The United States government is, collectively, the largest buyer in the world. For a small business, that scale can sound out of reach, but the path to a first federal contract is more of an orderly process than a stroke of luck. This article brings together, in a single roadmap, the steps that make the […]
It’s a reasonable question, and more common than it might seem: if a contract is public, is it legal to pay someone outside the company to help write the proposal competing for it? The doubt usually comes from mistakenly associating public contracting with a process the company must handle entirely on its own, with no […]
For a small business in Central Florida, there are three main entry points into the world of public procurement before even thinking about federal contracts: the state system, the City of Orlando’s portal, and the Orange County portal. Each has its own registration process, its own technology platform, and its own flow of opportunities, and […]
Winning a government contract doesn’t depend only on having the best price or the best service: it depends, first, on not being disqualified over avoidable mistakes. Many proposals never even get evaluated on their merits, because they fail earlier on something technical or administrative. Here are the five most frequent mistakes among small businesses new […]
It’s one of those questions people keep putting off and, at the same time, search for privately more than almost any other: how much does it cost to pay someone to help win a government contract. The honest answer is that it depends on the payment model chosen, and each one carries different advantages and […]
When a small business starts exploring government contracting, one of the first hurdles is realizing there are several supplier diversity certifications, and each one serves a different purpose. It isn’t that one is stronger than another: the right question isn’t which certification is the strongest, but which certification actually matches your company’s real structure. This […]
One of the costliest mistakes a new small business makes in government contracting isn’t losing a bid: it’s competing for contracts it never should have pursued. Industry estimates suggest between 20% and 50% of the time and effort invested in a proposal ends up wasted on opportunities that never had a real shot at winning. […]
If you want to sell products or services to the U.S. federal government, SAM.gov registration isn’t optional. It’s the entry requirement. Without an active registration you cannot receive an award, you cannot get paid, and in most cases you cannot even submit a bid. The good news: registration is free and you can do it […]