With over 135 federal agencies in existence, the government has tremendous purchasing power in the federal marketplace. Some agencies may be purchasing your products and services in bulk, and some maybe not so much. It’s up to you to ensure that you’re doing your part in conducting market research to identify potential buyers in agencies. Thankfully, GSA has some tools to help you conduct market research. SAM.gov’s Data Bank tool helps you focus your marketing efforts and understand federal purchasing trends.

The Information Technology (IT) field is one of the largest and most competitive fields in federal contracting. Because of this, there are many contractors to compete with and consequently, a need to differentiate your business from others to be more successful in the federal marketplace. To do this, a savvy contractor needs to know the unique practices of GSA Schedule marketing.

Think of the last deadline you missed in your current position or back in school. It happens to the best of us, but either way, we all want to make things right so you can keep your GSA Schedule compliant. One deadline in particular that we stress to not lose track of is your company’s Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) certification. In the past, required contractors just needed to self-certify, but as of this year, you need to officially register and certify through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Contractor Portal.

Congratulations on your GSA Schedule award—now that you have your contract, you’re ready to begin the process of maintaining compliance. This is essentially the “scope of contract,” which may seem vague to you at first. We advise all new contractors to begin familiarizing themselves with the rules and regulations of holding a GSA contract. As consultants, we can’t stress enough how important it is to look after your Schedule once it’s been awarded. To help you prepare for this process, let’s discuss why scope of contract is important and what you can do to maintain GSA Schedule compliance.

Conducting research can be overwhelming if you’re unaware of the tools available to you in the federal market. Luckily for contractors, GSA has several procurement tools available to help you research your competitors, your industry, and find contracting opportunities. However, it’s one thing to know there are tools that exist, and another to know what each tool is and how to use it. These are free resources and are very integral to a contractor’s success, so we suggest you use them to your advantage. Here’s what you need to know.

Do you have an interest in doing business with the government but you’re not quite sure where to start? We understand there is so much information to take in as you surround yourself with all the government contracting acronyms, abbreviations, and jargon associated with federal contracting.