Small Business: How To Get Business From The Federal Government?

Do you own a small business?  Want to do business with the federal government?  You can earn huge amount of profits every year once you get your business 8a certified. 

However, getting a business 8a certified isn’t an easy affair.  The Small Business Administration or SBA is very strict with approving the SBA 8a certification applications.  They make it a point that the small businesses meet all the requirements for 8a certification.

Some of the SBA 8a requirements are as follows:

• The SBA requires small businesses to be in operation for at least two years.
• The owner of the company needs to be disadvantaged both economically and socially.
• The entrepreneur should also have a moral character and own at least 51% of the business.

When small businesses are able to prove the SBA that they have met all the requirements, it’s only then that the Small Business Administration approves the application. Once the small business gets 8a certified, it needs to start bidding to win federal contracts. But obtaining federal contracts is also not easy. Here we have mentioned three different ways 8a companies should take to get business from the federal government.

• Self marketing and sole source

Proactive 8a companies market themselves to the Federal Agencies in their area that typically use their goods and services.  Therefore once an 8a participant has identified a requirement that meets their firm’s capabilities then the procurement officer can actively offer that specific procurement to the 8a business development program on the participant’s behalf.  The contracting officer will then initiate a negotiation directly with the 8a contractor for that requirement.  Keep in mind the sole source set aside dollars are limited to $6.5 million dollars for manufacturing and $4 million for other products and services.

• Competitive 8a acquisitions

Contracting officers can request an 8a eligibility determination as part of a bid.  They will typically consider the three most highly rated offers.  When this competitive procedure is used the SBA concurrence in the final negotiated price is not required.  These are found on the official site of fedbizopps.  There are presently 235 competitive 81 RFPs out for bid within the last three months on this site.

• GSA Schedule

The 8a certified firm obtains a GSA Schedule for its products and or services.  The company lists its products and or services on the GSA Advantage and eBuy.  The firm receives the orders for its products and services and fulfills the orders.  Having an 8a certification gives the supplier an advantage over non-8a firms because the procurement officer has a 5% budget target for 8a procurement. 

 

These are the three most common ways to take advantage of the 8a certification.  So, what are you waiting for?  Get your small business 8a certified and use these above-mentioned methods to obtain business from the federal government.

For more information go to:  www.8acertification.net

About Brian Daniel Young