The digital field guide
Positioned to Win
The Umbrella Strategy for Small Government Contractors
Most new contractors are told to pick an industry, find their codes, and start searching for bids. Then they spend a year or two spinning their wheels. It is not rigged. Most of the time they were positioned wrong from the very beginning.
134 pages • 9 built-in worksheets • Instant PDF
Derek James | Founder of GovKidMethod
Why this book exists now
The government buys what it needs, not what you want to sell.
Derek wrote a version of this material once before. Then the rules moved — thresholds changed, programs were renamed. He was not willing to keep selling something that told people the wrong number.
So this book is built around the thinking that does not expire. Contractors who line up with real federal spending win. It lives as a digital edition, so when a number moves, the book moves with it.
This is not a book about regulations, and there are no sample proposals to copy. It is how Derek thinks about government contracting — and how he teaches his students to.
What's inside
Four parts. One clear path.
Part One
The Old Game
The old rules, how new contractors get stuck, and why the game has changed. Recognize the traps before they cost you a year.
Part Two
The Umbrella Strategy
What an Umbrella is, real examples across industries, and why you should be romantic about the deal, not the industry.
Part Three
Build Your Umbrella
Five steps: Personal Inventory, Proof of Concept, Choosing Your Industries, The Umbrella Statement, and Putting Your Umbrella to Work.
Part Four
Growing Under the Umbrella
The significance of NAICS codes and the numbers game behind consistent bidding.
Positioned-to-Win.pdf
134 pages · 9 worksheets
The Umbrella Strategy
Romantic about the deal, not the industry.
Your industry is not the opportunity — the deal is. Positioned to Win shows you how to read where federal money actually flows, and how to build your business around it one worksheet at a time.
From the pages
Take a look inside.
Real pages from the digital edition — the roadmap you follow, the way each chapter reads, and the actual federal spending you learn to pull.
Built-in worksheets
Do the work right on the page.
When you reach a point where you should stop and do something, the space to do it is right there on the page. Reading opens your eyes. Building your own Umbrella changes your results.
- 01Where Do You Stand Right Now?
- 02First Impressions
- 03The Opportunity Vetting Scorecard
- 04Your Personal Inventory
- 05The Market Validation Worksheet
- 06The Industry Selection Worksheet
- 07The Umbrella Statement Builder
- 08The Go To Market Checklist
- 09My Bidding Commitment
Who it's for
- Brand new and not registered yet. Start at the beginning and do the worksheets in order.
- Registered, searching, and not winning. You have already felt the wall. You will see what was missing.
- Already winning and want to grow. Language and structure for not depending on one customer or one trade.
Choose your next step
The right kind of help at every stage of government contracting.
Start with the free proposal-writing modules, read the book, or get direct support applying the work to your business.
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GovRFP free modules
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Positioned to Win
Derek's book on the Umbrella Strategy — positioning your business around real federal spending. Instant PDF.
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Work on your offer, pipeline, pricing, and live proposals with structure, accountability, and Derek's guidance.
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