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?”

If you need something for your office, chances are you’ll hop onto a site like Amazon because it’s easy to search, the prices are reasonable, and it’ll arrive at your door in just a few days. If a government agency wants to purchase something, they can’t just order whatever they want from popular retailers, but they still need a simplified way to order products. So where do they go?

With over 11 million commercial products and services sold to government buyers, it’s clear the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program is a great business opportunity for companies. What’s not so obvious though, is the other ways to sell through a GSA Schedule without acquiring your own contract. One of the ways to do this is partnering with an authorized GSA reseller.

Selling your products or services to the federal government can be intimidating and it can often be difficult to get your foot in the door. Thankfully as a GSA Schedule contractor, you have several tools and opportunities available to you, especially if you are a small business.

Selling to the government through your own GSA Schedule contract can be a daunting task for many businesses. There are certain prerequisites you need to meet before you can obtain a Schedule, and there are several requirements you need to follow throughout the life of your GSA Schedule contract. Although the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program is a great opportunity for companies to expand their customer-base and access a new marketplace, we understand the process may be difficult for certain companies. However, there are a few ways to sell through a GSA Schedule without having your own contract.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), a new set of cybersecurity standards the Department of Defense (DoD) will be implementing on all their contracts, is included in the General Service Administration’s (GSA) $50 billion 8(a) STARS III Request for Proposal (RFP). 8(a) STARS III (Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services) is a multiple-award IDIQ contract set aside for small businesses that will give the federal government access to a wide range of information technology (IT) services-based solutions. Although STARS III isn’t a contract vehicle specific to the DoD, the DoD was one of the biggest buyers of STARS II, the predecessor to STARS III.