How to Do Business with the Federal Government

Contracts with the government might provide a steady income stream for your firm. It’s easier to plan marketing campaigns, hire employees, and expand a business with a steady flow of revenue.

Interested businesses can use the materials in this article to learn how to navigate the federal contracting process, submit bids, and win contracts.

How do I become a government contractor?

Government agencies can now buy goods and services from large and small businesses. Businesses must take a few simple actions to succeed in federal government contracting. Owners of small businesses can inquire to an official government organization or federal government website like U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA.gov).

For GSA-approved small businesses, you must go through the following process:

Step 1: Get a Unique Entity Identifier

By April of 2022, all entities registered in SAM and doing business with the federal government will be using a unique identifier (UEI) created in SAM.

SAM.gov is the only among the gov websites that you need to visit if you want to:

• Do business with the federal government by requesting and maintaining a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).
• Use the Unique Entity ID to make any necessary changes to your legal business name and physical location.
• Ask the customer support help desk to handle or follow up on your Unique Entity ID and entity registration needs.

Step 2: Obtain a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

Federal statistical agencies use the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to identify and classify the sizes of businesses.

Using NAICS numbers, you may represent your business and discover new prospects across various platforms. You can apply for multiple NAICS codes at the same time. Remember to keep a copy of your registration code.

Step 3: Verify Your Small Business Status on the SBA Website

It is necessary for a company to meet the industry’s minimum or maximum size requirement to be considered a small business. Although industry standards vary, the number of people or the average annual revenue is the most commonly used to determine a company’s size.

Step 4: Become a member of the System for Award Management (SAM)

Before receiving a contract, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchase agreement, your company must be registered in SAM.

SAM.gov is one of the government’s official websites dedicated to award management. You can utilize SAM.gov without paying any charge.

By registering on this website, you can:

• Do business with the United States government
• Renew, update, or check your company’s registration status.

Helpful official websites and terms for government contracting

The United States government, the world’s biggest purchaser of products and services, can be a daunting challenge to learn how to market successfully. Since most of the work is done online, official government websites help small businesses.

• Small Business Administration (SBA): Provides connections to free online courses and a step-by-step guide to selling to the government.
• General Services Administration (GSA): GSA is the government’s top acquisitions agency and spends billions of dollars each year on products and services available to all federal departments.
• Doing Business with GSA: Covers government procedures, marketing techniques, and the bidding process for government contracts.
• Office of Small Business Utilization: Supports expanded access to GSAS procurement possibilities for small, minority, veteran, HUBZone, and women-owned businesses by conducting outreach initiatives in regional offices.
• GSA Training Programs: online and in-person courses that primarily discuss how to become a contractor.

How do I sell to the DoD?

You can get your first DoD government contract using various services and techniques. Here are the things to consider you are planning to trade with DoD:

1. Identify your support network

You have to access the Department of Defense’s assistance network to ensure your support network. DoD developed the Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) to help small businesses learn about doing business with DoD. It was specifically designed to benefit small businesses.

2. Abide with the DoD rules

Make yourself familiar with federal acquisition regulations (FAR) and its Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation System (DFARS). These rules, which control acquisitions by the Department of Defense, are pretty complicated but accessible.

3. Register in SAM.gov

Doing business with the federal government requires the System for Award Management (SAM) under the FAR. Free assistance with SAM registration is available from your local PTAC. There is a wealth of information on SAM’s website, including FAQs, tutorials, and videos.

You must renew your SAM registration each year after the initial one. Contracting Officers and Small Business Professionals use Small Business Administration to look for small businesses with specified NAICS codes.

4. Target your market and create a capabilities statement

Determine your area of expertise or niche. Only market to people who are likely to buy what you’re selling.

Summarize your expertise in a one-page statement of capabilities. There should be no grammatical errors in your summary of qualifications.

During your extended capabilities briefings, you should adapt your presentation to the specific client you’re meeting with and show how you can address their difficulties.

Step 5: Bid and win contracts

Small businesses must bid at a lower price than the competition to be competitive. Your time and money will be squandered due to increasing your bidding volume without making any changes to your strategy.

You can focus on the most straightforward purchases as you start the contract. On FedBizOpps, you can look for “simple acquisition” to identify these kinds of procurements.

How do I get a DoD contract?

Before you may be considered for a military contract, all businesses must register with the federal government.

These are the things you need to do:

• Get a DUNS number and register with the System for Award Management (SAM).
• Obtain a DUNS number and register for contracts in SAM.
• Educate yourself on federal codes and identify yourself with organizations that have received military agreements.
• Get Product Service Codes (PSC) and North American Business Classification System (NAICS) to begin using these codes in your products, services, or industry.
• Visit the Federal Business Opportunities website to learn about current DoD procurement opportunities.
• Look at the requirements for military contractors in terms of standards and specifications.
• Presenting your proposal is the final step after registering, doing your study, reaching out to potential collaborators, and becoming well-versed in military standards and guidelines.

Doing business with the federal government benefits

Doing business with the federal government has a lot of advantages for your small business. Here are the federal government contracts benefits:

Huge amount of business opportunities

Doing business with the federal government has a lot of advantages for your small business. Here are the federal government contracts benefits:

Massive amount of business opportunities

The United States government has a lot of government offices and agencies. It means that there are a lot of business opportunities for people who want to start their businesses. Many businesses can take advantage of these benefits. You can look at some of the reasons here.

Markets in the public sector

When small businesses enter a new market, it can help them grow and become more stable. In the public eye, things are very different. A GSA Schedule contract is an excellent way to get into this market.

Small businesses can get supplies and services from GSA sources. There are a lot of GSA Eligible Entities that can do this. A GSA contract gives you more chances to reach federal buyers and can help you grow your business, so it’s worth getting one.

A long-term deal

Becoming a federal contractor in the government contracting industry is complicated. Still, once a company is selected, they are frequently engaged for an extended time.

Service contracts ranging from one to three years are the norm for businesses with the US government. The government may provide more positions or refer to other federal agencies in other cases.