1 cannot win the contract no matter how good the response is, and unresolved eligibility is a reason to pause the pursuit.
- Gate 2 — Were the requirements written for someone else
- Salient characteristics, minimum experience thresholds, and evaluation factors built on a track record that only an incumbent has. This is the gate most firms skip, and it is the one that costs the most when it is skipped — a week of your best people, spent on a competition that was decided before it opened.
- Gate 3 — Can you perform it and still make money
- Limitations on subcontracting, wage determinations, payment timing, and the capacity the work actually consumes. A first federal award that loses money is a worse outcome than a no-bid.
Inside a bid, the same discipline applies to the document itself: read Section M before Section C. The evaluation criteria decide the award; the statement of work only tells you what the job is. A response that covers every word of Section C and ignores Section M is a compliant document that loses to a worse company with a better-organised volume. That read is worked through in full in the briefing on Sections L and M, and it is the first thing an opportunity assessment does to your solicitation.
Why the work is paid, and never on contingency
No contingency. No commission. No percentage of an award. Nothing in the fee structure pays more when you bid, and nothing pays at all when you win. There is no arrangement here that rewards us for telling you to go for it.
That is not a principle, it is arithmetic. A consultant paid on contingency has to find a reason to bid, because a no-bid pays them nothing. A consultant paid a flat fee can tell you the requirement was written for the incumbent, hand you the evidence, and be finished.
Every engagement is priced so the answer can be no. The opportunity assessment is the clearest case: $1,000 for a written verdict on one solicitation, and that verdict is sometimes a no-bid. You paid $1,000 to keep a week of your best people out of an unwinnable pursuit. That is the offer working, not failing.
A number and an end. Engagements run from $250 to $3,000 a month, and every one of them names a deliverable and a date before you pay. No open hourly rate, no scope that grows quietly, no retainer that exists to keep a seat warm.
- Practice
- Federal bid-decision and capture consulting
- Clients
- Small firms pursuing a first federal award
- Engagements
- Fixed fee, named deliverable, named date
- Area served
- United States, remote
Who leads the practice
Contracting Authority is led by Braylin Pichardo, a U.S. Army veteran with software engineering and product ownership experience. The practice supports small-business owners with federal opportunity research, positioning and proposal preparation.
Our consulting support is distinct from any government agency or training provider. We do not promise awards. Published examples are identified as illustrative unless a documented source is supplied.
Review our service scopes and pricing and published briefings before choosing an engagement.
Engagement boundaries
Our services cover defined research, positioning and review tasks. Your team remains responsible for its delivery capability and technical content. We do not offer award guarantees, sell prime-contractor introductions or act as a substitute for legal advice. Large or complex pursuits require a separately agreed scope.
Reaching us
By appointment. Written questions get an answer within one business day, Monday to Friday, through the contact form.
Hire the read, not the enthusiasm.
Sixty paid minutes on your firm, your codes, and whether federal work is worth your next twelve months. The $250 is credited against anything you book afterward.