Government Contracting - Getting Started

Getting Started as a Government Contractor and Getting to Know the Federal Government Contracting Industry.

1. Register and receive a DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet.  http://www.dnb.com/us. Your business cannot register to be a government contractor (see step 2 below) without a DUNS number. 
2. Register as a government contractor with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) site.  https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/default.aspx. The Federal government cannot award your business a contract or purchase order unless you are a registered on the CCR.
3. Register with the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) site.  https://orca.bpn.gov. ORCA is the mechanism where the government contractor provides the Federal government certain information about its business.  The Federal government cannot do business with you unless you completed this step.
4. Determine if your business is eligible under any of the Small Business Administration’s small business size standards or otherwise qualifies for preferential treatment in seeking federal contracts.  http://www.sba.gov/contractingopportunities/officials/size/index.html. In order to determine whether your business qualify as a small business, you have to determine the appropriate NAICS classification for your industry and see if you fall within those standards.  http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics. For example, the NAICS small business size standard for telecommunication reseller is 1,500 employees.  If you are under a telecommunication reseller and you employ less than 1,500 employees, your business is considered a small business.
5. Search for current federal government procurement opportunities at FedBizOpps.  https://www.fbo.gov/ 
6. Develop a marketing strategy for targeted civilian and defense agencies. 
7. Familiarize your company with the budget forecasts for your targeted agencies. http://acquisition.gov/comp/procurement_forecasts/index.html 
8. Investigate whether your products or services are eligible for listing on the GSA Schedules or other government-wide acquisition contracting vehicles, and investigate subcontracting opportunities. 

Once the above steps are accomplished, selling to the Government is like selling to any other customer.  Companies need to develop targeted marketing strategies and strong business relationships with the agencies, and build a good reputation through successful contract performance. 

[Copyrighted by VietAmCham 2012. Prepared by David Truong, Esq., VietAmCham's Government Contracting Subcommittee Chair.]