Despite the current cuts on government budget, the US federal market is unarguably a good and profitable place for other business people to make money. With the huge expenditure both by the federal and state government in billions of dollars, it is the perfect opportunity to make some money for government contracts. But this won’t be as easy as you may want to put it, you will be doing business with the strongest government in the world and challenges are to be expected. Since the government will be making large purchases, bids will be required which required which be a struggle to give the best bid as making it low won’t be enough. Moreover, each government will come up with its bidding legislation although the generally they have the same skeleton. The following are sources to assist you to get a government contract.
For you to succeed as a federal contractor you should be ready for plenty of paperwork. You will require to submit all the requirement before you can bid for any opportunity. The necessities as per the government will be requesting for a data universal numbering system number (DUNS) so that the government can find out which field you work in. However you will need to consult the government concerning the requirements if your bid will be on a local or state contract.
However when bidding for contract from the federal government, the person in charge of procurement will need to evaluate your profile. Hence its recommended that before you seek any federal contract, your business information should be given to SAM. The system will give information concerning your experience, your locality as well as your qualification as small business or gain inclination for being disadvantages like being a woman, minority or disabled veteran.
You usually, start bidding after the bid invitation. Every invitation defines the task, terms and qualifications, the deadline for bidding as well as that for completion of the project. Various governments and institutions may differ on how things are carried out but the seal-bid tactic will be same. After the deadline all the sealed bids are opened all at once so that the bids that come in later don’t get any leverage over early bidders.
Being the cheapest bidder is not enough to make your submission a winning bid. It is essential that you have enough experience in handling projects similar to what you are bidding for. It is essential that you follow and present what is required in the invitation as you make your bid, this will determine whether or not you will get the job.
If you have no experience in bidding, it is better that you start on the small projects rather than the bigger bids to build your credibility. This will enable you to establish your credibility. It would be great to offer to handle part of the project from a recognized big bidder to learn how things are done.