The federal government contracts with small businesses to buy products and services.
Government contracts are a tremendous financial opportunity for small businesses.
The U.S. government is the largest customer in the world. It buys all types of products and services — in both large and small quantities — and it’s required by law to consider buying from small businesses.
The government wants to buy from small businesses for several reasons, including:
The process of requesting proposals, evaluating bids, and awarding contracts should take place on a level playing field. The government should consider a bid from any qualified business.
Federal agencies must publicly list their contract opportunities. Some of these contracts are set aside exclusively for small businesses.
In some cases, these so-called set-aside contracts might consist of certain types of tasks on larger contracts. In others, entire contracts may be reserved for small businesses. When a contract is set-aside for one specific small business, it’s called a sole-source contract.
SBA works with federal agencies in order to award 23% of prime government contract dollars to eligible small businesses. It also offers counseling and help to small business contractors.
Your small business must meet some basic requirements before you can compete for government contracts.
You can increase your chance of winning a government contract by researching the federal marketplace and taking advantage of SBA resources.
There are several different ways of contracting that can help you win awards from the federal government.