As global conflicts continue, causing inflation, supply chain shortages, and other negative economic impacts, many businesses turn to the public sector to expand their markets and find a more stable stream of opportunities. Even if the commercial markets are not performing well, the government is always in need of supplies and services to keep our agencies and programs running.
However, even if you know some of the government contracting basics, getting your own government contract and finding time to maintain contract compliance can be a large ordeal to take on yourself. As GSA Schedule consultants, we at Winvale help our clients acquire a GSA Schedule and offer maintenance and compliance assistance throughout the entire contract. With over 20 years of experience, we’ve seen the many ways our clients have profited from public sector consultants. But we know it's not always easy to justify hiring someone to help you through this process.
Let’s examine how using consultants can be a worthwhile investment for you and you company.
In times of economic uncertainty, the government is still looking to buy commercial goods. The General Services Administration (GSA) is designed to continue working at all times to streamline federal acquisition, whether through a government shutdown or a global pandemic.
As a self-funded agency, GSA continues its operations despite the state of the world around it. Through our recent COVID-19 pandemic, or the natural disasters such as hurricanes that will ramp up in the next several months, GSA contractors have seen an uptick in the needs of federal agencies. State, local, education, and tribal entities can also benefit from GSA Schedules under certain circumstances such as Disaster Purchasing to aid in disaster response and recovery, or acquiring essential IT and Security solutions through Cooperative Purchasing.
Working with experienced GSA consultants can help you and your company identify and leverage key business opportunities like those found in the government Q4 coming up in July, when the government buys significantly more than the other quarters due to a “use it or lose it” budget mentality.
Entering the public sector requires a wide array of knowledge in government contracting. Outside of just the basics, there are pricing rules that companies must follow, ethics to be maintained—and that’s just a sample of what you'll have to keep up with. While GSA offers webinars and training sessions to the public to help contractors educate themselves, it can be overly time-consuming for an individual at your company to learn a sufficient amount about the public sector.
GSA contracting is a convoluted world, and trying to learn as you go, whether in the acquisition stage or while trying to fulfill contract maintenance, can be frustrating and inefficient for your company. It can also lead to your GSA Schedule offer being rejected, or getting your Schedule canceled if you fail to maintain it successfully.
If you don't already have a team of experienced government contractors, GSA Schedule consultants can help you learn the alphabet of government contract acronyms, understand what requirements are necessary for your contract, and help keep your contract up to date.
From Solicitation Refreshes, to website changes, or Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) updates, GSA is constantly changing, and an experienced GSA consultant will help you keep track of all the necessary knowledge and updates relevant to your contract.
Working in GSA Schedule contracting can be a full-time job, but many small businesses cannot justify hiring a full-time employee to complete their Schedule acquisition or to maintain their GSA Schedule.
It’s a significant financial investment to hire someone on staff that has the necessary knowledge in GSA Schedule contracts, as government contracting experts are not easy to come by since the knowledge is so specialized. From a financial standpoint, it’s typically a better investment for your company to outsource a GSA Schedule consultant to help when you need to make changes to your government contract.
Hiring a public sector consultant can help to keep your full-time employees focused on their main job duties, and simultaneously keep your mind at ease knowing that experts are helping to maintain such an important contract.
You may be thinking, "well you offer GSA Schedule consulting services, so of course you recommend that." But think about it--just one GSA Schedule expert on your team including salary and benefits can be roughly $50k to $100k+ a year depending on their experience, position, and your internal salary ranges. Hiring a consultant will cost considerably less for both acquisition and post-award maintenance support.
Related Article: Cost Comparison: In-House Vs. Outsourcing GSA Schedule Maintenance
The perfect consultant and client relationship is a team effort--working together to pair a client’s commercial practices to their public sector goals. Ideally, a consultant does most of the heavy-lifting and becomes an experienced guide as well as an educator for the client, resulting in a smoother experience with GSA.
One thing that we pride ourselves on here at Winvale is that we don’t simply take your documents and put them into the GSA format and submit them on your behalf. Many lower tier firms will do this, resulting in rejected offers or contract terms and conditions that are not sustainable for your company. While we take on the lion’s share of the GSA Schedule acquisition and maintenance, we like to take time to educate our clients and ensure they are aware of all the areas in which contractors need to maintain compliance.
A GSA Schedule contract is a long-term commitment, lasting as long as twenty years, so there is a significant amount of compliance measures to attend to, as well as record-keeping and modifying the contract to fit your current business needs and expertise. Many contractors may not fully understand what they are signing up for when they submit a GSA Schedule Subcontracting Plan or have an upcoming Contractor Assessment Visit (CAV).
When a GSA expert is no more than a phone call or email away, there are fewer concerns that compliance issues will sneak up on you.
If your company is seriously considering getting into government contracting, weighing your options with GSA Schedule consulting is a must. Many companies find that government contracting consultants are worth the investment because not only do they help you obtain and maintain a GSA Schedule contract, but they also can help you discover public sector opportunities in your industry.
Contact our team to see if it’s the right choice for you.