Dashboard: Every Business Should Know About Apex Accelerators

welcome to another 21 hats dashboard brought to you by our sponsor the great game of business I'm Lauren Feldman and I'm here with genan marks welcome back Jean thank you Lauren I have missed you I've been all over the country Charlotte Kansas City Orlando tucon and all I've been thinking about is when am I gonna talk to Lauren again when I've been thinking the same thing did you did you learn anything in all those travels I learned a lot WEA that's a separate episode I mean I really should share with you some of these uh associations that I'm speaking to they you know manufacturing distribution construction and uh uh it's feed on the ground reporting I mean I go there I I speak my thing but I'm always there early so I'm listening to their the general business meetings and what's going on in the industry and it's fascinating you know what's going on around the country and it all depends on so many different factors but another it's another topic for another day that sounds great I would love to do that but for today uh Jean you wrote a piece recently about something called Apex accelerators a little known program within the Department of Defense that helps small businesses pursue government contracts and not just within the Pentagon um and not just within the federal government it sounds pretty amazing tell us about it so first of all thank you for bringing this up because I I I stumbled on it um it is a um you know doing a piece of affili inquire on just you know how you can get help from the government you know and it's kind of a big piece you know to do that because there's a lot of different a lot of different resource in the government and I Stu it on apex and uh I just want I just want to make sure that you know if you're listening to our conversation right now what this Apex can do for you I mean there is there's no shortage of business owners my client the people I speak to the people I my readers that run businesses everybody wants to do business with the government I mean you hear about trillions of dollars being spent you know by the over in these different bills and you're like I'd love to get a piece of this but then most of us don't because we first of all we think like yeah what's my business going to do for the government but more importantly you know that sounds like a major pain than n you know like getting certified and figuring out where and where do I even start and how much time do I have to commit and all that kind of stuff and and it is I don't want to Sugar C any of this but what this Apex does is again they're called Apex EX cators you can you can you know Google them um they have know look how many 100 locations around the country something like that they um they're part of the Department of Defense but they basically facilitate businesses with all departments in the federal government and if you are just looking to do business with the government start with them like I interviewed three business owners that wanted to do business with the government one was like like security dogs like German Shepherds another one is like in the manufacturing world and another one um is actually distribution business in the automotive industry and all three of them were like yeah we'd like to do business with the government we're looking to expand but we don't even know where to start and what to do we don't have any government con we don't know what the hell they're doing they stumbled on apex as well if you reach out to Apex accelerators their job is to get you contracts with the government small businesses I mean that is their job so they will you know figure out with you what your thck code is your standard industry code line I think that's what it stands for you know your industry you know um y they will then match you based on your industry with all open pending and to be open government contracts then they will say to you here are the contracts that you can be likeit bigs for here's where you go to submit the bid then when you start you know going through the process you're G to bang your head against the wall and want to jump out the window because it's a pain in the neck and you know you run into all these you know whatever all these obstacles so you go back to Apex and they that's what they do they'll be like oh okay you need to fill this out or you need to get this or you need to answer that or that's what this me they literally guide and coaching through the whole process completely for free and then what they do is like there's contracts that are out there that um I've been awarded already to large larger companies that are mandated to use small businesses on their contracts and these bigger companies are are they're desperate for small businesses to keep their contract they got to find small businesses to give their give money to so they they point you to those companies as well and then they also are well aware of all state contracts going on because the federal government gives money to the states who then turns it into State contracts so they point you to those contracts as well and again most importantly they hold your hand and they guide you through the whole thing so you know stop I'm too much about this alarm but like each one of these three people I talk to yes they had to spend time doing this it's not like Ajax doesn't do the work for you you still got to go and apply but these guys whenever they had a question they had a they had an individual that was specifically assigned to them at Apex they just emailed or called them and then Apex got them the answer they could move forward move forward move forward and all three of those people now each have a handful of government contracts that they're working off of and once you get into the system you start more contracts you know because people start to recognize you and you know they get confidence and reliability in you so the takeaway is if you want to do business with the federal government my advice Google and find Apex accelerators reach out to them I don't care what you do or or what you're uh you know what what experience you have working with the government they they will they will get you government contracts yeah Gina I'm sitting here and I'm wondering I I've been covering this kind of stuff for more than 20 years I don't I don't know how how I didn't know about this group and it it sounds like you didn't know about them either H how did you stumble upon them I forget I mean I was interviewing somebody with some government office the SBA or whatever and they just mentioned like oh well of course you know there's an organization agency called Apex accelerator that might help with that and I was just like what's that I've never heard of them before and then you know it's just that's how you know what I mean told you should help do this person Apex cwn University in Pennsylvania that's what I did I remember I I I interviewed this woman and she's explaining to me what they do and I'm like what like am I hearing this right you know why doesn't anybody else know and that's their biggest issue is you know creating awareness you know um they just do such a shitty job at creating awareness among business owners that this is out there and and it's their whole job to help business owners get you know contract so yeah and is that funny one like you've been doing this you know as long as I have and you know first I heard of these guys and I'm like she I'm gonna wrate about these again you know for the Chicago Daily AR I Chicago businesses too um but I I just I don't know I just think in this right now the economy that we're in you know it's economy is good but everybody's looking for more growth and more customers and you know everybody knows the government is spending trillions of dollars how do I get a piece that high this is where you go where go it's amazing you kind of suggested that almost any business could could find Value going there I mean are there any limits to that is there anybody you would say don't bother to or should everybody check I thought you were gonna I thought you were gonna ask me like what about you Jean you just said my next question je go go ahead what about you I don't think so but I should try like I don't like we saw fear in software um and I I think I'm being ignorant I think if I actually went to Apex my self and I and and I I should maybe I will when I do this next go around to Chicago waren and just ask the woman at you know at ktown University for the Apex location there uh you know we sh sheer in the software like T and Zoo how is you know is there anybody in the government that would want that there probably is they right the government's you know endless and maybe there's agencies and organizations that could use a good CRM software and I'm like being super ignorant like all I'm doing being a reporter here and talking about other companies when my own company do this and would make great stories so that's why I thought you an a I think you alled to it anyway I was going to and and I do think you should do it because no matter what I think it will help your story I think you'll learn something I agree I might take that angle for the next time I write about it because I'm gonna write about it more than once um you know it's also funny keep you know how all these companies you know the the three businesses that I like interviewed uh they tended to like lean a little bit to the right these business owners you know like you know government was government spending homeless money you know they're having to you know hold up their hands and take the contract you know and that's exactly what you do when you're a business I mean you put politics aside and you're just like listen uh you know I don't agree with all this you be the spending bill or this whatever but it's out there it's been legislated and I've got employees to worry about in the livelihood so I might as well take part of it and that's what they do it's amazing um well I'll be looking forward to that next story as well and I and I want to hear what happens um if they have something for you to do may maybe 21 hats could get a contract too I promise you I will do that when I write this next one and I speak to uh the next Apex representative um let me I'm gonna go down that road for my own company um I'll if my I make this uh you the assertion in the article that like well any company can do this you know the federal government music because that's what they say to me like there's not a business that couldn't benefit from this and I'm like all right well let me challenge that because you we still see your end software you really tell me that the government can use this and we'll see if uh if what this thing is true I love it all right so next topic you know I don't know what it is maybe it's because you've been away I've been hearing from lots of my listeners how much they love hearing me talk to you and how much they appreciate uh the stuff you share with them um and I think this story about Apex uh Apex accelerators is is a perfect example of that I don't know where else somebody's going to find something like this out but next story uh you uh you wrote recently about how inflation is still a problem for businesses tell us about that yeah you know I um so you know like I said I would love to share with you what I speak about when I go to these different associations but one of the things I do speak about is exactly what I wrote about this uh this past week in the guardian um which is inflation because every industry that I go to Lauren um you know you read the news that inflation is down and it's around 3% and you know it's it's getting to be which it is yeah which it is I mean it kicked up a little last month but that's not that big a deal and certainly you know compared to what it was before but um you know I can't I would get laughed out of the room if I were to just say that to a bunch of business owners in the manufacturing industry or in the distribution industry or in construction slapped out of the room and the reason why is because although you see like the CPI you know core consumer prices you know are around that 3% level when you compare cost for all these different Industries compared to two and three years ago and why by the way I think this is going to be just a Hu this a huge thing that's underlying I believe why people have a disapproval of Biden's handling of the economy I mean the economy has going great I think you know growth has been fine unemployment is so low and yet you know we read poll after poll that people are dissatisfied with the economy and you know inflation it's because people are paying a lot more you know at the grocery store in the supermarket than they were a couple years ago and when you talk to business owners and I just I gave a bunch of examples the guardian home I mean the cost of plastics and resins are up 24% compared to a couple years ago and industrial gases are in the 20s oil and grease your machines are like 35% more industrial chemicals 18 I mean I go on and on you know construction materials are up 30% overall other than they were since the last inauguration it's just been building and building and building and it's not like it's plateaued or it's coming down so now I go to these industry groups and I'm like you know yeah I mean like they're looking at me they're like we dealing with like significantly higher cost than we did two three years ago we're trying to get our arms around that there's only so much we can raise prices but where else is it going to come from other than our profits and our margins and that you know that is one one of the biggest issues that's faing businesses particularly small businesses when you look at surveys both the US chamber the nfib uh you know they they have their surveys about how business sentiment is going and you know the national Federation of Independent Business sentiment survey and by the way they the right so you got to take that a grain of Sal too but you know they' shown like thinking like 12 year low uh you know small business confidence the number one issue is inflation and people in the media are like what do you mean inflation is inflation down to 3% what are these guys you know whining about it's not the year toe average it's just how fast and how be to price has increased over just the past two to three years you know what I mean that that's what I'm seeing out there and that's what I wrote about so you know I think all of that is certainly true um I I feel as though you could have put in some other information in the piece uh well I I was surprised by one thing I mean you did highlight the Consumer Price Index which the most recent uh month that it did come in higher than expected and you know we had been getting used to it falling and that was a bit of a shock but I think within a week after that the producer price index came in and it was a lot calmer and I'm pretty sure I've heard from you that that is the uh metric that you watch more carefully because it's forward-looking and it's about what businesses actually have to pay and I think you know it was in the 2% plus uh range not 3% plus am I right about that you're 100% right and and and I've said that in the past and most mostly when when we in the froze of higher inflation I was looking at the PPI say me well that's going to really tell us if if it's going to continue on and um it's not you know the PPI you're absolutely right as not only has it calm down but it's it's in lower levels than CPI which basically means the rate of inflation the rate of increase um is it's under control I mean it's it's around for producer prices around 2% or two and a half percent so that's really good news in the sense that inflation is St spiraling out of control up you know what I mean it's definitely been tempered but it's still doesn't solve the problem of like our prices being so much higher than they were a couple years ago you know it's not a lot of business to figure it out what to do about that so I think it's just two different things it's why in you know if this is an article on oh my God you know are we are are prices going to continue to go up and whatever I mean I would have looked at the PPI and said N I think we can calm down on that um this problem was just like inflation is just still a major problem and it's because of how fast costs have risen um that businesses are still trying to get their arms around and it is it's going to take a while for businesses to figure out you get their arms around up by the way I didn't even mention interest rates laen you know I mean you know at an eight and a half percent prime rate most of my clients are paying a few points above that um so the cost of capital has just like just tripled since 2021 2022 and that is uh having you know another big impact on them getting financing and um expanding their businesses so that was that that was sort of where I focused on when I wrote this a fair point well along those lines a couple of other points I would make uh one is that you you had a line in the piece I think uh along the lines of you know you're tying all this inflation to Joe Biden's inauguration uh you know looking at the difference in the prices from when he took office and then you had a line I think you said um is this Jo Biden's fault history will decide and I felt like that was a bit of a copout I mean both ways for I think some of it clearly is attributable to his policies I mean there's just he he pumped uh a ton of money into the economy and a some of it went directly to business owners uh but there's there's just no denying that and I don't think anybody doubts that that had some impact uh on inflation there are also other things clearly were Beyond his control I mean he didn't tell Putin to invade Ukraine he didn't Spike gas prices um the supply uh chain stuff that followed the pandemic uh is it really his fault um you know I I think there's some discussion there um that's worth having yeah wellit dude you were like starting to get me worried I thought you were going to start blaming Biden for inflation I mean that doesn't sound like Warren at all okay but no I uh know I I think we're in agreement there there's a lot of different factors that we're too close to it right now to know who's your responsible or not and like any I guess I'm saying I don't think we're too close I think we know um but here's the here's my main point and maybe this will surprise you less if you're G to blame Biden for inflation that was stoked by him pumping money into the economy you also have to acknowledge that as you said earlier in this podcast the economy is going pretty great and and that money that he pumped into it had something to do with that so I was surprised that in your piece in which you you know clearly went out of your way to tag him with the inflation you didn't mention by the way you know it also had an impact on the economy and a lot of these a lot of my clients that I say are in pain also have more Revenue than they might if it hadn't been for uh you know some of the Biden Administration policies fair I think my way to tag him or or to blame him I literally said um if this is Fault history will decide regardless exp what it explains why the president's approval ratings are so low um and it doesn't vote well for him this election year because you can tie all these higher you know these higher costs right back to you know you just trace it back to his you know his inauguration year again not saying that's his fault but it's really easy to make that case and his opponents are going to make that case and it doesn't well for him because he's going to have you know he's going to have a fight on his hands to explain why it's not his fault or why he wasn't you know responsible or completely responsible for all of us and I think it's another column to be honest one you know what I mean where I you know to dig in to say like whose fault is this um should Biden be blamed I guess that's you know that's something else that I can dig into and talk about if it's worth writing about um the point of this to is just to be like guys you know we talk about inflation coming under control businesses themselves are still struggling with much much higher costs for the past two three years um regardless of who's to blame uh they're this is what the situation is I think it explains a lot as to why they're not happy you know and they're not they're not happy because they're still struggling with this with this reality I hear you uh the last point I would make is that when you when you make the point that this doesn't necessarily bode well for Biden in the next election if you're really going to deal with that I mean you you brought that up I think it might be worth pointing out that his opponent in that next election has said that he's going to raise tariffs on All Imports by 10% and on imports from China by 60% or more I think he said 100% on cars from Mexico um that could have an impact on inflation as well and if you're going to get into the issue of electability isn't that worth considering too wait a second Robert Kennedy said that no just well well played well played Trump the presumptive nominee uh on the Republican side regard of where he's goingon to run his campaign from you know inside or outside of jail um then he will do just that by the way Biden also is as announced this past week that he is supporting an increase in tariffs on you know on Chinese Goods by the way increasing tariffs is just dopy and only hurts American businesses and consumers at the same time it's just no one seems to and that's that's another topic to write about as well like another but by the way I I think you know I wasn't in favor of it when Trump did it and I'm not in favor of it when Biden's do it and but he's he's not it's it's not as extensive a tariff plan as the one that Trump has um suggested he will though and you like this being you know being um you know a nonsupporter of trump as you are I know that uh Trump is also um you know he will be very much pushing for uh to extend all the tax reform stuff that he did back in 2017 which will if that goes through will put have great benefits for businesses but also create great deficits for all we know and that has to be funded in some way and if it's got to be funded by the Federal Reserve uh that also is going to there no different than stimulus spending um so we'll also put inflationary pressures on the economy and Trump in his first Administration he didn't show any propensity to cut the federal budget like quite the opposite you know I mean his spending was significant so I you know listen I am not saying that Biden and his team do not have counterarguments to make towards um towards his opponents when it comes to discussing who's at fault and what could be done about inflation but all I'm saying is that um the reality on the ground is that it's killing businesses right now the higher cost structure and right now businesses themselves you know is it really killing businesses you know that's actually the the one suggestion I was going to make if I had been your editor on this piece rather than getting into the political ramifications I would have loved to have heard more from some of those clients that you mentioned were in pain or the ones you just referred to as get getting killed I I I you know I know that I I heard what you said about getting lefted out of the room and I'm sure you're right about that and there are a lot of businesses confronting this I would have loved to have heard more from them about how they are coping with it because you're right there there's a limit to how much you can raise prices and there's no question that there's it's it's a challenge but but the econom is pretty good as as we've both agreed so not everybody's getting killed by this no not at all not at all but at the same time and by the way um killing maybe is like too strong a word I mean like there's nobody in that room that you know we're panhandling for p you know what I mean um and by the way every one of these conferences I go to they're in like you know Florida and Cabo and Puerto Rico I mean like life is good you know trust me tell you they're doing okay um so maybe chilling is not like exactly the right it ises and challenges for these business owners to deal with and um it is uh you know and has an impact on their profits in many cases you right there are other businesses that are doing just fine because like you and I have talked about so many times before when it comes to the American economy you can't generalize because it's such a big economy um but I again the cross-section of the people that I am talking to are struggling under higher cost and by the way they can raise prices to the extent that they can there's limits to that the these are people so they're doing stuff some of them are doing shrinkflation you know two meatballs with my spaghetti instead of three when I go out to the restaurant you know or they're investing in you know technology or they're learning how to do more with less people or they're diversifying their supply chain that much more and now they're they're been pushed to look for suppliers in India and Indonesia and Mexico whereas a few years ago maybe they have that kind of so they're not just sitting there with their thumbs up their butt you know they're moving and they're doing stuff but they're being challenged they really are well the good news is you have plenty more to write about and I got plenty more to highlight in the morning report and pretty more for us to talk about in future dashboards Jean Marks is a CPA who writes weekly on small business for the guardian the hill the Philadelphia inquire the Washington Times the Chicago Daily Herald Forbes and entrepreneur you can also hear him on ABC radio's ey on the world with John Bachelor Jean hosts two small business podcasts with paychecks Corporation and the Hartford this episode was brought to you by the great game of business which helps businesses use an open book management system to help build healthier companies you can learn more at Great game.com thank you Jean are you off traveling again or are you going to be around for a while hopefully we will see you end of the week uh traveling is lightening up a little bit before it speeds up again but um I look forward to back and uh talking more topics with you my friend sounds great I will look forward to that have a great week everyone [Music]