What if my only past performance is commercial?

That is the common case and it is workable. Commercial work gets translated into the structure a CO reads — customer, scope, period, value, reference — and framed against the federal requirement it most resembles. What does not work is having no delivery history at all. A firm that has never performed the work has a business problem rather than a document problem.

Do I need a different version for each agency?

Eventually, and the source file is why you get one. This engagement produces one general statement plus guidance on what to swap for a specific agency or prime — usually the lead competency line and the order of past performance entries. Building targeted versions for four agencies is more useful once you know which four, and that is a conversation for after your first real outreach.

How is this different from the template I already downloaded?

The template is a layout. The work here is deciding what goes in it — which competencies to claim, which past performance to lead with, which differentiators survive the substitution test, and what to cut so one page stays one page. The layout is the smallest part of the job and it is the only part a template solves.

Can you also pick my NAICS and PSC codes?

Not under this offer. I use the codes you give me, and if they look wrong for what you sell I will say so in the delivery note. Selecting codes properly means looking at three years of spend under each candidate code, who won it, and what size standard applies. That is accelerator work, and it changes the document enough that doing it afterward means writing the statement twice.

Is Section 508 conformance actually worth anything on a PDF?

To you, mildly. To the contracting officer who forwards it inside an agency with an accessibility policy, yes. It costs me nothing to produce a properly tagged document and it removes a small reason for your statement to be the one that does not get passed along.

Will you write it if I disagree with the differentiators you cut?

The revision round is where that gets settled, and you own the final document. I will make the case once for why a line does not differentiate you, and if you still want it, it goes in. It is your statement and your name on it.

Is the $250 strategy call credited against this?

Yes. Book the call first and this is $500. The credit applies once, within 90 days of the call.

Capability Statement: one page a CO will actually read

$750

flat

A one-page capability statement written the way a contracting officer reads one — company data block, core competencies stated as capabilities, past performance in a citable format, and differentiators that are actually differentiating. Delivered as a tagged, accessible PDF and an editable source file.

Written by someone who reads these from the buyer's side, not a designer filling in a template.

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Who this is for

This is for you if

You are registered in SAM with an active UEI and CAGE, your NAICS and PSC codes are already selected and roughly correct, and you need a document to put in front of small business specialists, OSDBU offices, and prime contractor supplier portals. You have past performance you can substantiate, federal or commercial. Most firms who buy this already have a capability statement — one built from a template they downloaded, full of adjectives, with a logo where the contract numbers should be.

This is not for you if

Not for you if you are not registered yet. An active UEI and CAGE belong in the data block, and a statement without them tells a contracting officer you are not ready to be bought from. Registration plus code selection plus this document is the Federal Accelerator, and buying them separately costs more. Not for you if your NAICS and PSC codes have never been checked against what the government actually buys — I will write from the codes you give me, and the accelerator is where codes get selected against spend data rather than guessed. Not for you if you have no past performance of any kind, federal or commercial; there is no way to write around an empty past performance section and I will not fill it with mission statements. Not for you if you want the numbers stretched — an inflated contract value or a reference who will not confirm the work is a past performance problem waiting to happen, and I will decline the engagement rather than write it. Not for you if you want a twelve-page capability deck, a brochure, a logo, or a website; the web presence module is a $2,000 add-on for accelerator clients and it is not this. Not for you if you want me to send the statement to buyers on your behalf — outreach is yours, and if you want standing help running it that is the pipeline retainer. And not for you if you need it tomorrow for a bid due Friday; five business days is the turnaround, and a capability statement is not a proposal document anyway.

What you get

A one-page capability statement as a print-ready PDF, tagged and Section 508 conformant, so it survives being forwarded, printed, and read on a phone.
A company data block a contracting officer can act on: legal name, DBA, UEI, CAGE, socioeconomic and set-aside statuses, primary and secondary NAICS with size standards, PSC codes, accepted payment methods, POC, and place of performance.
Core competencies written as capabilities rather than adjectives. Four to six lines that name what you do, at what scale, with what equipment or credentials — not "customer-focused solutions provider."
Past performance in the format a CO can verify: customer, contract or PO number, period of performance, value, scope in one line, and a reference who has agreed to be called. Commercial work translated into that structure when federal work does not exist yet.
A differentiators section that survives the substitution test — if a competitor could put their name on the sentence and it would still be true, it does not go in the document.
An editable source file in Word and Google Docs, so you can update past performance yourself without paying anyone. The PDF is the deliverable, the source is so it does not go stale.
One revision round after you have read it, covering wording, emphasis, and which past performance entries to lead with. Structural rewrites are a second engagement, and I will tell you which one you are asking for.
A one-page note on how to use it — who to send it to, what to put in the email body, and what to do differently for a prime's supplier portal versus a small business specialist.

A contracting officer or small business specialist spends well under a minute on a capability statement the first time it crosses their desk. That minute is spent looking for four things: whether you are registered, whether your codes match what they buy, whether you have done the work before, and who to call. Most capability statements make all four hard to find, because they were built from a template that leads with a mission statement.

This is one page, built around those four things, in the order they get looked for.

How it works

You send the intake. Company data, codes, certifications, and the past performance you would actually want cited — customer, contract number, period, value, and a reference who knows the work.
I read what you already have. Existing statement, website, proposals, line card. Usually there is a real differentiator buried in it that nobody put on page one.
I check your past performance is citable. Values and periods that match the contract, references who have agreed to be called. If something will not stand up, you hear it from me before it goes in a document.
You get the draft on day five. PDF plus editable source, with a note on what I cut and why.
One revision round. You send comments, I turn them around in two business days, and the final PDF is yours.

What goes on the page

The data block, high and scannable. UEI, CAGE, NAICS with size standards, PSC, set-aside statuses, POC. This is what gets checked first and it should never be at the bottom in six-point type.

Core competencies as capabilities. “Fabrication and installation of shipboard piping systems to MIL-STD-1689” is a capability. “Quality-driven solutions” is filler that costs you the line it occupies.

Past performance a CO can verify. Contract numbers and real references. The point of this section is not to impress anyone, it is to be checkable.

Differentiators that pass the substitution test. If a competitor could put their name on the sentence and it stays true, it is not a differentiator. Most statements fail this on every line.

What I will not do

I will not write past performance you cannot substantiate, inflate a contract value, or list a reference who has not agreed to take the call. Past performance is the one section where a stretch becomes a responsibility determination problem later, and that is a worse outcome than a thin section honestly written.

Where this fits

If you are not registered yet, this document is one step of a longer sequence and the Federal Accelerator includes it. If you have a specific solicitation in hand right now, the statement is not the thing that decides it — the opportunity assessment is.

Timeline

5 business days from a complete intake, weekdays. Complete means the intake form, your past performance details with contract numbers and values, and any existing marketing material. The clock starts when the last item lands, not when you pay. The revision round is a further 2 business days after you send comments.

Common questions

What if my only past performance is commercial?: That is the common case and it is workable. Commercial work gets translated into the structure a CO reads — customer, scope, period, value, reference — and framed against the federal requirement it most resembles. What does not work is having no delivery history at all. A firm that has never performed the work has a business problem rather than a document problem.
Do I need a different version for each agency?: Eventually, and the source file is why you get one. This engagement produces one general statement plus guidance on what to swap for a specific agency or prime — usually the lead competency line and the order of past performance entries. Building targeted versions for four agencies is more useful once you know which four, and that is a conversation for after your first real outreach.
How is this different from the template I already downloaded?: The template is a layout. The work here is deciding what goes in it — which competencies to claim, which past performance to lead with, which differentiators survive the substitution test, and what to cut so one page stays one page. The layout is the smallest part of the job and it is the only part a template solves.
Can you also pick my NAICS and PSC codes?: Not under this offer. I use the codes you give me, and if they look wrong for what you sell I will say so in the delivery note. Selecting codes properly means looking at three years of spend under each candidate code, who won it, and what size standard applies. That is accelerator work, and it changes the document enough that doing it afterward means writing the statement twice.
Is Section 508 conformance actually worth anything on a PDF?: To you, mildly. To the contracting officer who forwards it inside an agency with an accessibility policy, yes. It costs me nothing to produce a properly tagged document and it removes a small reason for your statement to be the one that does not get passed along.
Will you write it if I disagree with the differentiators you cut?: The revision round is where that gets settled, and you own the final document. I will make the case once for why a line does not differentiate you, and if you still want it, it goes in. It is your statement and your name on it.
Is the $250 strategy call credited against this?: Yes. Book the call first and this is $500. The credit applies once, within 90 days of the call.

Ready to hand a CO something they can act on?

Tell me what you are bidding on and where you are stuck. If this is not the right engagement for it, I will say so and point you at the one that is.

Book a call