Federal Contracting Made Easy

Scott A. Stanberry

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781567263886
• eBook ISBN: 9781567263893
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Bookkeeping & Budgets
• Index: Business

Federal contracting... easy? With the fourth edition of Federal Contracting Made Easy, it is!
Whether or not you consider federal contracting easy, it is certainly easier with this guide. Used successfully by thousands of contractors and feds, this book offers practical, hands-on, no-nonsense advice.
Now in its fourth edition, Federal Contracting Made Easy lays out the entire federal contracting process in a readable and easy-to-understand style. This book covers how government procurement works, what you can do to cut though the red tape to speed your way to winning a contract, who the key players are, and tips for overcoming obstacles.
New in this edition:
• Discussion of government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs)
• Updates on women-owned small business
• New status of service-disabled veteran-owned small business
• Expanded list of relevant websites and resources
• Introduction to the new System for Award Management (SAM)
Whether you are about to enter the competitive world of federal contracting or have been bidding for contracts for years and are now looking for updated information and ideas, this is the book you need.
The federal government awards billions of dollars in contracts for goods and services every year. This book will help you win a piece of that business.

What Is Federal Government Contracting?

Chapter 1: How Does Federal Government Contracting Work?

Chapter 2: The Rules of the Game

Chapter 3: The Key Players

Success is getting what you want;
happiness is wanting what you get.

—Dave Gardner

How Does Federal Government Contracting Work?

What’s in this chapter?

The big picture

Top buyers

Future of federal contracting

Can you sell to the federal government?

Should you sell to the federal government?

Federal contracting is big business. By any measure, the U.S. government (a.k.a. Uncle Sam) is by far the largest consumer in the world. No other nation, or corporation for that matter, can begin to match its purchasing power.

Generally we hear only about government purchases for multimillion-dollar aircraft or those infamous $1,000 toilet seats and $500 hammers. But are you aware that there are currently over 350,000 government contractors receiving more than $500 billion worth of contracts each year—$100 billion of which goes to small businesses?

The federal government enters into contracts with American citizens like you to acquire the supplies and services needed to run its operations or fulfill its mission requirements. It uses a specific process designed to give business concerns the maximum practical opportunities to participate in federal contracting. Each year (actually, fiscal year, which begins on October 1 and ends on September 30), the federal government spends billions of dollars buying from nonfederal sources, or commercial contractors.

The government initiates or modifies more than 9 million contracts each year, two-thirds of which it grants to contractors outside the Washington, D.C., area. The key to getting a piece of the pie is to understand how the federal government does business and to position your company accordingly.

Ready? Set? Let’s go win some government business! This chapter provides an overview of what federal contracting is all about.

THE BIG PICTURE

Look at it this way: Every 20 seconds of every working day, the federal government awards a contract, with an average value of $495,000. And Uncle Sam must tell us what, from where, and from whom it buys.

The government purchases a mind-boggling array of products and services, ranging from high-technology items like homeland security programs, missiles, ships, aircraft, and telecommunication systems to more mundane items like office furniture, maintenance services, shoes, computers, food, janitorial services, carpeting, accounting services, and real estate. You name it, and the government probably buys it!

Because the government’s needs vary from those that individuals and small, singly owned enterprises can meet to those requiring the resources of large corporations, everyone has a potential share. In fact, it is no exaggeration to suggest that a small business can probably provide a service or create a product for nearly every federal agency.

Furthermore, a business can supply the government with its products or services from wherever it customarily operates. In other words, contractors are not restricted to selling to federal agencies in their own communities. A contractor in Memphis, Tennessee, can supply the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, just as easily as a contractor operating from Dahlgren. Anyone looking for more customers or thinking about starting a new business should consider the federal government as a prospect.

To help small businesses participate in federal contracting, the government offers a variety of programs and services, including credit assistance, procurement opportunities, technical support, management assistance, and grants. (See Chapter 4 for what constitutes a small business in the eyes of the government.) These programs and services have created and sustained thousands of small firms, generating many millions of jobs in the process. As a result, many of these small businesses have grown into large businesses.

I have personally seen firms go from zero to $50 million or more in federal business in less than five years. No other industry provides more opportunities for small businesses than government contracting. Yet only 1 percent of the 22 million small businesses in the United States participates in federal contracting.

Why doesn’t everyone contract with the government? Contracting with the government can be cumbersome, with its regulations, rules, laws, bureaucracy, and red tape. The primary purpose of these detailed rules and regulations is to ensure that the government spends public funds—our tax dollars—wisely. To be successful as a government contractor, you must understand these rules and regulations (see Chapter 2).

Although federal contractors use many of the same business practices as commercial vendors, a number of characteristics clearly differentiate the two. To begin with, the federal government operates in a market that is called monopsonistic—one with only one buyer and many sellers. As a result of this sovereignty, the government has certain unusual powers and immunities that differ significantly from those of more typical buyers, as detailed in the table below. Congressional mandate, rather than state laws, controls federal policy.

Significant differences include:

Government Contracting	Commercial Contracting
General
Federal policy establishes formal competition criteria for purchases or procurements.	Company determines competition criteria.
Congress appropriates available funds.	Many sources provide funds.
Laws, direct...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• About the Author
• Author’s Note
• Contents at a Glance
• Contents
• Preface
• PART I: WHAT IS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING?
• PART II: HOW YOUR BUSINESS SIZE OFFERS OPPORTUNITY
• PART III: HOW TO FIND GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES
• PART IV: HOW THE GOVERNMENT ISSUES PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES
• PART V: CONTRACT TYPES AND ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS
• Appendix A: Acronyms
• Appendix B: Federal Agencies and Departments
• Appendix C: Glossary
• Index