Small businesses
face multiple challenges when they’re trying to secure government contracts.
Their main area of difficulty? The stringent ethics and compliance programs
they have to implement in their companies. Small-scale businesses and
contractors don’t have large management teams. When they experience rapid
growth, performing basic organizational functions takes up all of their time,
energy, and labor. These are the technical reasons why small businesses often
fail to pass compliance audits. However, there are other forces at play behind
these inabilities. Some of them have to do with how small-scale businesses and
contractors view the compliance programs they wish to implement. Here are some
types of views that often hold small businesses back.
Viewing Compliance as a Risk Mitigation Process
Many small-scale
businesses and contractors view compliance as a risk mitigation tactic. What’s
the consequence of failing a DCAA audit? No
contracts! What’s the upside of passing this audit? Apart from securing
contracts, most small-scale businesses and contractors will say achieving
compliance has no other upsides. Changing this attitude is critical. Instead,
businesses and contractors must view ethics and compliance programs as tools to
avoid mistakes like performing costly re-work. A compliant contractor is way
more effective than a non-compliant one. That’s because just the practice of
achieving compliance at every level, everyday makes these organizations
function better.
Viewing Compliance as a Separate Function
Many contractors
view DCAA
Compliance as just another task. They separate compliance from
their other business functions. Instead, they should see compliance as a force
to make correct decisions with all business functions. Every worker should have
a role in compliance – from accounting to business development. Achieving
compliance is not completing an extra task. It’s about aligning all the tasks
you perform as a contractor with government regulations.
