Are you an owner of a small business? Then you can get an access to the federal contracts! As per the law, the federal agencies need to establish contracting goals. 23% of the federal government purchases are meant for the small businesses and these contracting goals are established for companies that are service disabled veteran owned businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, women owned businesses and located in the HUBZone area. Therefore, if you own a small business, you can bid on for federal contracts.

However, not all the small-scale businesses can get an access to the federal contracts. Only the companies that obtained SBA certifications can compete for federal contracting opportunities. Obtaining these certifications is not that easy. For example, the SBA is very strict when it comes to approving the 8a certification for small businesses. It rejects seven out of ten applications if it finds the company or the entrepreneur not qualified for the certification. Only when it will approve the application, you will be able to compete for federal contracts.

So, there are many things, which a small business needs to do to access the federal contracts. Here I have discussed about those things.

Get the company SBA certified

The first thing a small business needs to do in order to get an access to the federal contracting opportunities is to become SBA certified. Companies that are small and disadvantaged get obtain 8a certification. Firms that are owned and controlled by women can get women owned small business certification. Service disabled veterans owning small businesses are eligible for obtaining service-disabled veterans owned small business certification. On the other hand, the companies that have their main offices as well as 35% of their staffs located on a HUBZone area can get HUBZone certification. The small businesses by obtaining their respective SBA certifications can get set-aside and sole source contracts.

Get the small business enlisted on federal contracting resources

Many entrepreneurs think that by getting their business SBA certified, they can win federal contracts. This is a misconception, which business owners have. As an SBA certified small business, you should enroll on contracting resources like USASpending.gov, OSDBU.Gov, Federal Procurement Data System, SAM, FedBizOpps, GSA Schedules, and DSBS database. These are the places, which federal procurement officers look for when seeking for contractors.

Identify contracting opportunities

As an entrepreneur, you must identify the contracting opportunities. For that, you should be proactive. Firstly, you need to decide the goods/services that you want to sell to the government and then you should look for agencies, which need your products/services the most. The U.S. government is considered as the world’s largest buyer of goods/services. It purchases almost everything. As a small business, you should be identifying which agency is looking for you. Once you find this, you must start to bid on jobs, which are available in the contracting resource. FedBizOpps is a great place to start with.

So, if you are a SBA qualified small business, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and get your business 8a certified to win federal contracts!

Author Bio
Adriana Sopi is a business consultant. He advises small businesses on 8 a certification, HUBZone certification and other SBA certifications helping a small firm to grow. He even writes articles and blogs on these topics. Here he writes about how small businesses can get an access to federal contracts.