Government Contracting Blog

Navigating the intricacies of government contracting is an important skill for businesses seeking to expand their presence in the federal market. While both federal and commercial avenues offer opportunities for growth and profitability, they come with their own unique sets of challenges and strategies. You’re most likely very familiar with the commercial world now, but may not have as much experience selling to the government. In this blog, we'll dive into the differences between selling to the government vs. commercially to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how you can succeed in the government market.

Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity or IDIQ are terms that are often used when doing business with the federal government through the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) Program. IDIQ may might just sound like any other random government contracting acronym to you, but it is an important term to remember.

If you think you may qualify as a small business in the eyes of the government, there’s a fairly simple way to find out. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has the Size Standards Tool to give small businesses a better idea of how they may qualify as a small business. It’s beneficial for contractors to know if they are designated as a small business because it opens doors to assistance programs, tools, and certain small business set-asides. In this blog, I’ll cover what information is needed to utilize the SBA’s Size Standards tool and what you can do if you qualify as a small business.

If you are a current GSA contractor or potentially looking to sell products or services on the GSA Schedule, you’ll need to know how to find opportunities in your industry. Federal contracting requires research into potential costs, benefits, and initiatives like any other business decision. As a GSA Schedule Contractor, the North American Industry Classification System codes (NAICS) can help you better concisely comprehend what opportunities exist in your field for success in the federal marketplace, and can help your company determine if you are considered a small business.

Frequently known as the “Amazon” of the government contracting world, GSA Advantage! is an important tool that government contractors use to publish their pricelist and market their approved GSA products. Within GSA Advantage!, you can find a wide variety of contractors who offer anything from printers and shredders to drones used to map the world. Government agencies frequent this site because they can easily search for and order products within a few clicks, meaning it’s a crucial site for contractors to learn how to navigate.

As a GSA contractor, you may have spent have spent endless hours in Schedule Input Program (SIP) in an attempt to upload your latest catalog update to GSA. However, after receiving feedback and hearing current contractors’ frustrations with the program, GSA has decided to sunset SIP and introduce the Common Catalog Platform (CCP). The goal of this platform will be to streamline and improve catalog management for both contractors and Contracting Officers. In this blog, we have detailed some aspects of how contractors will be able to utilize the CCP when updating their catalog for GSA, what the Product File is, and how contractors will be provided a Compliance and Pricing report.