The world of government contracting can be a very intimidating place due to its complexity and competitiveness. Companies that decide to pursue a Schedule contract can easily access the network of federal, state, city, county, and municipal level agencies looking to buy products and services. It is important to understand the basics of government marketing in order to successfully sell your products and services.

In 2017, U.S. Senators Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Adam Smith (D-WA) proposed a bill known as the Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2017 that concentrated on reducing waste, fraud, and abuse of Government spending on travel and when using purchase cards. This bill passed through the House and Senate when it was incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (or NDAA 2018). The Saving Federal Dollars Through Better Use of Government Purchase and Travel Cards Act of 2017 addressed three key issues with Government spends: (1) improper payments, (2) questionable transactions, and (3) strategic sourcing. Our focus today will be strategic sourcing.

The GSA Schedules Program provides expansive new opportunities and tools to help companies successfully sell to the government. Having a GSA Schedule opens a whole new world of contracting and networking opportunities that could help expand your business and may be your ticket into the government space. However, with new business opportunity comes new responsibility. It is important to realize the compliance and maintenance factors attached to the award of a GSA Schedule. While the advantages are clear, companies should ensure they have the bandwidth to keep up with the maintenance of a GSA contract.

The short answer to this question? Yes, you’re able to sell to the Federal Government without being a GSA Schedule holder, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should due to a multitude of reasons.

As a government contractor, you’ve probably run into NAICS codes more than a few times, and you likely know which ones are applicable to your products or services. But like many, questions still linger about their true meaning and function. Questions like: “What does the acronym even mean in the first place?” “How do they affect your business and how you work with the government?” “What is a size standard?”

The GSA Information Technology (IT) Schedule 70 is not a traditional government contract. The GSA Schedules Program is meant to screen and approve specific products and services sold by contractors at fair and reasonable prices to customer agencies. Being one of the larger contracts across the federal government, and as the top-grossing vehicle out of all the GSA Schedules, Schedule 70 is used by GSA customers to fulfill their IT product and service needs, because it significantly reduces time spent on the procurement process. Most IT product, software and/or service companies wanting to sell to government customers have heard of or considered obtaining a Schedule 70 contract, and Winvale is breaking down the To-Do List: