Successfully qualifying government opportunities for your organizations pipeline is a vital step in becoming a successful government contractor. Like many things in life, the qualification stage in the government contracting process requires due diligence on your part to ensure that you can meet all of the stated requirements.

As your company searches for contracting opportunities in the federal marketplace, you have most likely come across a Request for Proposal (RFP). An RFP is a solicitation document to communicate the requirements and parameters of a government agency's needs, both products and services. An RFP often requires companies to convey the technical aspects of the proposal and address how their company will meet the government’s needs while offering the best value. Your response to the RFP needs to be highly detailed and precise, as RFPs are considered formal requests that could result in contract award. However, this is is easier said than done. There are a number of common mistakes that contractors fall into as they hunt for government contracts. Here’s what they are and how to avoid them.

Past performance is a crucial component for evaluating and awarding contracts. If a contractor does not have a satisfactory record, they may not be able to perform to the expected level to complete the work type and scope. As a GSA Schedule contractor, what do you need to do to prepare for the past performance requirements? Let’s review what past performance is, why it’s important to government agencies, and how you can be ready for your next solicitation.

Navigating the government contracting world as a small business can be daunting. Thankfully, small businesses have access to several resources to tap into such as small business set-asides and certain funding programs to help them get their foot in the door, such as the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR). In this blog, we’ll cover the SBIR program and how contractors can use this program to their advantage.

As a GSA Schedule contractor, you are given access to a variety of tools and platforms for advertising and selling to government buyers. Arguably, the most important of these is GSA Advantage!. Much in the way that you and I would purchase items from Amazon or shop online during Cyber Monday, Contracting Officers for government agencies access GSA Advantage! to browse the full catalog of contractors and their offerings. Even if you’ve already established consistent relationships with existing buyers, your public sector footprint could grow even larger with the aid of GSA Advantage!.

The short answer is yes, you can participate in government bids without a GSA Schedule. However, it’s much more nuanced than that, and you can be missing out on huge opportunities within the federal marketplace. Open market sales to the federal government take much longer and can be more costly than sales through a government contracting vehicle, and other vehicles are not as flexible or available.