Becoming successful with government contracting is not an easy feat. There are a lot of small businesses that are trying to enter this vertical – and many of these businesses would likely profit from such a relationship. However, most do not have the resources or the time to go through with the process. This is where it would be useful to outsource your business to government sales (B2G) and marketing program to a company dedicated to that function.

At PublicSpend we specialize in an array of services for small businesses which include researching and identifying government contract opportunities, comprehensive proposal writing and online government qualification marketing to name a few. It is crucial to be highly organized from the beginning of this process which is why I recommend that any business that wants to be successful with government contracting develops a B2G marketing plan and hires a dedicated sales team. It is important to determine if the ROI will be there and if there is potential to develop this aspect of your business.

The first step in the process is to understand the context in which your product or service could be used and determine which government agency could use it. Next, you need to review information on being a vendor for that agency by reviewing information on their website. If you are a small business – I would start off by contacting the small business liaison for that agency and discuss your products and the requirements for selling to that agency and any small business incentives/programs that may exist.

Once you have completed this research, you will know what steps are required for your products. These will include some general steps you need to take, (such as having a DUNS number, registering in the CCR and so forth if you want to contract at the federal level). You also will want to become familiar with the typical procurement requirements/contract language for your products.

One of the best strategies for entering the federal sector is to partner with a larger company. All the primes have small business requirements they must meet. Select several that are in the target market that you are interested in and develop a relationship with them. Most large companies have a small business liaison – just like the government agencies do. That person is the best place to start. You should also try to connect with any contacts that you have within those companies to research the best way to establish a working relationship. Some primes have pre-qualification procedures in place – so you will want to find out what those procedures are – because they can be lengthy.

You also want to get in on the ground floor for opportunities. The best time is in the pre-solicitation or sources sought phase. When you join a team at this point – you will be able to influence the resulting RFP (if the agency has a comment period) – and will be able to develop depth to your relationship with the prime before the RFP hits the streets.

At the state and local (county) levels you will want to follow similar steps in the beginning although you will obviously need to register with the state or municipality that you want to conduct business with. Again, identifying the right contract opportunities and building meaningful relationships with government takes time and resourcefulness – which is why outsourcing may be a good idea.

At PublicSpend we provide a number of services to meet the needs and resources of small businesses looking to be successful with government contracting at any level of government. If you wish to learn more information, you can contact us at 305-600-4576 and one of our associates will be glad to assist you or answer any questions that you may have.

The government is required to award 23% of its contracts to small businesses. However getting a foot in the door and navigating the federal bureaucracy to land one of these deals can be daunting. Bidding for government contracts is a highly competitive process that is typically done online through the GSA schedules. Buyers will typically only reach out to the most responsive and responsible vendors who offer the lowest prices.

This is why Hector Barreto, a former administrator of the Small Business Administration has organized networking events to introduce the government and large corporations to small business. Business Matchmaking hosts events throughout the country to educate small business owners and put them in front of buyers. The events typically target minority, women, veteran and disabled veteran owned firms who are limited in their ability to gain exposure to contracts.

While the event is free, participating small businesses have to meet certain eligibility criteria. You must have a DUNS number and register with the Central Contractor Registration, the government’s primary vendor database. Event organizers pair small businesses with buyers based on the services offered and needed. When a business signs up, they get prepped so they can take advantage of every minute of face time. If there is not a strong fit between vendor and buyer, Business Matchmaking can suggest where to go at another agency.

Business Matchmaking is sponsored by SCORE and several major corporations (e.g., American Airlines, Microsoft). Organizers estimate that $7 billion to $8 billion in contracts have been purchased over the past three years from connections made at the networking events. And they have helped organize over 75,000 meetings.

This can be a strong lead generation tool for your business, so why not attend one of these events? At the least you can gain a list of relevant government contacts to follow up with after only several hours of attending.

The weak economy has impacted most businesses but the government has to keep operating and has to purchase new products or services. The government also purchases a variety of products from transportation to security guard services and janitorial services – and they pay on time!

You can find out about upcoming events in your area here. If you are a buyer, you can access the Portal for Buyers to get started. If you cannot attend one of these events, you can join the Business Matchmaking online network to connect with buyers and learn about program updates.

Stimulus Watch is an interesting website that provides a list of “shovel ready” Stimulus Package Projects around the United States that want to be funded by money emanating from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The projects that are listed are taken directly from a recent report of the US Conference of Mayors.  Miami Mayor, Manny Diaz who is the President of the Conference, asked cities to submit projects that reflect their infrastructure needs, will create jobs and contribute to economic development.  The result is a report containing 18,750 local infrastructure projects from 779 cities that are “ready to go.”

Stimulus Watch takes each of these projects and provides a platform for the public to voice their opinions, discuss and use their local knowledge to help determine the worthiness of each project through a rating system.

Critics of the site point to the fact that there are many notable omissions of critical projects, the list is a series of unrealistic wishes that have not been vetted and many of the projects are far from “shovel ready”.  However, none of these criticisms can outweigh the benefits that a site like Stimulus Watch can and will bring.

Stimulus Watch is trying to do something the Obama Administration and Recovery.gov promise but are unlikely to ever achieve – real accountability.  While I have commented previously that Recovery.gov should be commended because it goes further than any other federal government initiative to ensure transparency and accountability, the problem is that it is all back loaded.  By the time we can hold the Administration and our state and local governments accountable the projects will already be underway and the money will be spent.  Stimulus Watch is frontloading accountability by allowing the public to be an active constituent in the decision making process.  It will also likely go further than any federal website will go after the money is spent by allowing local residents to discuss how well the money was used.

Frontloading accountability also helps businesses that hope to sell their goods or services to government and benefit from Stimulus Package Projects (which is after all part of the reason for the plan).  Once a state or local government agency is granted money for a particular project they are going to be under pressure to show fast progress.  Projects will be put out for bid and the speed at which the process is likely to happen may favor vendors that already work with the government.  By highlighting projects that may be the recipients of money, smart vendors can use Stimulus Watch to track and be part of the discussion now.  The site does a good job of allowing one to search for projects by state and city and I’d encourage any vendor who is looking to sell to government to check the projects that have been submitted in their region and contact the local cities for more information.

As I spend more and more time focusing on local government purchasing I thought it worthwhile to define the scope of this unique marketplace.  The number of entities comprising local government is often underestimated and vendors sometimes fail to grasp the extent of business that can be generated at this level.

When I use the term “local government” I am referring to any body that is in some way accountable to their local population, has fiscal and administrative autonomy and must follow strict rules when spending the public’s money. According to the 2002 Census there are 87,525 entities that make-up local government.

These entities comprise of counties (parishes in Louisiana, boroughs in Alaska) and municipalities (cities, towns, boroughs and villages).  In addition there are special purpose local governments.  Vendors often don’t think about these entities but yet they represent more than half the total number of local government agencies.

Special purpose local government includes school district government and other special district governments.  The latter provide specific services that are not supplied by the existing local government and often perform just a single function.  They will have administrative and fiscal independence and, in aggregate, according to the 2002 census represent more than 40% of local government entities.  Examples of special district government (not exhaustive) include:

• Housing authorities
• Public universities
• Community Colleges
• Courts
• Hospitals
• Mosquito Abatement
• Transportation Authorities (airports, ports, local train / subway systems)
• Flood control
• Waste management
• Public, local utilities
• Sewerage
• Cemeteries

Whether these entities are classified as special district government or not varies from one state to another. In many places some of these functions are subordinate to another agency such as a county and do not have administrative or fiscal autonomy.  In other places, they may be autonomous but the procurement function may be outsourced to a county or other agency.  You will need to research within your target geography but don’t miss out on opportunities these entities may provide you with.

Actually, 62,831,458 to be precise – that’s the total cost to clean Ft. Lauderdale International Airport over a five-year period.  So more than $1 million a month for a janitorial services contract!

That is a big number and it wasn’t awarded by a federal agency either.  No GSA schedule was needed and, I bet, in the local area there aren’t many other janitorial service contracts bigger than that.  Airports come under the auspices of the local county.  In this instance Broward County awarded the contract after they requested letters of interest.  The award was not based solely on price although the winning vendor in this case did bid the lowest price.

The recipient of this lucrative contract was Sunshine Cleaning Systems, a local South Florida contract cleaning company.  They beat 3 other vendors to win the contract.  While they have been in business for more than 30 years they are a shining example of how you can use local government contracting as a key revenue stream in your business.

I am pretty sure that most janitorial service companies would not be capable of performing such a large contract (although I’m definitiely not an expert) but there are sure to be hundreds of smaller local government opportunities in your area.  Local government is a big buyer of janitorial services.  Everyone likes their government centers, libraries, judicial complexes and other public buildings nice and clean.

As with any business that is looking to grow, the local government market is a good place to start looking for new customers.  Over the next few weeks I’ll start to highlight some other examples of goods and services that you might not expect local government to purchase along with some of the lucky recipients of those contracts.