Ashley Duwel, Federal Sales Strategist

Ashley Duwel, Federal Sales Strategist Mom | Wife | CEO | GovCon Nerd | Workflow Slayer

Ask us how we can increase your productivity in business and government contracting! YT/ Questions?

For over a decade, I have been mentoring small businesses in the B2G arena with a custom relationship-based federal data-driven start-up strategy, designed to grow with your business. Over the course of the past year, we've expanded our services to include virtual admin task management for those who are short-staffed and overworked. We customize the support that we offer to meet your unique busine

ss needs, both via education and flexibility in payment options. Schedule a quick call: https://govconhacks.com/free-strategy-session

06/17/2026

Getting into federal contracting doesn't always start with a big prime contract.

Sometimes it starts with a $14,999 card purchase.

The micro-purchase threshold exists for a reason.
Smart small businesses use it to land their first contract, build past performance, and get in the door before the competition even knows an opportunity exists.

No lengthy solicitation. No complex proposal. Just the right product or service, priced right, in front of the right buyer.

You don't need a massive contract to get started.
You need the right strategy.

06/16/2026

The GSA proposed an AI clause that expects small businesses to force massive tech companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to comply with contract terms. Shauna Weatherly calls out how unrealistic this is for small contractors and gives credit to the industry voices who spoke up against it.
Watch the full clip here: https://f.mtr.cool/ivvflgbiud

06/15/2026

Before you sign a teaming agreement, check for these:

🚩 Exclusivity clauses — does it stop you from teaming with other primes on similar work?
🚩 Vague non-compete language — could it quietly block your existing business lines?
🚩 Who can actually sign — is the person executing it authorized to bind the company?
🚩 Facility Clearance requirements — will the prime sponsor you, or just require it?

I've seen teaming agreements that looked standard on the surface quietly limit a company's revenue for years.

Read the whole thing. Then redline it.
A 30-minute review can save you 3 (or more) years of regret.

06/11/2026

"We'll just use the shared account."

I hear this constantly. And nine times out of ten, we end up migrating off it later.

When team members live in the same account, the same tool, the same login —
your automations get tangled, your billing gets murky, and accountability disappears.

The fix isn't complicated. It's just doing it right from the start.

Systems built one client at a time scale better than systems hacked together for everyone at once.

The shortcut costs more later.

06/10/2026

Putting together a GSA Schedule proposal is incredibly labor intensive. Most small businesses don't have dedicated in-house proposal teams, which means they end up paying outside providers for support through the submission process.
Get more insights on the actual costs here: https://f.mtr.cool/ebdbqzkbzq

06/09/2026

Your capability statement is doing more work than you think. Or at least, it should be.

When a government buyer picks it up, you have about 30 seconds before they decide whether to keep reading.

Make those 30 seconds count:
✓ Lead with your differentiators, not a generic description of what you do
✓ Include relevant NAICS codes, targeted to your customer’s buying portfolio
✓ Use your business domain email, not a free ESP like Gmail or Yahoo
✓ Add contract numbers and dollar values to past performance, dates to show recency
✓ Brand every page consistently, recognizability builds trust

A generic capability statement gets generic results.
This is often your first impression. Treat it that way.

06/04/2026

One of the hardest things I see in this space?

A company that had to pause operations after losing a key team member … then had to figure out how to rebuild from the ground up.

The certifications were still active. The experience was still real.
But the momentum? Gone.

What I tell every founder in that position:
Your past performance doesn't expire. Your eligibility doesn't disappear.
But you have to restart the engine.

Starting over isn't starting from zero. It's starting from experience.

06/03/2026

GSA has been changing so fast lately that even the experts are struggling to keep up. In this clip, Shauna Weatherly breaks down why it is so critical to subscribe to GSA updates if you are currently trying to get on schedule or making a go/no-go decision.

Check out the full breakdown here: https://f.mtr.cool/yaxhfckers

06/02/2026

SAM.gov registration is supposed to take a few days.
Sometimes it takes weeks — and nobody tells you why.

Here's what I've seen trip people up in the last month:
→ Entity type listed as "government" instead of for-profit, triggers an IRS validation loop
→ Fields marked "optional" that aren't actually optional, the system silently rejects without them
→ Missing a DLA validation email within 3 business days, resets your entire registration cycle

Your SAM registration is your foundation in federal contracting. Guard it like it is.

If you're stuck in registration purgatory right now, you're not alone. And there's usually a fix.

05/31/2026

One of the most common things I hear from small business owners pursuing government contracts:

"We just don't have enough bids in the pipeline."

When I dig in, here's what I usually find: they have plenty of opportunities available to them. What they don't have is a SYSTEM for tracking, evaluating, and following through on those opportunities consistently.

A pipeline isn't a spreadsheet you update when you feel like it.
A pipeline isn't a list of things you're "interested in."
A pipeline is a living system with clear stages, owners, deadlines, and decision rules.

What a working GovCon pipeline includes:
→ A sourcing watchlist — opportunities you're monitoring before they become bids
→ A go/no-go stage — with a documented decision before committing resources
→ An active proposal board — with assignments, milestones, and compliance tracking
→ A submitted offers log — so you can follow up and build past performance strategically
→ A lessons learned process — so you improve with every cycle

When that system is running, you stop chasing. You start choosing.

The businesses winning government contracts consistently aren't lucky. They're systematic.

What stage of your pipeline breaks down most often? I'd love to hear where the friction is.

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