Becoming a government contractor can be daunting for small businesses without enough experience to meet the complex requirements. However, subcontracting is one way small businesses can get their hands on federal government dollars and gain performance experience in the industry. To help government agencies meet their small business spending budgets each fiscal year, large or often referred to as Other than Small Businesses (OTSBs) are required to make a Subcontracting Plan. This plan outlines how an OTSB intends to accomplish its subcontracting goals. As a result, small businesses have a chance to test their ability to perform in the federal marketplace by subcontracting with companies that have a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS). This blog is an overview of GSA subcontracting and explains how small businesses can use subcontracting as a steppingstone toward getting their own GSA contract.

As a small business, you have a lot of resources available to help you succeed in the government marketplace. In an effort to increase small business participation, the federal government has designated small business contracting vehicles set aside specifically to support small business efforts. Small businesses can also compete in other contract vehicles meant for both large and small businesses.

Subcontracting with companies that have a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a great way to benefit from GSA Schedule spending without having your own prime contract. GSA Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) are long-term governmentwide, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts that provide federal, state, and local government buyers commercial products and services at volume discount pricing.

If you are interested in selling to the government, but don’t want to deal with the potential headache of managing your own General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award (MAS) Schedule, an authorized GSA reseller could be the right choice for your company. While having your own prime GSA Schedule has its own benefits, sometimes it’s not the right fit for an organization. Managing your own GSA Schedule requires the right internal resources, personnel, and funding, and often comes with many upfront challenges including the cost and time to obtain a prime GSA Schedule. Partnering with a reseller can reduce the overall compliance risks in selling to the government, while also increasing overall speed to market in the public sector marketplace.

Conducting research can be overwhelming if you’re unaware of the tools available to you in the federal market. Luckily for contractors, GSA has several procurement tools available to help you research your competitors, your industry, and find contracting opportunities. However, it’s one thing to know there are tools that exist, and another to know what each tool is and how to use it. These are free resources and are very integral to a contractor’s success, so we suggest you use them to your advantage. Here’s what you need to know.

If your company is based outside of the U.S., you may be wondering how you can do business with the U.S. federal government. For foreign companies who plan to use a government contracting vehicle to sell to government agencies, acquiring a NATO Commercial and Government Entity Code (NCAGE Code) and registering your company in the System for Award Management (SAM) are the first two crucial steps you will need to take. In this blog we’ll cover what you need to know about NCAGE Codes, who needs one, and how to register.