Finding Opportunities and Providing Services to the Federal Government
Knowing how to start selling digital services to the federal government can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned business owner.
The Small Business Administration provides information on how to get started. Visit the SBA page for more information.
Qualifying for contracting opportunities set aside for small businesses
The federal government spends approximately $500 billion in contracts every year and the current law requires that 23 percent of these dollars be awarded to small businesses.
To qualify as a "small business" you must be a for-profit business and fall below the maximum size determined by your company's NAICS code based on average annual revenue.
Companies with certain designations may also qualify for sub-classifications, such women-owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, firms located in HUBZones (historically underutilized locations) and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses. You can learn more about these at the Small Business Administration.
https://www.sba.gov/contracting/government-contracting-programs/Women-owned small businesses can determine eligibility and register at http://Certify.sba.gov/
Finding opportunities
Businesses interested in pursuing federal contracts have many options available to represent their company to potential government buyers, research opportunities available in the federal marketplace, and to understand the competition. These listed below are not the exhaustive list, but demonstrate a variety of ways in which the government seeks out business opportunities.
System for Award Management (SAM.gov)
Pre-requisite: SAM Registration
The primary location for contractors to discover Federal business opportunities is at SAM.gov. Federal agencies are required to use this site to communicate available procurement opportunities and their vendor requirements to the public and interested potential vendors for all contracts valued over $25,000. It is also the location where the government will release market research requests, such as Requests for Information (RFIs) or Sources Sought notices.
SAM.gov is an official website of the U.S. Government. There is no cost to use SAM.gov. You can use this site to:
- Register to do business with the U.S. Government
- Update, renew, or check the status of your entity registration
- Search for entity registration and exclusion records
- Search for assistance listings (formerly CFDA.gov), wage determinations (formerly WDOL.gov), contract opportunities (formerly FBO.gov), and contract data reports (formerly part of FPDS.gov).
- View and submit BioPreferred and Service Contract Reports
- Access publicly available award data via data extracts and system accounts
Dynamic Small Business Search
Pre-requisite: SAM Registration, Small Business Classification
DSBS is a tool contracting officers use to identify potential small businesses for upcoming contracting opportunities. Businesses can also use DSBS to identify other vendors for joint ventures and teaming, a common strategy for vendors new to providing digital services.
http://dsbs.sba.govChallenge.gov
Pre-requisites: Typically none, determined by challenge rules
Challenge.gov is a listing of challenge and prize competitions, all of which are run by more than 80 agencies across federal government. These include technical, scientific, ideation, and creative competitions where the U.S. government seeks innovative solutions from the public, bringing the best ideas and talent together to solve mission-centric problems. Depending on the type of challenge, there is no prior registration with the federal government required as prizes can be won by individuals, teams, or companies.
https://www.challenge.govMicro-Purchasing
Pre-requisites: SAM Registration, Ability to Accept Federal Purchase Card transactions
Agencies have the authority to make direct purchases without requiring competition for orders less than $3500 as a means of administrative convenience. These requirements are not typically posted and are usually initiated by the agency needing a particular good or service.
In order to facilitate the use of micro-purchases for open source coding services, the new Micro-purchase Marketplace is the place to bid on discreet open-source issues that are under the $3500 "micro-purchase" authority. This effort is being piloted by 18F.
https://micropurchase.18f.govContract Vehicles
Contracting officials use procedures outlined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation, known as the FAR, to guide government purchases. A "contract vehicle" is a broad term to define a method under which a company may pursue and close a sale. One of the most common contracting methods used by the government is consolidated purchasing programs including GSA schedules, Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) and other multiple award vehicles. These vehicles offer government buyers a qualified pool of vendors with pre-negotiated rates for products and services sold to the federal government.
GSA Multiple Award Schedule - Information Technology Category
The GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Information Technology Category is among the most widely used acquisition vehicles in the government for information technology purchases.
For more information visit GSA's Information Technology Category page
GSA Schedule FASt Lane
The FASt Lane program is designed for government agencies to have quicker access to emerging technologies and innovative suppliers. Using the GSA FASt Track program, a GSA Schedule application can be awarded in 30-45 days.
Visit GSA's FASt Lane page for more information
Understanding the Market
What the government intends to buy and how much it has to spend is all in the public domain. Understanding the budgetary priorities of agencies can help a savvy small business identify opportunities and focus their sales and marketing strategy.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Overview/USASpending.Gov
USASpending.gov is a searchable database that contains information for each federal award including names of business, amount received and the funding agency.
https://www.usaspending.govOSDBU.Gov
Many federal agencies have what is known as an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) or an Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). These offices work within their agencies to identify opportunities to incorporate small businesses as vendors to their agencies Each OSDBU holds trainings and events to help small businesses identify if there are opportunities with the agency.
http://www.osdbu.gov http://www.gsa.gov/aboutosbuFind Teaming Partners
Finding partners who already hold a prime contracts is a common way for new companies to enter government contracting. By teaming with established partners you increase your competitive advantage, performance capabilities, government relationships, and add invaluable experience. Many of the tools highlighted here, such as dsbs.sba.gov, fbo.gov and usaspending.gov can be used to identify companies who have recently been awarded new government contracts.
Additional Resources
Small Business Administration
https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/register-government-contractingFederal Agency Acquisition and Procurement Links
https://oamp.od.nih.gov/acquisition-offices/contract-tool-box/federal-linksDigital Services Playbook
https://playbook.cio.govTechFAR
https://techfarhub.usds.gov/18F
https://18f.gsa.gov/United States Digital Service
http://usds.gov