PROUD MEMBER OF THE VIB NETWORK

We are proud to be a VIB (Veterans In Business) Network Member and we celebrated by attending the VIB National Conference in San Diego, CA at the Kona Kai Resort on October 28th and 29th of this year.

We listened to guest speakers, networked with like-minded veteran businesses and attended the Tactical Networking Roundtables.

We learned about the process of doing business with local and state government entities, the certification process for each entity and the way to research current and past RFP’s (Request For Proposals). We also learned how to win government and state contracts by getting in front of the “right people”. That old adage, “It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know”. Is especially helpful when dealing with these types of large state and government regulated businesses.

We were initially apprehensive about doing business with state and government entities thinking about the amount of red tape that would have to be cut in order to win and work on a project. We were wrong. It is easier than one might think. Once a business is certified with the state or pass their preliminary requirements, it is as easy as applying for the open projects.

One thing that is very important is that your company must be able to do what it purports to do and in the time required to complete the task. Otherwise, they will never do business with you again. You are basically working with one or two people for each project who will oversee your performance. They then decide if you will get more projects. In this regard, it’s similar to working with the private sector.  Your reputation is everything.

Thank you to all those companies who supported this event!

If you are a Veteran Owned Business and would like to join the VIB, please visit their website here:  https://www.vibnetwork.org

A reminder:  After Dark Grafx offers a 20% discount for Veteran Owned Businesses for the following services: Website Design, Graphic Design, Shopify Development, Miva Merchant Development, Magento Development, E-Commerce Development, Search Engine Optimization Services and APP Development Services.