How to get government contracts
The federal government buys almost everything, from software to grass cutting, and it is obliged to give a share of it to small businesses. Getting in is a sequence, and most people do it in the wrong order.
10,680
federal solicitations are open right now across 913 agencies and 484 industry codes, 2,460 of them reserved for small business.
The order that works
One. Find your NAICS codes. Everything downstream keys off them, including whether you count as small.
Two. Register in SAM. Free, a few weeks, and you get a UEI and CAGE code out of it.
Three. Check whether any certification genuinely applies to you, and whether it operates in your codes. Do not certify for its own sake.
Four. Write a one-page capability statement and send it to small business specialists at agencies that buy what you sell.
Five. Answer sources sought notices in your codes, months before the solicitations exist.
Six. Bid small. Under the simplified acquisition threshold the paperwork is light and past performance barely matters.
What wastes the first year
Chasing a GSA Schedule before you have ever held a contract. Certifying for programmes that do not operate in your NAICS codes. Paying somebody to do a free SAM registration. And bidding large competitive procurements with no past performance, which you lose on that factor before anyone reads your approach.
All four feel like progress. None of them produce a contract.
Subcontracting is the shortcut
Primes on contracts over $750,000 are obliged to have small business subcontracting goals and are actively looking. There is no proposal to write and no past performance requirement, and the work you do builds the record that makes priming possible later.
How long it really takes
Registration is weeks. A first small award, if you are deliberate about it, is realistically three to nine months. Anyone promising faster is selling something.
Questions people ask
How do I get my first government contract?
Register in SAM, find your NAICS codes, then bid small purchases under the simplified acquisition threshold or subcontract to a prime. Both routes avoid the past performance barrier.
How much does it cost to start?
Nothing mandatory. SAM registration and every federal certification are free.
Do I need a certification?
No. Small business status is self-certified. The named programmes help only if they operate in your NAICS codes.
Can I get government contracts with no experience?
Yes, through micro-purchases, work under the simplified acquisition threshold, and subcontracting, none of which turn on past performance.
How long does it take to win one?
Three to nine months to a first small award if you work at it deliberately.
Related
SAM registration · Find your NAICS codes · The easiest contracts to win · Subcontracting