There are plenty of advantages to being certified as a small business. First off, the Small Business Administration (SBA) encourages government agencies to purchase from small businesses whenever possible, and the federal government maintains set-asides or sole-source contracts specifically for small businesses to give them a fair chance to win government contracts. These set-asides limit competition and increase odds by making a contract open to small businesses exclusively. So, if you qualify as a small business and want to become a government contractor, you’ll need to register. In this blog, we’ll cover how to qualify, what options are available to you, and how to register as a small business contractor.

The sheer amount of acronyms throughout the GSA Schedule acquisition process can have the potential to throw you into a lot of standstills if you keep having to stop to search for what each stands for. It certainly doesn't help when they all start to sound the same. Some of them may even appear next to each other or sound all too similar with prime examples of these being RFI (Request for Information) and RFP (Request for Proposal).

Ever since the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 was created, the Historically Underutilized Business Zones or HUBZones, have encouraged economic development in distressed areas through the establishment of preferences and thus, access to more federal contracting opportunities.

First established in 1984, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) acts as one of two bodies of regulation used by the General Services Administration (GSA). This is the rulebook for every policy or procedure you could ever come across and, more importantly, the policies and procedures you will need to know as a contractor. Knowing and understanding these regulations is key to becoming and remaining a compliant, successful GSA Schedule contractor. In this blog, we have picked out the most common, need-to-know clauses to keep you and your business on track and prepared.