QED National President Teaches Small Businesses and MWBE Owners

You just started a small business and want to know how to differentiate yourself. Or maybe you’ve been in business for a while and want to expand. The learning curve for all business owners, especially small business owners, is a never-ending exercise of determination, focus and execution. After 26 years as the President of Information Technology firm QED National, Colleen Molter knows this all too well.

It’s one reason why she decided to accept the City of New York’s invitation to assist the NYC Department of Small Business Services in their Goods & Services Mentoring Program. During the 16-week training for accepted Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs), Colleen supports a team of public and private sector leaders with a mission to provide insight into conducting and sustaining business with State and Local Government entities.

“Each week participants learn a from a different leader,” Molter says, “Topics can be anything from perfecting marketing materials to connecting with the right people at the client site.”

Of Colleen’s many specialties, for this training program she focuses on Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Requests for Quotes/Bids (RFQs/RFBs), and responding to Government solicitations. Her most notable takeaways are properly assessing the needs and requirements of customers and learning how to evaluate which opportunities may be worthwhile.

“There’s a good amount of strategy that goes into responding to RFPs,” Molter says, “Every opportunity may not be the best opportunity to go after, especially if the overall costs of responding outweighs the benefit of winning. You must consider all factors.”

Wise decision-making that analyzes short-term and long-term outcomes helps all businesses in their need to identify the best opportunities and most advantageous directions to pursue.

To learn more and apply for the NYC SBS Goods & Services Mentoring Program, please click here: https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/nyc-goods-and-services-mentorship