How to win government contracts as a small business?

You might already be asking yourself on how to win government contracts. Well, there are a handful of routes that you can take in order to start working with the federal government and that’s going to be the focus of today’s blog.

PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS.

Primarily, you need to make sure that your business is prepared to work with the government by meeting the necessary requirements.

These include having all the required business information such as the DUNS number and NAICS code in registering on the System for Award Management (SAM) database.

Also, part of your SAM registration is uploading your capability statement and identifying that you have met the size standards to be considered as a small business and be able to take advantage of small business programs.

This is of utmost importance because before awarding the contract, each agency does a research first to see if you have the necessary resources in place. If you think, you are not qualified in doing so, then this should be the stage to see what you can do to make you more qualified.

UNDERSTAND THE BIDDING PROCESS.

Before you land into a contract, you will most likely need to undergo a bidding process so it is key to understand how the bidding process works and what the types of government solicitations are there.

To give you an idea, the four types of government solicitations include the request for a quote, request for proposal, an invitation for bid, and request for information.

Regardless of the type of solicitation the government agency asks, you need to provide a responsive bid or proposal that complies to the procurement requirements and procedures.

Most importantly, you need to make sure that whatever the requirements are, you have looked upon it and resolved any issues that might compromise the project before agreeing on doing the contract.

BUILD YOUR NETWORK.

Attend small business training workshops either online or offline to improve your understanding of how government procurement works and to assess the products and services each agency needs as well as communicate with other government contractors and learn from their experiences in the field.

Also, look for a mentor who can help you navigate the contracting process and to guide you on your decisions.

In doing so, the SBA is offering free workshops that you can join regardless of what state you are located and there are a handful of government contractors and consultants who are willing to assist you.

FIND A CONTRACT.

There are a handful of platforms that you can use to find contracts and one of these is the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) which is mainly used by government agencies. You can also use this to search for subcontractors to do half or a little portion of your overall contract.

Then, there are also other federal business opportunities listed in the FedBizOpps.gov which is now under the SAM database that government agencies ought to use to advertise all contracts over $25,000

Lastly, you can also secure a contract with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). However, you first need to pay for a Past Performance Evaluation report and also provide six to 20 email addresses of your past customers.

SEARCH FOR SUBCONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES.

If you are a small business and you don’t have the experience in becoming a prime contractor, there are a handful of subcontracting opportunities that you can look at on SubNet.

The SBA, GSA, and the Department of Defense also maintains a directory of prime contractors with subcontracting plans.

Lastly, you can also search for contracts over $25,000 on the Federal Procurement Data System, USASpending.gov or on any small business offices such as the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) or the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP).