What Works And Does Not Work In Small Business Blogging

 

In the current business climate of high technology and Internet communications, very few small enterprises succeed without effective on-line networking.  Most grasp that reality and make it a part of the business routine.

Content can be developed to suit the target client profile. One of the shortest paths to demonstrating value to a target audience is to do so with good blogging content, networked to the max.  Much of the network blogging tools these days are free and only require some astute time to magnify a business to clients (regardless of who the clients are).

Blogging approaches can be developed as marketing brochures for multiple roles, communicated in a vast array of venues and promoted in the media ladder to the point where local and national readership and service subscription multiplies very quickly. But one must open people’s eyes and make them understand what is offered and how it can benefit them.

I have seen hundreds of small enterprises gain a foothold by using the right combination of tools. 

In assisting small business concerns in government contracting and commercial enterprises via SCORE and Micro Mentor for the last 19 years. I began exploring blogging to determine what to recommend to clients. I found very quickly that it provided vast returns as a time saver once I established the platform and set up the network.

I found that one article, written informatively can be linked to many clients and networked to help others while building credibility in the small business community. I run the blog Smalltofeds in support of my volunteer efforts.   

In order to manage high volume of inquiries in federal government contracting, I set up a Google blog as an extension of my volunteer work that blossomed into a web site. It has cost $10 a year to buy and convert it from a blog to a domain in my name and the rate has not changed in 19 years. The blog contains the basics of entering and succeeding in the venue as well my books and articles on the subject for download via "Box".

The idea is to refer clients to informative article links at the site to avoid repeating myself over and over to new business clients and still keep myself available for specific inquiries and problems.

I networked everything together and began answering questions at Q&A sites as well as registering at many of the free applications for networking on the Internet to see how that could benefit my work. Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest,Tumblr, Wordpress, Mastadon and similar free platforms have served my site well. Roughly 30% of my clients began coming via blog networking.

The result has been heavy traffic, good efficiency in supporting in excess of 7,000 counseling cases over the last 17 years and virtually no expense to me as a volunteer working for non-profit organizations.

I also maintain a personal blog, Rose Covered Glasses  It does not receive any where near the traffic that Small to Feds receives because there is a vast difference between the two. I discovered very early that I had to separate my personal opinions from business subjects to be effective in the professional social networking venue.

Individuals who contact me or network at Small to Feds are after business advice and assistance; my books, my experience, a helpful form, insights into a fairly complex field and other problem solving information.  They are not particularly interested in my personal opinions; those who are can go to my personal blog. Not many do. Small to Feds has received slightly under 1.5 million visits, statistically. Rose Covered Glasses just broke 500,000 -- point made.

I found networking constantly on professional sites such as LinkedIn and hitting the Q&A features assists in accumulating an "Expert" rating from peers and increases referrals.

A blog is quite different than a web site. Provide good, solid information free of charge and use blog searches for synergistic businesses to team with. Teaming is an absolute necessity these days. Use blog search capability and locate similar sites, then remark and back link to them. Develop reciprocity relationships, guest blogging opportunities and similar social networking techniques.

Be prepared to provide information, samples and valuable service gratis as a marketing tool. Introduce yourself and then immediately engage the client with your presentation tools available to bring your expertise to whatever topic they are interested in. Let them take you where they want to go with their concerns and their needs. Apply your presentation tools and expertise dynamically on the fly in a sincere manner to those concerns and needs and you will be in demand for follow up business.

Managing Provisional Indirect Rate Risk In Government Contracting

Previous discussions have addressed FAR and CAS Compliant business systems for small enterprises undertaking federal government contracting:

Establishing FAR and CAS Compliant Business System

DCAA Audits and Small Business Job Cost Accounting Systems

Chapter 51 of the free book, 'Small Business Federal Government Contracting' contains an explanation and examples of a forward pricing budget plan from which provisional rates are established and negotiated with the government. Under "Management Factors" the book goes on to explain that it is not always possible to execute the plan as anticipated.

Programs and projects will come and go, entering and leaving the business base sometimes earlier and sometimes later than planned. Expenses do not always materialize as anticipated. For these reasons actual experience in terms of indirect rates may differ (+or -) from provisional rates.

There are three important points to remember regarding provisional bidding and billing rates:

1. Provisional rates are utilized for both pricing and billing and billed rates must be reconciled to actual rates at contract closeout for cost type contracts.

2. Provisional rates are audited by DCAA and negotiated with Administrative Contracting Officers. They are the baseline frame of reference for the government in reviewing cost proposals and billings until the contractor asks for a change. Provisional rates are used for billing existing contracts and for pricing new work. Provisional rates are approved by the government on an interim basis or they would not be "Provisional" by definition. A constant frame of reference is the actual running rate being experienced by a contractor as opposed to the current provisional rate.  The difference must be reconciled on cost type contracts at contract closeout. 

3. A request for change to provisional rates must be supported by data regarding actual running rate experience and may start a series of questions by DCAA or contracting activities regarding what sort of management corrective action is planned for differences between provisional and actual running rates (particularly if a provisional rate increase is proposed under time and material or cost type contracts or prices for outstanding proposals are increased due to rate changes prior to negotiation).

There are no industry average indirect rates in federal government contracting because there are wide swings due to many factors. Company indirect rates are managed based on the competition, the market and the funding availability of the customer. Site-unique indirect rates inside government facilities are always lower than company site operation rates because the government is paying a portion of the expenses (facilities occupancy, heat, light, etc.) on work occurring inside a government facility.

Assuming a small business pays roughly the same on the open market for labor, material and ODC as the competition, and has to offer the same fringe benefits to retain employees, the remaining overhead and G and A rate expenses are principal drivers in winning new business and have the most potential to lose a job, cause funding difficulties on an existing program or be responsible for a loss on projects negotiated at fixed rates.

Below are examples of a risk analysis thought process when evaluating whether or not to make a provisional rate change:

EXAMPLE 1

One could say that it may be a poor time to change a provisional rate when there are several FFP proposals outstanding and in negotiation or a major competition is coming up.

On the other hand if there is a wide unfavorable variance between the current actual running rate experience and the existing provisional rate and the future forecasted base and expenses do not show improvement, perhaps the rate should change to avoid signing up to prospective losses or ambitious funding profiles that may mislead a customer.

EXAMPLE 2

One could say that it is a good time to change a provisional rate if several cost plus and T&M contracts are pending closeout and there is a wide disparity between billed cost and actual cost due to rates. In fact, if the government is going to owe you money at closeout, the issue should be broached as soon as possible to the contract funding authorities to insure there are enough funds on the programs to cover the final bills.

Conversely, if you will owe the government money at closeout your forecasts should project the anticipated drop in final contract pricing that will be settled in the closeout actions with the government.

For most companies a provisional rate change comes about at the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the new calendar year. Accountable personnel perform a bottoms-up projection of the anticipated business base and associated expenses by cost center. The company then submits the results to DCAA to get them approved for the new year as revised provisional rates.

Nothing mandates a specific date for a provisional rate review. DCAA audits proposals and contract closeouts, fixed price progress billings and cost-plus and time and material billings. During those audits there may be questions regarding the comparison between bidding and billing and actual running rates.

The company takes the action for provisional rate changes by requesting them from the government as a function of an annual budgeting cycle or business developments. DCAA approves them.

Throughout, the data is very company private and closely held. No other company, to include prime contractors has the right to your rates and rate supporting data. When necessary they will see only fully loaded labor, material and ODC.

The term provisional implies subject to change and approved on an interim basis by DCAA. Provisional rate changes for billing and pricing can occur more often than annually if the business is changing on a volatile basis with work coming and going from the business base in an unplanned manner and expenses increasing or decreasing with economic changes.

I have seen some corporations that had several changes a year. It is a management call, but DCAA reserves the right to review and approve each one.

A provisional rate change is a delicate matter and should be approved by a management level of the company where authority to effect cost change resides (usually the CEO and CFO).

Management must make rate change decisions based on company-unique product and service lines, work location, forecasts, customer demands, competitive factors and contract status. It is a job that should be undertaken by executives who get paid for balancing such factors and who are accountable for successful outcomes from decision results.

Don’t Overlook The Impact Of The Government Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL)

 

The CDRL is a register of the deliverable data items. Each data item has a discrete numeric identifier, a data item description (DID) number and a delivery schedule to the customer. 

Although it is unusual to negotiate separate pricing for contract data, your negotiated contract and resulting budget baseline must contain the resources to prepare and submit contractually required data items.

“The Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) is usually contained in Part III, Section J of the government solicitation you are bidding and the executed contract upon award. 

The CDRL is commonly conveyed on DD Form 1423 by the Department of Defense (DOD) specifying the delivery address, number of copies required and the reviewing and approving authority for the data item within the government agency.  It also specifies electronic addresses if electronic data delivery is necessary. Forms other than a DD Form 1423 may be used to convey data item requirements by agencies outside DOD. That form may be as simple as a listing of requirements. 

You should review the listing to insure adequate definition and understanding exist for you to commit to the data requirements when you sign your contract. Data Item Descriptions (DID’s) are available at:

Data Item Description Library

On contracts for new products, data item submissions represent major benchmarks on the contract schedule. Results of study, research, engineering design and development are submitted in the form of data items to the government for approval. 

Once approved, data items form the specifications for continuing effort on the contract. Key design reviews on development programs are focused on the contents of data item submissions.

Data item submissions contain reports of contract cost and schedule performance, results of status meetings and records of ongoing deliveries. Data item deliveries are key factors in demonstrating successful performance under the contract.

In some instances, the number of data items and the level of detail in each are negotiable with the government. Such negotiations have a direct impact on cost even though data items are not normally priced separately in the contract.

The cost for data item preparation and submission is usually included in the pricing in Section B of the contract within the prices for contract line item deliverable to which the data items apply.

SDRL or “Subcontract Data Requirements List” is a prime contractor flow-down of the CDRL requirements to a subcontractor. 

Generally the prime will structure the SDRL to insure that subcontractor data submissions support the prime contract CDRL technical content, schedule and other parameters. 

The prime may also take the liberty to incorporate additional requirements to support their own internal systems of quality,cost and schedule control. 

As with CDRL requirements, SDRL’s should be carefully priced within the end item CLIN’s to which they apply to insure cost coverage.

Your Free Small Business Federal Government Contracting Advisory Service

This site is dedicated to Small Businesses who wish to succeed in Federal Government Contracting. 

There are over 100 agencies or "Departments" in the federal government. Each of these agencies has a statutory obligation to contract from small business for 23% of everything it buys. Contracting officers must file reports annually demonstrating they have fulfilled this requirement. Not fulfilling the requirement can put agency annual funding in jeopardy. You have a motivated customer in federal government contracting officers and buyers.

Large business, under federal procurement law, must prepare and submit annual "Small Business Contracting Plans" for approval by the local Defense Contract Management Area Office (DCMAO) nearest their headquarters. These plans must include auditable statistics regarding the previous 12 month period in terms of contracting to small businesses and the goals forecast for the next year. 

The federal government can legally terminate a contract in a large business for not meeting small business contracting goals. Approved small business plans must accompany large business contract proposals submitted to federal government agencies. Small businesses have motivated customers in large business subcontract managers, administrators and buyers.

This site provides practical, no cost, “How to" guidance on the following:

1. Understanding the federal government contracting environment and small business set-aside opportunities

2. Registering a small business as a supplier with the federal government

3. Marketing to the federal government

4. Understanding the requirements of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)

5. Teaming with other small businesses

6. Achieving a General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule

7. Subcontracting to prime contractors on federal government contracts

8. Preparing competitive proposals

9. Negotiating federal contracts with government agencies, prime contractors and subcontractors

10. Managing government contracts

Managing Risk Under 'The Truth In Negotiations Act (TINA)'

THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH DEFECTIVE PRICING 

INTRODUCTION:

 
We have previously discussed at this site the development of credible cost and pricing data. That data is the product of not only estimating and pricing but also job cost accounting for managing contracts, business system design to meet Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and the integrated aspects of the company business system demonstrating regulatory compliance:

Pricing With Credibility

Pricing Small Business Federal Government Contracts

Small Business Systems Development

DCAA Audits and Small Business Job Cost Systems

The purpose of this article is to cite the specifics of the “Truth in Negotiations Act” and recommend  management techniques to comply with this law and avoid defective pricing claims by the US Government. 

THE TRUTH IN NEGOTIATIONS ACT (TINA)

Public Law 87-653 (codified by 10 USC 2306a) was originally enacted in 1962 to place the Government on equal footing with the contractor during contract negotiations.  The following are the principal features of the law:

• Defines requirements for obtaining cost or pricing data

•  Requires certification that data are current, accurate, and complete

• Delineates exceptions to the requirement

• Addresses data submission for pricing of commercial items, below threshold contracts, and “other information”

•  Provides right of Government to examine contractor records

• Defines cost or pricing data

• Provides rules governing defective pricing

• Downward Contract price adjustment

• ·Recovery of overpayment (cost & profit) & interest (as of 1985)

• 2 M Threshold for contract actions (DOD recently increased from 750 K) Recent Procurement Reforms

• Contract actions include contracts, subcontracts, and modifications

•  TINA applicability is not affected by contract type

•   For subcontracts, the $2M threshold applies to the submission of data from the subcontractor to the prime contractor.

 
FIVE POINTS THE GOVERNMENT UTILIZES FOR ESTABLISHING DEFECTIVE PRICING

 
1)    The information in question fits the definition of cost or pricing data.

(2)    Accurate, complete, and current data existed and were reasonably available to the contractor before the agreement on price.

(3)    Accurate, complete, and current data were not submitted or disclosed to the contracting officer or one of the authorized representatives of the contracting officer and these individuals did not have actual knowledge of such data or its significance to the proposal.

(4)    The Government relied on the defective data in negotiating with the contractor.

(5)    The Government’s reliance on the defective data caused an increase in the contract price.

MANAGING THE RISK OF A DEFECTIVE PRICING CLAIM

 
A government auditor relates to TINA and defective pricing whether or not it is required contractually and uses the TINA provisions as a frame of reference in how he or she views trend analysis of your company. Even if you do not have the TINA requirement in your bid or your contract, be aware the auditor is forming his or her opinion of your compliance with the law against the TINA framework.

Post award audits can be ordered at any time by a PCO. During such audits your proposal is juxtaposed to your incurred cost and historical data on a given contract. During such juxtapositions, defective pricing stands out glaringly.  If you become aware of an anomaly, cover your tracks by immediately assessing the impact and deciding whether or not a disclosure should be made.  

Integrate your system from pricing to billing to close out utilizing a consistent cost structure template and be aware you are putting audit history in place and that historical trends are what auditors follow.
 

Keep all subsequent disclosures under proposals to the government well documented, serialized and current at the prime and subcontract level, reflecting them in a detail record of negotiation.  

If you have commenced work prior to final negotiations under a letter contract or similar interim arrangement, conduct a sweep of actual costs and commitments and reflect them in an updated proposal to the government prior to negotiation of a final price.  Reassess quotes, escalation factors, indirect costs and related factors in the same manner if a proposal expires and you are asked to extend your pricing. 

If substantive conditions in an open proposal estimate change, document them thoroughly and disclose them to the government based on an astute analysis of your risk if they can be misconstrued as defective pricing by an auditor.  Carefully convey the impact on the prospective contract and its pricing to the contracting officer if you decide to disclose. 

Consistency with CAS and your CAS disclosure statement as well as your latest negotiated forward pricing rates is mandatory. Any departure from these baselines will attract audit attention.
In many defective pricing instances what you knew and when you knew it becomes a factor.  Continually assess changing conditions that may dramatically impact your cost performance and manage them by taking corrective actions, developing workarounds and carefully communicating requirements to your subcontractors and suppliers. 

Remember under TINA you are required to perform cost/price analysis of your subcontractors if their work scope exceeds the $700k threshold. You must submit the results with your proposal to the government.  If a disclosure becomes necessary, make it sooner rather than later when the data may be under the cloud of a negative audit finding.

SUMMARY

 
Defective pricing actions by the government can have a severe impact on your past performance rating.  They must be cited by you with any new business proposal in which you are asked if your company has been accused or convicted of a violation of the law or has open or pending government adjudications regarding legal violations. 

Sculpt and educate your auditor, contracting officers and government analysts on the specifics of your company business system and preserve its integrity over the long run to maximize your win potential and lower the risk of defective pricing claims by the government. 

A good rule of thumb is to consider every proposal as if it were under TINA compliance whether or not you must submit a “Certificate of Current Cost and Pricing” under TINA.  This will keep your business system sharp, your ethics and standards high and your past performance record clean.

 

Registering Your Business For Federal Government Contracting

You have worked hard establishing your small business in the commercial market; or you have succeeded in your profession working for large enterprises. You have established yourself and you are recognized as a success by your superiors, your peers and your subordinates. Someone or something one day attracts your attention with the suggestion that the federal government may be in the market for your skills, products or services. This article will address the path to expanding your existing business or initially undertaking a business involving federal government contracts.

GETTING STARTED

The best way to explore federal government contracting possibilities is to expand your business plan to include a sector for that type of business or develop your start up plan including a federal government business sector. Doing business with the Federal Government is not "Rocket Science" but it is different. It embodies a set of regulations entitled, "The Federal Acquisition Regulation" or FAR, which contain the rules by which the government and industry abide in contracting for supplies and services. The FAR had its genesis during World War II and has evolved since that time to control and regulate the ever-expanding amounts of goods and services which the federal government buys.

The following are the most important "Mechanical Steps" necessary in positioning your business to begin selling to the federal government. They are listed in the necessary sequence for becoming a supplier entity in the government system. A link to appropriate web sites is provided at each step.

A. Register Your Company With Your State And with the IRS:

Incorporation is fairly inexpensive and can be done yourself via the WEB for either a non-profit or a for-profit business. 
You may download free instructions to register a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in your state from the BOX in the right margin of this site.  

B. Register at the System For Award Management Web Site:

System for Award Management (SAM)

C.  SBA Hub Zone Program

Note that Hub Zone qualification is based on where the business is located and where the personnel in the business reside as well.

D. To obtain A Veteran-Owned or Disabled Veteran Owned Certification:

Veteran-Owned Business Certification

E. For Searches on Federal Buys:

Contract Opportunities  is the gateway for all federal business. The search tool there is a very powerful engine with many filters that are useful. It is well worth the time to learn the filters. Every federal agency is required by regulation to advertise there and you will be amazed at the products and services the federal government buys.

For insights and cautions regarding SAM Contract Opportunities see:  What Small Business Should Know About SAM Contract Oppotunities

F. For an example of a small business capability statement check the following web site:

Your Capability Statement

A capability statement is always a good idea for marketing. The link above as an example. It was found on the web in the public domain Note that the site is a SDB. Later you will get into proposal preparation and the regulations governing the types of grants and contracts, as well as billing the government for your work and other factors.

G.  Questions for you:

Are you planning to produce a deliverable, distinct, end product such as software, hardware, a commodity, a report, a conference, a survey or a study, sell it to meet the government's statement of work and bill for the end product when delivered?

OR

Are you planning to price your services at an hourly rate, sell them by labor categories with professional job descriptions to perform the government's statement of work and bill by the hour for labor and at cost for material and travel?

Answers to the above questions are key factors in how you set up your business and price your work in proposals to federal agencies. The answer to the above questions is "Yes" in both cases for some businesses. Some small businesses sell their product commercially, but contract for product implementation and support on a service contract basis.

"EVMS" Drives True Project Status, By Integrating Project Cost, Schedule And Estimate At Completion

Image:  Wikipedia.org

Recently a question regarding project management  prompted me to recommend a simple application of an Earned Value Management System (EVMS) to deal with a project management problem.

The question and my answer are as follows:

Question:

How do you keep yourself on task and on budget during a start up?

What are some techniques that you use to keep you (and your team?) on task, and on budget, during a business start up?

Answer:

Plan to measure your "Bang for the Buck". Establish tangible tasks in the form of a plan. Set milestones for them in time at a budget value for each milestone tied out to the total budget. The milestones should be things you can look at and say, "That's done".

Status your plan regularly. When milestones are completed, credit the budget value as earned. Tasks may cost more than their budgets to complete. That is cost variance for completed tasks.

If milestones are not completed by their scheduled date do not credit their budget value as earned. Behind schedule tasks are thus contributing to a cumulative budgeted schedule variance in time.

If you are running an unfavorable schedule variance for incomplete tasks and an unfavorable cost variance for completed tasks you are in trouble.

Corrective action, additional resources or a work around plan will be necessary to recover from negative variances. You will investigate the tasks behind schedule and over cost to determine the problem, the cause, the resolution, the corrective action and the likelihood of overrunning your total budget or being late due to events at time now. You will have time to do something about it.

The above technique can be used for starting a company or running a project. This technique is commonly referred to as Earned Value Management. It should not be driven to a level of detail that is unmanageable.

Prudently used this approach gives insight into the dynamics of physical accomplishment driving project status as opposed to plan versus actual cost tracking which tells you only that you are spending money.

Several approaches were recommended in response to the question for keeping a new start-up company on track with regard to staying within budget and time constraints. EVMS is the most effective project management technique to achieve that sort of objective.

Please visit the below Wikipedia article from which the graphic leading this post was downloaded for an excellent explanation of EVMS and its application on projects:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earned_value_management

In short, the technique:

1. Ties budget to schedule

2. Establishes measurable means to track project status

3. Accounts not only for the money being spent but also for what is being accomplished with the expenditure.

4. Allows in-process cost and schedule corrective action in time to favorably influence the project outcome.

I have utilized the EVMS technique from the smallest of projects to large-scale systems programs. It is well worth learning and practicing. If you become involved in large enough government projects EVMS will be required under your contract by government and prime contractor customers.

Many companies recognize the benefits of EVMS project management and apply it without being required to do so by contract. It produces excellent results.

Government Acquisition Categories

The federal government generally recognizes 6 principal categories of acquisitions. Below is an extract from the FAR for each. It is possible for a product to go through, or be supported by, all 6 acquisition categories during its life cycle.

FAR 34.005-3 - CONCEPT EXPLORATIONS

Whenever practicable, contracts to be performed during the concept exploration phase are for relatively short periods, at planned dollar levels. These contracts are to refine the proposed concept and to reduce the concept's technical uncertainties. The scope of work for this phase of the program is consistent with the government's planned budget for the phase. Follow-on contracts for such tasks in the exploration phase are awarded as long as the concept approach remains promising, the contractor's progress is acceptable, and it is economically practicable to do so.

FAR 34.005-4 - DEMONSTRATIONS

Whenever practicable, contracts for the demonstration phase provide for contractors to submit, by the end of the phase, priced proposals, totally funded by the government, for full-scale development. The contracting officer provides contractors with operational test conditions, performance criteria, life cycle cost factors, and any other selection criteria necessary for the contractors to prepare their proposals.

FAR 34.005-5 Full - FULL SCALE DEVELOPMENTS

Whenever practicable, the full-scale development contracts provide for the contractors to submit priced proposals for production that are based on the latest quantity, schedule, and logistics requirements and other considerations that will be used in making the production decision.

FAR 34.005-6 - FULL PRODUCTION

Contracts for full production of successfully tested major systems selected from the full-scale development phase may be awarded if the agency head (a) reaffirms the mission need and program objectives and (b) grants approval to proceed with production.

FAR 35.002 - RESEARCH AND DEVLEOPMENT

The primary purpose of contracted R&D programs is to advance scientific and technical knowledge and apply that knowledge to the extent necessary to achieve agency and national goals. Unlike contracts for supplies and services, most R&D contracts are directed toward objectives for which the work or methods cannot be precisely described in advance. It is difficult to judge the probabilities of success or required effort for technical approaches, some of which offer little or no early assurance of full success. The contracting process is used to encourage the best sources from the scientific and industrial community to become involved in the program and must provide an environment in which the work can be pursued with reasonable flexibility and minimum administrative burden.

Contracts are used only when the principal purpose is the acquisition of supplies or services for the direct benefit or use of the federal government. Grants or cooperative agreements are used when the principal purpose of the transaction is to stimulate or support research and development for another public purpose.

FAR 37.1 - SERVICES

"Nonpersonal services contract" means a contract under which the personnel rendering the services are not subject, either by the contract's terms or by the manner of its administration, to the supervision and control usually prevailing in relationships between the Government and its employees.

"Personal Services Contract" means a contract that, by its express terms or as administered, makes the contractor personnel appear, in effect, Government employees.

"Service Contract" means a contract that directly engages the time and effort of a contractor whose primary purpose is to perform an identifiable task rather than to furnish an end item of supply. A service contract may be either a nonpersonal or personal contract. It can also cover services performed by either professional or nonprofessional personnel whether on an individual or organizational basis. Some of the areas in which service contracts are found include the following:

(a) Maintenance, overhaul, repair, servicing, rehabilitation, salvage, modernization, or modification of supplies, systems, or equipment
(b) Routine recurring maintenance of real property
(c) Housekeeping and base services.
(d) Advisory and assistance services
(e) Operation of Government-owned equipment facilities, and systems
(f) Communications services