The U.S. Small Business Administration has just announced its findings on the Federal Government’s 2018 fiscal year, and it is great news for American small businesses. 2018 marks the 6th consecutive year the Federal Government has met their small business contracting goals. Not only did the federal government meet this goal in 2018, they surpassed it by $15 billion.

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 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.

In November 2018, GSA announced that it would sunset its long-standing quarterly sales reporting application, 72A, and replace it with a combined TDR/MAS sales reporting tool known as SRP, or Sales Reporting Portal. Some contractors were required to transition to the new system and report their FY Q1 sales as early as January 1, 2019 with all other contractors reporting their FY Q2 sales in SRP as of April 1, 2019. This blog will give you direction on that transition, as well as some instruction on how to report your first sales in SRP.

The Mentor-Protégé (MP) program is a great program for small or disadvantaged businesses just starting out in government contracting or for businesses that need a helping hand when it comes to growing their government contracting practice. The Mentor-Protégé program may work with any business size, including other than small (mid-sized) businesses. The Small Business Administration (SBA) developed two of the most well-known MP programs: the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program and the 8(a) Small Business Mentor-Protégé Program.

Networking with government buyers and other contractors can drive business success in 2018. Now is a great time to take a NEW approach to networking beyond the usual tactics. So, how do you capture the attention of decision makers in more innovative ways? Networking channels and tactics have changed as agencies now reach out to the private sector for help driving their missions. Last week’s HHS hackathon addressing the opoid crisis with data is just one example.