Tips for winning government contracts

Can you imagine your small business providing that key product or service to the U.S. Department of Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Agriculture?

It could be a reality. The federal government spends more than $500 billion a year in contracts, making it the largest purchaser of goods in the world. Small businesses throughout the country can and should take advantage of contracting opportunities so that they can grow, innovate and create jobs. At SBA we have a variety of resources to assist small firms in navigating government contracting.

Founding CSSS.NET (Client/Server Software Solutions) from home in 1997, Nebraska’s Lisa Wolford set a goal of being a successful federal contractor. Using several services from the U.S. Small Business Administration over the years, CSSS.Net today derives almost 100 percent of its revenues from the federal government. The U.S. Air Force is her largest client and the company performed on a $21 million contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs, overseeing the fifth largest deployment of Microsoft Exchange ever implemented.

We want to help you also navigate government contracting like Lisa Wolford. Here are five winning tips:

• Get a counselor. You can find counselors in 68 SBA district offices, 885 Small Business Development Centers, 110 Women’s Business Centers, 350 SCORE chapters, and 300 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) across the country. These professionals are standing by to help you get in the contracting game, and most of their services are free. Visit www.SBA.gov/direct.

• Get certified. A number of certification programs can increase your chances of winning a contract. SBA’s 8(a) program provides counseling, mentoring and access to set-aside and sole-source contracts. Service-disabled veteran-owned businesses (SDVOSBs) and small companies in Historically Underutilized Businesses Zones (HUBZones) are also eligible for set-asides.SBA recently launched the Women’s Federal Contract Program which opens up contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses in more than 300 industries where they are underrepresented. Find out more at www.SBA.gov.

• Be targeted. The most successful contractors have a specific product or service that federal agencies need. Decide what you have to offer and target your efforts at the federal agencies that need it most.

• Market your business. Get your foot in the door by attending matchmaking events with agency contracting officers, or by reaching out to agencies’ Offices of Small and Disadvantage Business Utilization (OSDBUs). Visit www.osdbu.gov to find out more.

• Identify contracting opportunities. Be proactive! Once you’ve determined the agencies most likely to buy from you, you need to find contracts to bid on. Stay in close contact with the agency’s OSDBU and contracting officers you have met, and visit the Federal Business Opportunities Web site (www.fbo.gov), which has a list of all contracts available for bid. Also, look for new tools like green.sba.gov, an online portal that houses all of the clean-energy small-business opportunities across the federal government.

Winning a government contract is hard work, but small business owners are not in it alone. Contact us today to learn how government contracting can benefit your small business.