Small Business Advantage: Winning Government & Corporate Contracts with Premium Pricing with Melinda Colón

Tim Melanson: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to today’s episode of the Work At Home Rockstar podcast. Today, I am talking to the owner of Melinda Colón Consulting, and she’s also the co-founder of Fortis OBM Proposal Development. So what they do is they help service-based business owners, especially in construction, engineering, and consulting, to secure lucrative government and corporate contracts.

So I’m excited to be rocking out today with Melinda. Hey, Melinda, you ready to rock?

Melinda Colon: Yes, absolutely. Let’s go

Tim Melanson: I love it. So we always start off on a good note. So tell me a story of success that we can be inspired by

Melinda Colon: So when I was in corporate America, the number one thing that I did was what I do now, and it wasn’t sexy. You know how like when you’re doing something for a really long time and someone asks you, "What do you do?" Like, "How do you get the result that you get?" And you’re just like, "I have no idea." Like, it just kind of…

I can’t even track it. I don’t even see that it’s important or valuable. And fast-forward what happens. I open my business, start [00:01:00] working and serving people that needed this service, that this consulting, this strategy to win corporate and government contracts, and I found that this was amazing. Like, small businesses are able to compete with huge giants in the marketplace and, and just transform their life without just burning themselves out

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Isn’t that amazing? It’s, it’s getting to be more and more like that. That’s actually what excites me about even just this podcast, is to inspire more people to see that that is possible now. You can actually be a small business and compete with the big guys nowadays

Melinda Colon: In fact, I, I think honestly, Tim, it’s, it’s a benefit because a, a big business, really think about it, a big business can’t do the branding, the relationship, the connection that a small business can. We have a lot of benefits, and we often overlook them because we’re small, and we’re [00:02:00] in an environment where big matters, like big is the best.

But actually, small is better, more intimate, more connectedness, more relationships. Like, we’re not in a big forum right now. It’s just you and me talking to your community, and it feels really effortless. And someone gets to get value wherever they are, whether it’s at work during their lunch break or driving home, pick up the kids at soccer, even just doing a, a load of laundry at home.

And so what the goal is here is to really build real relationships with real people in real spaces. And at the end of the day, that’s what is so exciting about running a business and having flexibilities. So we’re not really structured or controlled by a cubicle per se. It’s like we get to create our own control

Tim Melanson: Yeah, I agree. Well, I mean, even just think about our own experiences when we go into, we try to contact a company. I mean, how often do we try to talk to somebody? Uh, hey, now it’s even talk to a person, but let alone a person with some decision-making [00:03:00] ability, right?

Melinda Colon: Yeah. I’m waiting for, like, the reCAPTCHA, you know, when you go to a website and it says like, "Are you human?" Like, "Are you a robot?" I’m just waiting for that to roll out on phone because you just don’t know anymore. You don’t, you, you don’t know if you’re talking to a person or not. And so I think that’s another benefit that we have as small businesses is we get to, we get to scale with relationships

Tim Melanson: Yeah. You know what would be funny is that if I, if we could have, like, the reCAPTCHA on our phone so that when a company calls us, "Are you human? you’re human, maybe I’ll talk to you."

Melinda Colon: Exactly. I love it

Tim Melanson: Right on. So now along with the good notes, sometimes there’s some things that don’t go as planned, and I like to talk about those just to make sure that people understand that, you know, things are gonna happen, and that’s normal, and we shouldn’t be scared of that.

That’s no reason to not start your business, right? And I’m wondering, can you share with me some big mistake or something that just didn’t go as planned for you?

Melinda Colon: You know, when I was preparing for this conversation, I was thinking about just like more of like a heroic [00:04:00] story where it was terrible and then it got better like immediately. And I thought to myself, "That’s not real life." And we touched on it a little bit earlier about failure, and failure isn’t real. A- and I’m gonna tell you why.

So when I started my business, it was success from the start, and that’s not common in my type of world, right? Like in consulting, it’s not common for you just to like run once you get started. Um, but I was just using my mastery, something that I had already perf- pr- practiced and perfected nearly, uh, two decades, and just applied it to small businesses.

That’s all I was doing. So it was easier for me to transition. And so that’s a note for anybody that’s listening, is the thing that you might want to do is not far away from what you can start with. And I thought to myself, "Well, I have to start my business and this is the only thing that I can do." And that made me feel really [00:05:00] overwhelmed and stressed.

And so even though we were getting the clients and the retainers and we were making way more money than, you know, a lot of businesses were making, uh, that were at our, you know, at our size and, and age of business, um, I still felt like disconnected from my business, to be honest. And it felt like, gosh, I’m gonna have to work harder.

Like, it doesn’t feel fun. Like, I thought entrepreneurship was going to be fun. Like, where is the fun part? When am I gonna get to that? Well, I took my eye off the ball because I started paying attention to things that I wanted to do in that season, and didn’t understand. This was before I really locked into, um, you know, just understanding business principles and strategy and hiring a coach and being a part of a mastermind.

These are all so important. And what I did is I just kind of said, "You know what? I, I know better. I, I know everything." I didn’t say it like to myself, you know what I [00:06:00] mean? Like I just kind of believed it and I acted in that way. Well, what happened is, as a strategist, I saw a tsunami coming and I ignored it ’cause I thought to myself, "Well, it’s okay."

The… You know, what I built, I really didn’t like it anyway. I don’t, I didn’t appreciate it. I didn’t value it. And just, um, it, it just obviously didn’t happen overnight, but it felt like it did. Um, and so what happened is during a period of time where our retainer clients that were locked in for 12 months paying four to five figures for each retainer suddenly locked out.

They emailed me, called me, said, "Melinda, we can’t pay anymore." And it happened all within 48 hours. And it felt like I failed. Like, "Oh my goodness, what about my team? I have to pay my team, and I gotta pay myself, and who’s gonna pay all these [00:07:00] expenses?" And, well, uh, I mean, how do I move forward? And it felt like failure.

Well, what I learned from that experience is that it wasn’t failure. It was just iterations. It’s kind of like if you’re someone who’s thinking about a gadget or a product, and you have a few iterations. Like, first you have the drawing, and then maybe you get a manufacturer to design it, and then you see it for real, and then it’s like, "Hmm, I wanna change the color.

I don’t like where this piece is landing or how this functions." And then you go and you go through an iteration, another iteration until it gets perfected. And see, that was just a per- that was just an iteration for me. And from that, like someone would say, it was the phoenix, you know, that came from the ashes moment.

Um, but from that it was rebuilding something that I could be proud of and that could be sustainable. And understanding what that was meant that I had [00:08:00] to break my belief of I know everything, I can do it all. I needed to really lean into who is the best at this thing? I will pay them to teach me how to do that thing the way that they do it and actually do it.

And I believe that those are three, three major principles that are so simple, so straightforward, but oftentimes most people don’t do it. Um, I, you know… So I’m sure you can, you know, s- you can relate to that

Tim Melanson: Yeah, definitely. Well, I love, I love that you say iteration. That’s really cool ’cause, because I think, I think that there’s been… There, there’s a lot of iterations that you have to do, especially when just the world changes. And, you know, especially now with, you know, how technology has been moving along. I mean, you know, y- if you think back to even 50, 100 years ago, probably very few of these businesses would’ve [00:09:00] existed the same way.

So how can you not change, right? There, there are, you know, you mentioned the tsunami coming. Yeah, there’s things coming. There are things that are changing, and you gotta adapt to that. And so, but I, I, I like also, you know, you’re mentioning, like isn’t it interesting how if you were to like separate yourself from yourself and give yourself

Melinda Colon: Yeah

Tim Melanson: advice, are you actually taking the business advice that you would give yourself, right?

‘Cause I, I hear you. I, I find sometimes I would like look at things and I go, "I wouldn’t even, I wouldn’t even suggest this to my friend," and here I am doing it ’cause I’m like, "Oh, yeah, no, no, no, I, I know what I’m supposed to do. It’s fine. It’s fine. I’ll, I’ll handle it," right? Isn’t that interesting how that works, eh?

Melinda Colon: Yes, exactly. And it, and I, I don’t, I don’t know where it comes from. I, I wanna blame it on corporate America, but I, I know that it’s deeper than that. And, um, to break away from that is just doing something, just trusting someone [00:10:00] else. It’s a … Honestly, it’s a fear, it’s a fear. It’s fear. It was, it was fear bottled up in, um, you know, I, I guess this identity that just really doesn’t fit me, and I, I knew it didn’t fit me.

I knew it. It, it’s like deep down you just sub- like subconsciously you know that you’re not where you need to be. But environment says, right, like where we live, where we work, um, what we need in terms of financial s- stability, it’s like that says that’s gonna dictate who I am, and that’s very false. Um, that’s not real.

You know, we get to actually, we get to customize our reality. We get to do that. And I know that sounds flowery, but it’s real. It’s true. It’s factual. It has been proven scientifically that we get to design our world. Now, if we get more [00:11:00] people to believe that, can you imagine the type of impact we would have in the world, Tim?

Tim Melanson: I, I agree. I agree. Yeah, and, and I hope that that’s what we’re doing, right? By just, by just going ahead and… ‘Cause I, I do think that we, uh, th- those of us who have, you know, forged this path, we’re sort of lighthouses for the people around us that are looking at us and going like, "Okay, so they’re making it happen.

Okay, well maybe I can make it happen too," right? ‘Cause that’s the thing, is that you see sort of, you know, uh, whatever, somebody on TV or, like, it’s infomercial and you’re like, "That’s not a real person," right? But if you start to see real people in your own life and, and they’re having some success, and whatever that success means to you…

I think that that’s another, another misconception as well, is that people think that success is, like, a million dollars. Well, success can just be having the flexibility to work when you want to work, you know, to be able to, you know, go to your children’s [00:12:00] recitals or whatever it happens to be, right? Just to have that little flexibility.

I mean, w- wouldn’t that be… I mean, i- if you’re working in a job, you, you’re not a millionaire. You’re… Well, you could be.

Melinda Colon: Mm.

Tim Melanson: But you’re probably not. So what’s the difference? Why not have a little bit of flexibility, right?

Melinda Colon: Statistically, yeah, exactly. And, you know, it, it like, it’s the simplest practice. I, I remember my coach had me do this practice. The, it, it honestly took maybe an, 30 minutes to do, but it has transformed the way that I look at money. And I just defined what would it take for me to be comfortable?

Now, we get to define what comfortable is, right? Maybe you wanna be a millionaire. Maybe you’re good with, like, 300K and you’re good. Like, maybe you just need 100K a year. Like, whatever your comfort- comfortable le- like, level is. And then figure out, okay, so if this is what I… This is where we are [00:13:00] comfortable, does that include all the things that I desire to do in my life?

Maybe it’s travel the world. Maybe it’s to invest. Maybe, whatever it is. Like, seeing your kids at the recital, you can’t take those moments back. You can’t get those again. Like, so what does it take? How much does it cost to do those things? Maybe it’s to buy a car or to, you know, learn how to, like, ride a motorcycle.

Like, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, just go searching. Just Google. Find out how much it costs. Go to chat, you know, AI and just ask AI, "How much does it cost on average in my area to do this thing?" Start adding it all up. And what happened after I did that, Tim, is that I saw that my number was really easy to get.

I was like, "Oh, wow, okay. So I don’t actually have to work crazy. I don’t have to, like, turn myself inside out or divorce myself from family and friends to [00:14:00] start a business. Like, that doesn’t have to happen. I get to enjoy my life as I’m building a business." And, and honestly, that really just changed the way that I look at money.

And so when people talk about money, and actually just this morning I was calling, I was calling a, um, a service to confirm something, and she told me the total, and I think it was like 2,700 bucks, and she’s like, "Um, it’s 27," it’s like 2714. I’m looking at the receipt right now. And, uh, she, she said to me… I paused.

I didn’t actually say anything. I was actually writing it. And she says, "I know that’s a lot of money." And it kind of just, like, stored in my mind, and I thought, "Wow, she’s telling me about what she thinks about money."

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm

Melinda Colon: And $2,700 depends on who you’re asking how much

Tim Melanson: what you’re buying.

Melinda Colon: right? Like, it’s all the ROI. It’s like the result. And, and so, um, I thought to myself, "Wow, this is [00:15:00] so powerful." If more people can hear how they talk about… how they hear other people talk about money, right? It’s our environment that we have to change, and then how we talk about money.

Do we say, "Oh man, that’s way too expensive to transform my life forever. Like, 2,700 bucks? Oh my gosh." Like, or are we p- are we actually increasing our value by understanding our value? ‘Cause I, I know that I’m way more valuable than 2,700 bucks.

Tim Melanson: Yeah.

Melinda Colon: so there, there’s this like… Yeah, go ahead

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Well, and, and also, like, I, I did… I, I do sort of, like, notice this thing, ’cause when people talk to me in a, in a job or in their corporate careers, as you move up the ladder and you make more and more money, the… it seems as though the stress, time commitment, both of those things end up just increasing exponentially.

So I, I think that there may be some of [00:16:00] that, like, that’s just kind of, like, ingrained in us. ‘Cause, you know, as, uh, you know, I’ve, you know, spoken to so many people who are self-employed here, and that’s not necessarily the case when you’re running your own business. As you make more money, you don’t necessarily spend, like, exponentially more time.

In fact, actually, a lot of times it’s, it’s less time. You end up being more efficient, right? And so I, I think that there’s, like, a bit of a misconception that people will think, "Okay, well, I’m sitting in my corporate job. This is what I make. I’m working around the clock to make this money," and they think, "Okay, well, if I transition into a business, well, what is my life gonna look like?"

And then all this uncertainty. And so they just think it’s so much harder and so much more stressful when first of all, like you said, maybe that number is actually a lot smaller than you actually need. And then on top of that, maybe you can actually work more efficiently to get there, right? ‘Cause your boss decides how much you need to work in order to get that, that paycheck, right?

Y- [00:17:00] you decide how much you need to work for your own paycheck, right?

Melinda Colon: 100%. And that’s exactly, that’s what I, what I used to teach is, um, I used to host these in-person workshops, um, called Business Clarity Breakthrough, and to educate people and say, "They’re, they’re paying you in a job what they’re paying you because that’s what they’re willing to pay you for what you do."

Tim Melanson: Yeah

Melinda Colon: That is not say that is the value of what you do. Because the value… See, any business owner, and this is something that everybody needs to know and understand and, and if you guys know what it is, then gr- just, like, lock in, is any role in your company, whether it’s software, contractors, employees, even yourself, everything has to have a return on investment. There is no such thing as, "I need to pay you your worth." There i- like, it, it’s impossible. But I can [00:18:00] pay you the value that I have defined for that role. So the other things that they’re not paying you for is the software that you need, the computer, the cubicle, the AC, the water, the, the plumbing, the office building.

That is all a c- a, calculated into you in that role. You just don’t, you don’t… It doesn’t go through your bank account, but they’re paying for you to be there. So it, it’s, it’s a completely different thing and, and 100%, the more you, the more you charge on, in your business, the freer you are. You know, when I started doing corporate events, corporate workshops, in-person trainings, it was, I was terrified.

I’m like, "Oh my gosh, how many hours would it take to prepare for this, and how much does it cost to do this and that?" And I mean, I got so many yeses so quickly, Tammy. Just, they [00:19:00] were like, "Yes." Like, I, I didn’t even have to send them a proposal. I’m like, "Wow, this is so easy. I could do this forever." And then my coach was like, "No, you’re charging way little for the biggest return that they’re gonna get.

They’re, they have team members that need to learn what you’re teaching them that will result in millions and billions of dollars. That is not a three or four-figure offer. That is a five to six-figure offer." And I had to get comfortable with that. That it, that… And that’s really, I believe, the unlock, is understanding how to charge premium.

Because we’re not charging premium because that’s, like, what we wanna make. It’s, like, charging premium ’cause that’s the, based off the result that I can deliver and knowing what that result is. And it’s really simple. We just ask the question. We say, "Hey, company," "Hey, business owner," or, "Hey, uh, customer. What would it…

Like, once you have this thing, what would it do for your life? What would you not have to do [00:20:00] anymore? What would-" What type of freedom would you have? And then you’re like, "Oh my gosh, it would help me to do this, this, and this." Then you get to measure your ROI on that, based off that, which is like a, it’s like a fraction but way more than hourly or, you know, competitive-based pricing

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think, I think most of us have, like, this I’m not enough programming in us too that hold us back from… Uh, but that’s one of those things that I think as you start your business, and I’m sure many people experience this, that, you know, you s- you start of going on what you think you’re worth, right?

‘Cause that’s just what you’ve been programmed to do, and then you start looking around and you start seeing these other competitors that are just, just crushing it, and you’re, like, looking at the, at the value that they’re providing. You’re like, "Whoa, I’m so much more than that," and, and, and they’re charging so much more than I’m charging.

And all of a sudden it’s just kind of this wake-up moment that you’re like, "Okay. Well, obviously I’m not charging enough. I need [00:21:00] to, I need to break through this." But it is really, really hard to br- to break that programming that you have ’cause, you know, as soon as someone sort of like pauses, uh, you know, at your price, you’re like, "Oh, but, uh, I can give you a discount," like that kind of thing, right?

Melinda Colon: Yes, yes. It, it, it, it… Uh, I remember, I remember the day my coach just said, um, she’s like, "You’re gonna, gonna increase your retainer to 8,000." It was e- eight, 8,500. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, that’s 12 months, over 12 months, 8,500. Oh my gosh, that’s like 8,500 a month?" And she’s like, "Yes." Okay. So she said, "You need to tell them that you’re gonna send them an invoice for that, right?

You’re gonna amend the agreement." Okay, yes, okay. Got on the phone, shaky voice. And she said, "Say it and then shut up." I said, "Okay." So I was like, "It’s 8,500." I held my breath, I looked down like I was writing something, and I was just thinking, "Dear Lord," you know. And they’re like, "Okay, just send us the [00:22:00] invoice." "Absolutely." Hung up. I sent the invoice. And then again, Tam, it came up again. I was just like this anxiety. Asked my husband. I didn’t sleep until they had paid that. I was just like, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. They’re gonna say no. They’re gonna realize that they made a mistake. They’re gonna…

Maybe they thought I said e- 850, not 8,500." And, and like all of these things just started, like coming to mind. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. But it, I… If I waited until I was ready, it would’ve never happened. I just needed to do it

Tim Melanson: Yeah. Amazing how that works, right? And then, and then on the other hand, like, uh, I don’t know what your experience is, but what about the people that actually do bark at that price and want you to discount the price? How are they to work with usually?

Melinda Colon: Oh man, it’s the best thing. It’s actually really… It is… What I, w- And then, then, let me talk about when, how it felt the first time I ha- heard that. I remember he said, "Huh. [00:23:00] Oh my gosh, we would never pay that." I remember him saying that. And I said, "Okay, I understand. I appreciate it," da, da, da. I hung up the phone.

It, I didn’t respond or react to it at all. I was just like, "You’re right. I’m not valuable. I will accept your, what you say that I am." You know? And it’s like I’m not even selling me, I’m selling the transformation, I’m selling the service, right? So I, it, I had to mature through that. And now I see this as the best thing ever because everybody is trying to figure out what’s in the mind of the buyer.

And I have so many saying, "I will never pay that." I should have said, and I wish I would’ve said that, but you know, it’s okay, I can move forward, is, "Man, tell me why." What, what do you think that, like… What, oh, I understand. Like, so you would never pay for this. Why? Here’s the thing, like, they’re gonna tell you.[00:24:00]

They’re going to tell you why. "Well, because blah, blah, blah." Oh, I understand, and I could have transitioned that into marketing research and even closed the sale. I could have closed the sale, because once I helped him understand what he was actually getting versus just something on a proposal, which by the way, please don’t ever send a proposal blindly.

In fact, get on the phone with them, get in Zoom, and like go through proposals with, with them together. And if they ask you to send the proposal, especially for corporate clients, if they ask for, "Oh, just send me the proposal," actually I would be more comfortable to get on the phone. Like, can we go ahead and schedule a time for us to go through it together so that I can answer your questions in real time?

If there’s anybody else that needs to make a decision, please en- you know, let me know and I can add them to that Zoom li- or that calendar invite. I don’t send proposals anymore. Because what happens is they make their own justification, [00:25:00] and then they delay making decisions, and then it slows down the entire sales pipeline.

So when someone gives an objection, this is what it’s called, it’s like they’re rejecting it. They’re like, "Oh, well, what about this? What about this? What about this?" I actually see this as an opportunity to learn more about my audience, and if I can find out what they believe, what they’re believing is way more valuable than what I believe.

Because if they, if I understand what they believe, if I understood he, you know, now it’s just like I, I really don’t know what he was believing. But if he believed, for example, that I can get it cheaper or I can just hire someone as an employee to do it, absolutely. Hire someone to do it. And you know what?

Guaranteed it’s gonna, it’s gonna cost more than eight hun- $8,500 a month. Well, no, ’cause I just, the salary is… Well, overhead expenses, health benefits, um, and then onboarding. [00:26:00] That’s expensive. At least a corporate, a small business corporation of 50 plus invests about, um, 5

to $10,000 per employee on, during onboarding, not including benefits or salary or tools or softwares or anything. So 100% go hire someone or hire a consultant. Where here in the United States, I’m not sure about Canada, you probably could speak on that, is here in the United States it’s a tax write-off.

Tim Melanson: Yep

Melinda Colon: So you’re really actually not paying anything.

So then it’s not really 8,500. Correct.

Tim Melanson: Yeah

Melinda Colon: It’s not something you need to concern yourself with. It doesn’t hurt your bottom line, doesn’t impact you in any way. But these are all things that we get to talk about in a Zoom call and record that Zoom call, and that way you can actually create marketing content and hit those objections ahead of time [00:27:00] before it comes up, and man, you’re gonna be a rock star

Tim Melanson: Yeah, I love that. Yeah, and, and I mean, when it comes down to it too, the people that, number one, I mean, there was two… I guess there’s probably two main reasons why someone might not want to hire you at that rate. One is because they don’t actually want what it is that you’re, that, that you’re offering.

Maybe they don’t need it as much as they thought they might. Maybe they’re just shopping around and they’re like, "Okay, well that’s not in my budget right now," so no problem. That just is what it is. Or they’re, like, really difficult clients to work with. ‘Cause that happens as well too. I find the ones that, like, lowball you and stuff like that are the hardest to work with versus the ones that just wanna pay your, your, your price are so much easier, right?

Melinda Colon: Oh, no, 100%. Like, if someone comes circled, you know, "No, I don’t wanna pay for 85, I wanna pay 35. Would you be okay with 35?" I’d say, "No, absolutely I don’t think it’s gonna be the right fit." Absolutely, like, those are people that I don’t even entertain. [00:28:00] Um, or honestly, now I don’t even get to the point where I share the investment, uh, ’cause, you know, my investments are a lot larger than 8,500.

So I actually interview them as much as they’re interviewing me. I’m qualifying them to make sure that they’re gonna be the right fit because I’ve learned not all money is good money. I, I know that’s a cliche, but it’s real. It can really, you know, one rotten apple spoils a bunch. It’s true. I’ve, I’ve… You know, my team members have experienced it and, you know, it’s 100%,

Tim Melanson: Yeah. And from the, uh, from the client perspective too, they, I mean, they, um, they… Well, like what you said earlier, they likely know what it’s worth, and so when you give that price, I mean, the funny thing is that if your price is too low, that’s gonna raise alarms for them. They’re gonna be like, "Eh, they don’t really know what they’re doing," right?

Whereas if you come right in, like, uh, at where [00:29:00] it should be, they’re, they’re more likely to go, "Yep, we know that that’s that cost. We know that that we’re, kind of value we’re getting for that," and they’re, they’re up for that, right?

Melinda Colon: I challenge that, that second one because I think it’s about packaging. Um, I think it’s about experience and packaging. You know, it… Of course, you know, i- if I’m gonna help business unlock a revenue stream of 100 million and I go in with a million-dollar investment, it, it’s gonna be hard to digest because it’s not packaged properly.

Um, but there are ways to package it so that it is equates to a million dollars if that’s a, if that’s the true result that I’m getting for them. So it could be, um, you know, a partial, uh, commission stan- state or, you know, like half front or… It’s just these are all like deal-making strategies. But what I had to divorce myself from is believing that there’s a limit to [00:30:00] how much someone would pay me for.

And it, because if I put a limit to how much someone will pay me, then I’m putting a limit to how much value that I offer, and I, I have unlimited value for people.

Tim Melanson: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Colon: It’s just a matter of like what they need and just delivering on what that is with integrity

Tim Melanson: Wow, right on. Wow, time flies. Hey, let’s get into your guest solo. Tell me what’s exciting in your business right now

Melinda Colon: Oh man. So, okay, um, gosh, it’s the, it’s the transformation. It’s adding a revenue stream to existing businesses, and even helping people who want to buy a business add a government contract, a revenue stream. And it doesn’t matter where you live, um, e- even in Canada, there are contracts, um, with, uh, you know, in govern- in government.

Um, but they’re, they’re just everywhere. There’s opportunities everywhere, and it doesn’t require you to leave your home. So I’m excited to serve people in that way, just to [00:31:00] kind of stabilize their business so that they can have more freedom to do whatever they want

Tim Melanson: So what would, uh, a norm, like someone who’s gonna get the most out of working with, uh, what, what do they look like? Like what, what situation are they in where they’re like, "Okay, I really need Melinda right now"?

Melinda Colon: They’re a subject matter expert who has experience delivering on results in a service business, whether it’s yours, whatever you can list on your resume or your existing business. And we just work with you to find opportunities that are gonna be the best fit for your business based off your business plan, and make sure that it works strategically so that you can, you know, get the result that you want, which is usually more freedom, more time, uh, more money to invest or to stabilize business.

Delegate is huge for our clients, that they wanna delegate so they, they’re not the go-to for everything. So that’s how we do that, and we help them do that.

Tim Melanson: Okay. So what [00:32:00] kinds of services do you help them with? Like, are you more like a coach or a matchmaker? Like, what, what is it you do?

Melinda Colon: So I help people stay, I help people install a revenue stream of government contracts to their business. So while the industry is volatile, government contracting is consistent and predictable. so sometimes we need that predictability to, you know, plan our life past a month, right?

Tim Melanson: Right. Okay, that’s excellent. So really it’s, uh, you’re more or less a subject matter expert on those more stable contracts rather than, you know, what they’re probably doing right now, which is going out and getting, you know, business-to-business contracts probably at the, at the moment, right?

Melinda Colon: Well, business to business is actually great. It keeps you as an authority and an, and an industry expert in the, in the eyes of a government agency. Um, so you do want both. I don’t recommend doing one or the other. I do recommend having [00:33:00] both, ’cause they serve each other. So, um, if that makes sense. Private now serves government, and it looks like, wow, you can work with a government agency?

You can pretty much do anything, ’cause your business has to be structured, it has to be stable. It’s like, that’s the perception people have. And of course, that’s attractive to other s- businesses that are thinking, "I’m not sure if you actually do what you say you do."

Tim Melanson: Hmm

Melinda Colon: so that’s one. And then on the government side or the public sector side, it shows as you’re an authority ahead of what the government is doing, because they’re looking for industry experts all the time, especially right now as things are just transforming and evolving with AI.

They want real people to help them with the problems they have. And you, Tim, you would not believe the problems that they have are things that we dealt with five years ago. Like, they’re still trying to figure it out, ’cause government is always going to be behind, and that’s a benefit to a small business owner [00:34:00] when you can say, "We have gone through this.

We’ve helped our clients through it, and here’s our case studies. Here’s one after another after another," and educate them on how to source those contracts, how to hire the vendors, what, what the work needs to actually look for, and then ob- obviously, ultimately, um, getting award of the contract itself

Tim Melanson: I love that. And so the process of working with you, I think you mentioned that you, you’re gonna get on a call with them and that

Melinda Colon: Yeah. Yeah, so the first thing is if, if anybody’s interested, you can find me on LinkedIn, just Melinda Colón. You can see my beautiful face, um, on there. And, um, and once we connect and you would apply f- to schedule a call with me, ’cause we don’t take everyone, we, we do give you guidance and direction wherever you’re at.

But for those that are qualified to have a conversation, we would take it to the next step, talk through your business plan, your goals for your business, and then help you develop a strategy to install government contracts [00:35:00] into your business plan. This is about helping you get to your goal, not changing your goal

Tim Melanson: love that. That’s great. And so LinkedIn is the best way for them to contact you then?

Melinda Colon: Yes.

Tim Melanson: Awesome. That’s great. So now one more question. Let’s get into s- a little bit of music. Like, who is your favorite rock star or band?

Melinda Colon: Rockstar? Oh, man. Or band. Okay, I’m gonna say band, and Oh my gosh, should I say this aloud? Um,

Tim Melanson: not?

Melinda Colon: um, oh gosh, what am I gonna say? I’m gonna say AC/DC.

Tim Melanson: Really? Awesome. Awesome. You’re like The Rock.

Melinda Colon: Yeah. It’s great music to listen to just to kinda like get stuff done. Yeah

Tim Melanson: Have you ever seen them in concert?

Melinda Colon: I haven’t, no.

Tim Melanson: No? No. I missed out on [00:36:00] it too, ’cause they did come to my city and I, uh, I, I just qu- wasn’t able to go. It’s too bad. They would be such a high energy show, right?

Melinda Colon: Yes, and like, that’s why I love it, is it gets you moving. Yeah

Tim Melanson: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Melinda, for rocking out with me today. This has been a ton of fun

Melinda Colon: This is fun. Thank you so much for having me, Tim

Tim Melanson: Awesome. And to the listeners, make sure you go to workathomerockstar.com for more information, and we’ll see you next time on the Work at Home Rockstar podcast