Compliance is often discussed in the language of obligation something companies do to avoid penalties or satisfy regulators. Margarita Howard approached it differently when she founded HX5 in 2004. For her, investing in a government-approved accounting system was not a regulatory response. It was a growth tool.
The distinction matters. A company that invests in compliance because it must will do the minimum required. A company that invests in compliance because it understands the competitive advantage it creates will build that infrastructure early, maintain it rigorously, and use it to open doors that remain closed to less-prepared competitors. Howard chose the latter approach.
Attracting the Right Partners
Large defense contractors working on federal awards frequently need small business partners to meet government-mandated subcontracting requirements. Finding those partners is relatively straightforward. Vetting them is harder. Many small firms cannot demonstrate the financial controls, billing accuracy, or audit history that large prime contractors need to confidently bring a subcontractor into a major award.
HX5 cleared that bar before being asked. “This is what we used to bill the government,” Howard said. “So, that was also very attractive to large businesses, that we were very small at the time, and that we already had this government accounting system in place, which those large businesses had.”
Margarita Howard and HX5 effectively removed a common objection that prime contractors had to working with small firms. The accounting system was not just a compliance tool it was a credibility signal that accelerated teaming opportunities during the company’s formative years.
Results That Reflect the Strategy
Howard’s philosophy produced a company that now operates with significant scale across the federal marketplace. HX5 has grown to more than 1,000 employees in over 20 states, spanning more than 70 government locations. It has earned prime contract awards that firms of its size rarely achieve and has been named Prime Subcontractor of the Year.
“We have won some very large prime contracts,” Howard said. “And we have large businesses as our subcontractors.” The trajectory of Margarita Howard and HX5 demonstrates what happens when a founder treats compliance not as a burden to be minimized but as an investment with measurable returns. Refer to this article for more information.
More about Howard on https://www.f6s.com/member/margarita-howard
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