In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the President of Capitol Integration, Gene Moran. Gene helps companies achieve dramatic outcomes when selling to the federal government. Gene is also an author of several books, including Make Your Move. Gene shares that as a result of his experience as a Navy veteran, he felt unfulfilled after he left active duty. This is what drove Gene to get into entrepreneurship, which has given him great success.Gene shares that most contractors don’t understand the process of actually securing a contract with the federal government. Gene’s work focuses on funding, which comes long before a contract does. If you don’t understand the ins and outs of where your money is going and what policies will affect it, you absolutely should not seek out a contract.Josh and Gene also talk about the sales cycle of the federal government. The federal government operates in fiscal years with three budgets in motion at any given time. These budgets can be in development, review, or execution at any time, as well. Gene shares that if you get involved during the review or development stages, there is often a lot of room for influence and opportunity. According to his website, when you’re pitching your defense product or service solutions to the U.S. Federal Government, you have more success when you think as your customer does – you need a plan! The best results are achieved when your plan includes the entire federal process, not just the capture. Walking into an opportunity without understanding the budget environment and complexity of the terrain, you will likely be disappointed with your government sales. This is where Gene comes in.Gene and Josh explore how veterans are some of the perfect candidates for entrepreneurship and becoming a contractor for the federal government. It requires hard work and grit, which is something that veterans would be familiar with from their time in the military. These skills have serious value in the corporate and business world, but many of these people undervalue their skills. Don’t overlook your own unique strengths that you learned from your time serving. If you want to avoid wasted investment, lost time, and flat or declining federal sales, don’t spend another minute spinning your wheels. If you need help receiving funding from the federal government or need a policy change in order to sell your product or service, reach out to Gene and the Capitol Integration team here. Want to learn more? Check out Capitol Integration’s website at https://www.genemoran.com/. Check out all of Gene Moran’s books at https://www.genemoran.com/make-your-move/. Check out Capitol Integration on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/capitol-integration/Check out Gene Moran on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/genemoran/ .Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.