So, you want to land a government contract. It makes a lot of sense. Government contractors provide a lot of important services that improve the lives of people across the globe and make a lot of government work both possible and make sure they actually are completed. There is more to landing that prestigious contracting than understanding the government contract pricing schedule. If it was as simple and understanding proposal pricing software, there would not be such a thing as a professional proposal writer nor would there be a need for such things as federal proposal pricing software. Here are 6 tips to help you be successful in your noble quest.
Is your company a small business?
Before you begin the proposal writing process and investigate proposal pricing software and structure you need to determine how the Small Business Administration (SBA) sees you. If you have not yet qualified as a “small business,” you should incorporate yourself (if you can) as one. Basically, the SBA looks at how many employees you have or your company’s average sales in most years.
You also need to meet some qualifications set down by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). They make their determination by looking at your industry and have different standards for different ones. The qualifications to be considered a small business differ for a local information technology (IT) firm than it would be for a pharmaceutical company, for example.
Maintain your standing.
Knowing the government contract proposal pricing software is really useless if you have fallen out of the habit of keeping up with all of your business licenses. You also need to make sure you have met all of your compliance requirements, are completely up to date and current with your franchise (or other) taxes and your annual reporting is complete. Should you drop the ball with any of these tasks, and it is not hard to do that these days, some states will revoke your right to conduct your business there and then your likelihood of getting a government contract drops to just about zero.
Take the time to register your business.
The System for Award Management (SAM) makes it easy for companies these to register. When you visit their website, you will find a portal that lets you input all of your pertinent information. IT also lets you give the required certification data that all federal agencies require. This will both allow you to get government contracts and be compensated for the work that you do. In addition to that, it gives you the chance to market your goods and services to the agencies that might benefit from them. You should spend some time working on this to help your company get noticed. There are a lot of companies vying for the same contracts. You must stand out.
Get a DUNS number.
Dun andamp; Bradstreet (Dandamp;B) gives businesses a nine digit “DUNS” number. It allows others to identify all of that company’s physical locations. There is no charge for this and is very easy to get. It generally takes just a day. All United States agencies require the businesses they work with have them.
Check out the SBA’s business matchmaking tool.
Seriously, their website provides businesses with a great way to connect companies with the appropriate government contracting opportunities. The SBA’s entire “raison d’etre” is to help small businesses do well. There is also a corollary governmental office called the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) office that has been set up specifically to help connect businesses with contracting opportunities with the federal government. Reach out to them as well.
Talk to your Congressional representatives.
It is in their best interest to help companies in their district succeed. Call them and set up a meeting with the staff member who deals with this. They may be aware of resources that are harder to track down any other way. If you get the contract and hire more people, they can say they helped create jobs in their district.
Be prepared for this process to take a long time. Most government agencies do not move quickly. If you are prepared from the outset, it will be less frustrating.
