Small business strategy is the “HOW TO” for using the tools the government provides for entry into this business arena. For small business owners it’s an exciting learning curve, as they pursue the challenge of doing business with government.
Keys for small businesses are to find your fit, introduce your company to the government, prepare to sell and delivery your products or services. These same processes should be used in pursuing the contract primes as a potential subcontractor.
A few words of advice:
- Understand how to do business with government
- Know what you are selling
- Who’s buying it
Here are a couple of those government tools, just keep in mind, the intent is to create competition between equal sized companies. These programs are not guarantees to winning a contract, but they are portals to potential longevity and business revenues for doing business with government.
Set-Asides
Contract opportunities are determined by values, ranging from $3,000 with a not to exceed amount of $150,000. Generally, the contracting officer will need to verify the small business qualifications.
- At least 3 qualified small business categories need to identified – capable of providing best price, quality and complete delivery according to the contract terms.
- Past performance needs to meet customer expectations,
- Bidding companies need to provide fair market pricing, and core competencies should represent the company’s capabilities.
Subcontracting
Becoming a subcontractor to a Prime can yield a great deal of valuable experience for a small business. It’s an opportunity to learn how the government conducts business and gain first hand knowledge in the preparation for the day the small business bids as a Prime.
- Subcontracting opportunities have contract values over $600,000 for goods and services with construction reaching values up to $1.5 million.
- Prime contractors are required to include in the company’s subcontracting plan their small business strategy.